1 March in military history: Battle of Adwa, 1896

Quick answer

On 1 March 1896, in the mountains around Adwa in northern Ethiopia, the army of Emperor Menelik II defeated the Italian corps of General Oreste Baratieri; two Italian generals were killed and a third captured. In the peace of October 1896 Italy recognized Ethiopia's independence. On 1 March 1942 Japanese warships sank HMS Exeter in the Java Sea.

Battle of Adwa, 1896: the African victory over an empire

1 March 1896 · 130 years ago

Ethiopia won at Adwa on 1 March 1896: Menelik II's army of over 100,000 crushed an Italian force of about 14,500. The treaty, the battle and the cost.

Read the full story of Battle of Adwa, 1896: the African victory over an empire ›

Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1942: the end of Exeter

1 March 1942 · 84 years ago

Japanese cruisers and destroyers caught the damaged British cruiser HMS Exeter and the destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope as they tried to slip out of the Java Sea, two days after the main Allied defeat there. All three ships were sunk.

Read the full story of Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1942: the end of Exeter ›

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Battle of Adwa?

Ethiopia. The army of Emperor Menelik II defeated General Oreste Baratieri's Italian corps on 1 March 1896. In the peace signed at Addis Ababa on 26 October 1896 the Treaty of Uccialli was annulled and Italy recognized Ethiopia's absolute independence.

Why did the Italians lose at Adwa?

Baratieri's columns marched by night against a far larger army, about 120,000 men by Italian and British estimates, and the battle broke into separate fights: Albertone's brigade, ahead of the rest, was overwhelmed first, then the brigades of Arimondi and Ellena, and last Dabormida's.

How many men were killed at Adwa?

Sources differ. Thousands of Italian and native soldiers of the Italian army were killed, and estimates of the Ethiopian dead run from about 5,000 to 7,000.

What else happened on 1 March?

In 1942 Japanese cruisers and destroyers caught the damaged British cruiser HMS Exeter and the destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope in the Java Sea, and all three were sunk.