ITALY'S AFRICA

Italian East Africa lore and design doc

by AnarchOfEumeswil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EoBgeptii8

Historical Background - What are Italians even doing in East

Africa?

A Short Timeline of Italian Colonization of East Africa

Read this section if you know nothing about the history of Italian colonialism or if you would
like a refresher. This is basically a short recap of real life history of Italian East Africa, and an
introduction to most of its major characters.

Phase 1: Prelude to War (1880s - 1935)

● 1880-1890: Italian shipping companies as well as the Italian state start becoming
keenly interested in acquiring ports on the Red Sea, specifically the ports of Assab
and Massawa. Immediately, frictions appear with the neighboring Ethiopian Empire
under emperor Yohannes IV, intersecting with the complicated situation of East Africa
at the time (specifically the Mahdist War and the complex internal conflicts of the
Ethiopian Empire and its feudal aristocracy) and resulting in an undeclared conflict
between Italy and Ethiopia, which stops the early plans for unchecked Italian
expansion into the Ethiopian region.
 Meanwhile, Italy convinces the Somali sultanates of Hobyo and Majerteen to sign
treaties turning both states into Italian protectorates, thus beginning penetration into
Somalia.

● 1890: The Treaty of Wuchale is signed by Italy and Ethiopia, and hostilities between
Italy and Ethiopia end with Ethiopian recognition of Italian sovereignty over the Red
Sea coast. The Italian possessions on the coast of the Red Sea are given a formal
border, grouped under a single administrative entity called "Colony of Eritrea" (named
after the ancient Greek name for the Red Sea). Despite the Treaty of Wuchale, the
Italian government begins scheming to use Eritrea as a springboard for Italian
conquest of the whole Horn of Africa.

● 1895: Because of a spat over diverging translations of the Treaty of Wuchale, the
Italian government seizes the occasion to resume expansion into Ethiopia. Italian
troops launch an expedition from Eritrea into the region of Tigray, formally part of the
Ethiopian Empire but in truth governed by an autonomous feudal aristocrat (or ras).
Despite initially not reacting, the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II eventually decides to
counterattack, beginning the First Italo-Ethiopian War.

● 1896: The Italian army is catastrophically defeated in the Battle of Adwa by a

numerically superior Ethiopian force. Thousands of Italian soldiers are killed or taken
prisoner. The humiliating defeat forces the Italian government to resign: Italian troops
retreat from occupied Tigray back into Eritrea, and the new Italian government
decides to pursue a diplomatic solution to the war (which has become grossly
unpopular at home). In october of 1896, a new treaty is signed between Italy and
Ethiopia: the Ethiopian empire will maintain its full sovereignty and territorial integrity
in exchange for finally recognizing Italian rule over Eritrea.

The Adwa fiasco puts a definite end to Italian expansion attempts into Ethiopia for at
least three decades: Italy-Ethiopia diplomatic and commercial relationships in this
period are actually pretty good as Italian governments, still well aware of the
humiliating defeat they suffered, drop any attempt to further encroach on Ethiopia.
● 1900-1910: Over the course of the decade, the Italian protectorates in Somalia are
brought under direct Italian rule; new territories (such as the Sultanate of the Geledi)
are also brought under Italian control, first as protectorates then as directly ruled
territories, which are all unified under the name of Italian Somaliland or Italian
Somalia.

● 1920: The first major agrarian consortium of East Africa, the Società Agricola
Italo-Somala (SAIS, or Italo-Somalian Agricultural Society) is founded by Luigi
Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta, starting the exploitation of Somali lands, mostly for cash
crops (mainly bananas and sugar) in plantation settlements such as Villabruzzi and
Genale.

● 1924: Italy is awarded the formerly British territory of Jubaland, which is soon
annexed into Italian Somalia.

● 1926: A campaign to fully pacify the southern reaches of Somalia is finally

successful, making ample use of African colonial troops.

● 1932: Mussolini, with his dictatorship firmly established, turns his attention onto East
Africa. He believes that a renewed push for expansion into Ethiopia would benefit his
regime in two ways: first, internally, as a victorious colonial campaign would be a
source of national pride as well as pride in fascism and Ethiopian resources could be
put to use to enrich Italian society, and secondly, internationally, as an African victory
could be a way to enshrine the prestige of Italy as it looked to fully assume its place
among the world powers.

● 1934: With a secret communique by Mussolini to the highest authorities of the

regime, the mobilization against Ethiopia officially begins, with autumn 1935 being
set as the time when the offensive will start. Ethiopia is at this time ruled by emperor
Haile Selassie: however, attempts at modernization of the country in the past
decades have failed, and Ethiopia is still a feudal empire where local aristocrats are
just as powerful in their own domains as the central government, if not more, with
each of them commanding their own armies.

● 1935: Using a border incident as pretext, Italian troops launch a two pronged
offensive into Ethiopia starting in october of 1935: general Emilio De Bono, a
longtime supporter of fascism and a respected veteran of WWI, leads the northern
invasion from Eritrea, while general Rodolfo Graziani leads the southern invasion
from Somalia. It is the start of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, or Seven Months' War.

The scale of the campaign is unprecedented for a colonial war: no other colonial
campaign in history has ever seen such a massive engagement of men and material.
The Italian forces also include a large number of colonial troops, especially Eritrean
ascari and Somalian dubat.

The Regia Azienda Monopolio Banane (RAMB, or Royal Banana Monopoly) is

founded to oversee the cultivation of bananas, an increasingly valuable cash crop, in
Somalia.
Phase 2: The Seven Months' War and the Early Occupation (1935-1936)

● November, 1935: Despite his early successes in invading Ethiopian territory and
defeating enemy armies, De Bono prefers to adopt a slow and methodical approach
for further operation, worried about the complicated logistical situation. Mussolini,
who instead wishes for a dashing lightning campaign "in fascist style", replaces him
with general Pietro Badoglio. Despite Mussolini's wishes, Badoglio's strategy focuses
on using the overwhelming technological superiority of Italian troops to destroy and
annihilate Ethiopian foes through massive artillery and aerial bombardment before
cautiously advancing with the bulk of the troops.

● December, 1935: The Ethiopian counterattack, also known as the "Christmas

Offensive", led by ras Imru Haile Selassie, starts, attempting to cut the Italian front in
half by outmaneuvering the more encumbered Italian forces. Despite the relative
speed of the lightly armed Ethiopians, their technological inferiority as well as
lackluster organization quickly spells the end of the unified counteroffensive, and
each ras quickly finds himself isolated and able only to rely on his own troops.

One of the feudal vassal rulers of the Ethiopian Empire, the Sultan Mahammed
Yayyo of the Aussa Sultanate, surrenders to the Italians in exchange for continued
autonomy. His request is granted, and Sultan Mohammed remains in his place as the
leader of the Afar people in the isolated region of Aussa.

● January, 1936: While the northern front provides the main thrust for the Italian
offensive, the southern front also sees action, leading to the first true major battle of
the war, where Graziani engages the army of ras Desta Damtew in the Battle of
Ganale Doria. Ras Desta's army is decisively defeated and Graziani decides to seize
the occasion to continue his offensive into southern Ethiopia, but the complicated
terrain and logistical difficulties force him to halt for almost three months.

Badoglio decides to
go on the offensive to
check the Ethiopian
attack in the central
sector: Italian
divisions engage the
troops of ras Kassa
Haile Darge and ras
Seyoum Mengesha
in the First Battle of
Tembien. Despite
fierce resistance, the
bloody battle ends as
Ethiopian troops are
forced to retreat due
to heavy gas
bombardment from
 the Regia Aeronautica, but the Italians fail to advance into the Ethiopian positions
and the battle ends in a bloody tactical stalemate, which however translates into an
Italian strategic victory as the Ethiopian counteroffensive is immediately put in check.

● February, 1936: In order to cover the flanks of the Italian forces, Badoglio orders an
attack on the mountainous massif of the Amba Aradam, occupied by the troops of ras
Mulugeta Yeggazu. A short but ferocious battle ensues (the Battle of Amba Aradam),
in which the Italian troops manage to conquer Ethiopian positions, rout the Ethiopian
army while causing thousands of casualties, and kill ras Mulugeta.

With the Amba Aradam secured, Badoglio tries once more to rout the armies of ras
Kassa and ras Seyoum: Italian forces achieve that goal in the Second Battle of
Tembien. Ras Kassa and ras Seyoum are forced to retreat, their armies in tatters.

● March, 1936: Two Italian army corps attack the last Ethiopian army which hadn't yet
been routed, the one commanded by ras Imru himself, who was threatening to enter
Eritrea. The Battle of Shire ensues, in which ras Imru manages to conduct an orderly
retreat of his troops without being routed.

Despite this, the Ethiopian

army had been dealt a series
of devastating blows from
which recovery was
impossible. Emperor
Selassie personally prepares
one last ditch, near suicidal
offensive, possibly expecting
to die in battle as Ethiopian
custom dictates emperors
should do in times of great
catastrophe. In the Battle of
Maychew, the last true
Ethiopian offensive of the
war gets wiped out by
entrenched Italian positions, aerial bombardments and toxic gas. Any attempt to organize
further resistance fails, and the road to Addis Ababa lays wide open for the Italians.

● April, 1936: Graziani finally completes preparations to resume his southern

offensive, resulting in a series of dashing Italian victories; however, the advance is
slowed down by bad weather and difficult logistics over long distances and rough
terrain.

With Ethiopian resistance in the northern front utterly crushed, Badoglio organizes
the so called "March of the Iron Will": a speedy march towards a completely
undefended Addis Ababa. In reality, more than an actual offensive, it is nothing other
than a show for propaganda: de facto, the war is already won.
 After the collapse of the northern front, central-southern Ethiopia, a region only
recently annexed into the empire, becomes a seething cauldron of anti-Ethiopian
rebellions and inter-ethnic conflicts.

● May, 1936: Badoglio's "march of the iron will" finally reaches its destination on May
5th, only to find Addis Ababa already devastated by looting and fires. The emperor
flees the city to Djibouti and later to Geneva, destined for exile. The Seven Months'
War is over, but the fighting is not, as many ras return to their own territories with the
intention to continue the fight. In particular, ras Imru and his army, the largest still in
relatively good shape, retreat to the southern town of Gore, planning to resist the
Italians from there, stalling for time in the hope of foreign aid.

Graziani's southern thrust also comes to a successful end, as the cities of Harar and
Dire Dawa are both conquered a few days after Addis Ababa. With the war over,
Italian public opinion and fascist political sympathies are divided between supporters
of one or the other general: Badoglio, a slow and cautious general whose heavy
reliance on artillery and entrenched positions reminded many of the meat grinders of
WWI, and Graziani, seen as a fearless fascist warrior preferring to instead ruthlessly
attack the enemy in a war of movement, despite the fact that Graziani's southern
front was of completely secondary importance compared to the much more critical
northern front managed by Badoglio.

Immediately, Badoglio is proclaimed viceroy of the newly created Africa Orientale

Italiana (AOI), or Italian East Africa, formed as a merger of the colonies of Eritrea,
Somalia and the newly conquered Ethiopian territories. Badoglio begins a repression
policy characterized by terror, extermination and "eye for an eye" laws with the goal
of stamping out all forms of resistance. Any Ethiopian caught in possession of a
weapon is summarily executed, as well as anyone suspected of participating in riots,
looting or any other activity against the Italian authorities.

● June, 1936: Graziani, more well liked by Mussolini due to his reputation as a "true
fascist warrior", is named to replace Badoglio as governor of AOI. Graziani hopes to
achieve three goals before the coming of the rainy season in August: first, the
complete occupation of all the territories of the former Ethiopian Empire, many of
which are still in the hands of defiant local ras; second, the permanent garrisoning of
the communication routes; third, the securing of Addis Ababa.

Immediately, Graziani has to contend with fierce Ethiopian resistance; revolts take
place in the areas surrounding Addis Ababa, with Ethiopian columns attempting to
raid the vital railway connecting the capital to Harar. Rebellions are met with harsh
repressions and indiscriminate violence: lack of coordination and poor tactical sense
from the ras causes these early revolts to usually end in tragic and nonsensical
massacres of Ethiopians.

● July, 1936: The main leaders of the revolt meet in the holy town of Debra Libanos to
plan their most ambitious attack since the end of the war: an attempt to seize Addis
Ababa. The Ethiopian attack, which sees the participation of ras Abebe Aregai,
manages to break through the city limits and seize the market square, even
 threatening Graziani's residence, but is ultimately pushed back by Italian resistance.
Despite the tactical failure and the heavy Ethiopian losses, the attack is a severe
blow to Italian prestige, displaying the weakness of the Italian defenses.

● August, 1936: With the heavy rainfalls hampering Italian movements, ras
Wondosson Kassa (son of aforementioned ras Kassa) manages to start a large revolt
near the religious centre of Lalibela, threatening Italian positions in the region.
Graziani immediately deploys vast forces to contain and repress the rebels, also
making heavy use of aerial bombing. In this stage, Graziani has basically as many
troops as he wants, as demobilization has not taken place following the capture of
Addis Ababa and the (theoretical) end of the war - the war is still ongoing, and it is a
"national war" in which vast resources are still employed by Italy.

● September, 1936: The Lalibela revolt is routed, and ras Wondosson is forced to
retreat in the mountains.

● October, 1936: Finding himself surrounded and losing support from the local
peasantry, Ras Wondosson contacts the local Italian commander, offering to
surrender himself and his men. Italian authorities promise that, if he surrenders, he
will be spared. Ras Wondosson doesn't trust the Italians, and flees instead.

Ethiopian troops attempt another daring attack on a train transporting several

important Italian dignitaries, which is however repelled.

With the rainy season coming to an end, Graziani begins to plan further grand
operations to conquer the whole of the Ethiopian territory still in the hands of the ras,
chief among them ras Imru, still managing a "government" in Gore and controlling
much of southern Ethiopia. Operations immediately begin, prompting ras Imru to
leave Gore for the relative safety of the surrounding hills instead, hoping to link up
with the troops of other ras. Meanwhile, Italian southward thrusts also take place
towards the lakes of the Main Ethiopian Rift Valley, where ras Desta is still active.

Phase 3: The National War (1936-1937)

● November, 1936: Italian forces begin to encircle ras Imru, cutting off his escape
routes. Ras Imru attempts to escape, but is constantly harassed by Italian
bombardments, including toxic gas bombardments.

● December, 1936: Ras Imru is finally intercepted and attacked by a strong Italian
column. After a desperate counterattack resulting in a devastating defeat, ras Imru
finds himself encircled and with no hope to escape, and decides to surrender. Ras
Imru is arrested and deported to Italy as a prisoner of war. At this point, ras Desta is
the only ras still active in southern Ethiopia, and negotiations are underway for his
surrender.

Italian troops manage to find and encircle ras Wondosson's hideout, and after fierce
fighting, they manage to capture the ras and execute him. The next day, Graziani
 contacts Wondosson's brothers, themselves resistance leaders, promising them that
they'd have their lives spared if they turned themselves in to Italian authorities. The
Kassa brothers accept, and while negotiating the terms of their surrender, they get
arrested by Carabinieri and summarily executed. The death of the Kassa brothers
shocks Ethiopian society as it displays the infamy and treacherousness of the Italian
authorities, resorting to violence even after promising to offer peaceful surrender.
This only sparks further anger on the Ethiopian side.

● January, 1937: Graziani, annoyed by how long the negotiations with ras Desta are
taking, decides to resume the southern offensive. The village of Chevena, ras
Desta's headquarters, is seized after the Ethiopians are severely defeated, but the
ras manages to escape and disappear in the forest, evading the Italian attempts at
pursuit.

● February, 1937: After a long pursuit across southwestern Ethiopia, in which ras
Desta managed to evade overwhelming Italian forces multiple times, the Ethiopian
troops led by him are finally surrounded. After a brutal battle, ras Desta is captured
and executed, completing the conquest of southern Ethiopia. This does not mean
that Ethiopian resistance is over: however, instead of the armies of the ras, the main
bulk of the resistance from this point onward is carried out by bands of partisans,
known as arbegnoch,
often led by former
imperial aristocrats
and supported by the
local Orthodox clergy.

In a public alms giving

ceremony in Addis
Ababa, an attempt on
Graziani's life is
conducted by two
Eritrean men,
supporters of the
Ethiopian cause.
Graziani survives, but
the Italian reaction is
one of extreme
violence: immediately, Carabinieri and police open fire into the crowd, and
subsequently, the events of Yekatit 12, which can only be described as a state
sponsored mass pogrom, result in the deaths of tens of thousands of Ethiopian
civilians, indiscriminately killed as a retaliation for the attempted murder of Graziani.
Mass arrests, executions and deportations take place, as well as mob killings,
lootings and burnings of African houses by the Italian residents of Addis Ababa.
Educated Ethiopians and members of the intellighenzia are especially targeted for
murder.

"Comrades, today is the day when we should show our devotion to our Viceroy by
reacting and destroying the Ethiopians for three days. For three days I give you carte
 blanche to destroy and kill and do what you want to the Ethiopians."

- Guido Cortese, secretary of the Addis Ababa section of the PNF

Phase 4: The Occupation War (1937-1939)

● March, 1937: Graziani's counterguerrilla operations in the Amhara region take on a

distinctly genocidal character, targeting the Amhara ethnic group. In particular, the
extermination of high ranking dignitaries, members of the Orthodox clergy, seers,
minstrels and soothsayers, all seen as anti-Italian agitators, is carried out with a
scientific method.

Now that all of Ethiopia is secured, Graziani's major goal is now to finally pacify the
region, bringing rebellions to an end. Also because of tensions rising in Europe,
Mussolini hopes that success in this endeavour will allow him to disengage the
massive amounts of troops and supplies that are still present in Ethiopia.

● May, 1937: Upon learning that the men who attempted to murder Graziani took
refuge in the holy city of Debre Libanos, Italian troops led by general Pietro Maletti
are ordered to liquidate the city. In the Debre Libanos massacre, around two
thousands monks, priests, deacons (some of them as young as 12) as well as the
many disabled people who found shelter in the monaster are summarily executed.
Several hundred more Ethiopian youths from the surrounding towns are also arrested
and executed, after being accused of sheltering and aiding rebels.

Italian troops clash with forces led by ras Aregai near the town of Debre Berhan.
Several villages are destroyed by the Italians, but ras Aregai's troops manage to
disappear into the mountains, consolidating their positions.

● August, 1937: In the mountainous region of Gojjam, in Amhara, partisans begin a

series of attacks against isolated Italian positions and garrisons, aided by the strong
rain.

● September, 1937: The Gojjam rebellion massively escalates as the population joins
the partisan movement in droves, exhausted by months of violence and abuse by the
Italians. Arbegnoch leaders declare a holy war against Italian occupation, ushering in
the largest rebellion against Italian rule in the history of Italian colonialism. Italian
forces, taken by surprise by the scale of the insurrection, are forced to evacuate
Gojjam, leaving the region to the rebels.

● November, 1937: Just as Graziani orders the beginning of a campaign to retake

Gojjam, good will towards him in Rome is finally running out. While Graziani did
succeed in conquering all of Ethiopia, the endless rebellions and repressions are
taking a massive economic and human toll on Italian forces in East Africa. More than
one year and a half after the supposed end of the war and conquest of Ethiopia,
Graziani has been unable to definitely secure the region, and Mussolini is no longer
willing to commit such enormous amounts of manpower and resources to the region.
 Mussolini orders the replacement of Graziani, but the viceroy won't leave his position
for another month.

Graziani, looking for one last military success in the hope of at least retaining his
position as chief military commander in AOI, orders a land offensive into Gojjam and
begins daily carpet bombings on the region.

● December, 1937: The

Italian advance into Gojjam
results in the toughest battle of
the whole occupation of
Ethiopia by number of deaths
on both sides. Fierce
resistance by the arbegnoch
manages to stop the Italian
offensive in its tracks: in
retaliation, the Regia
Aeronautica begins yprite
bombardments on the whole
region, but no headway can be made into Gojjam.

Graziani finally leaves for Rome, replaced by prince Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta as

viceroy and with general Ugo Cavallero as chief commander of the Italian armed
forces.

● 1938: The military situation quiets down as the new viceroy, Amedeo, attempts to
adopt a more diplomatic strategy to quell the rebellions. In particular, Amedeo's goal
is to negotiate the surrender of ras Aregai, who is now the undisputed leader of the
Ethiopian resistance, earning him the nickname of "little negus". Amedeo alternates
between attempts at negotiation and military operations, using a "carrot and stick"
approach. Gojjam is finally pacified in may of 1938, but ras Aregai's forces are still
active in the nearby regions of Menz and Marra Biete.

● February, 1939: Amedeo's conciliatory strategy fails to result in ras Aregai's

surrender. General Cavallero, having concentrated all military authority in his hands,
decides to resume Graziani-style large-scale military operations to strike down ras
Aregai once and for all.

● March, 1939: Italian forces move to attack ras Aregai's forces near Debra Brehan.
The attack is only partially successful, and the arbegnoch manage to flee towards the
mountains.

● April, 1939: Clashes in the surroundings of the town of Ankober escalate as Italian
forces move to pursue ras Aregai's forces. Italian troops manage to intercept a large
group of Ethiopian partisans, with most of it consisting of women, children and elderly
people (families of partisan fighters), who decide to hide in a large cave on a
mountainside. Italian troops react by detonating an yprite bomb as well as shooting
several projectiles loaded with arsine (another chemical warfare agent) at the mouth
 of the cave. The occupants of the cave pour out, trying to avoid dying of suffocation
in the cave, and are indiscriminately gunned down and pelted with grenades and
artillery fire as they attempt to flee; survivors who get caught are also summarily and
indiscriminately executed. This event is known as the "massacre of Zeret", and
results in the death of more than a thousand people.

Despite being wounded and with his forces severely weakened, ras Aregai manages
to escape the Italians once again, hiding in the mountains and immediately beginning
to reorganize his forces.

Due to his failures in military operations and the continued massive expenses
required by them, as well as his terrible relationship with viceroy Amedeo, Cavallero
is recalled in Italy and replaced by general Luigi De Biase. At this point, Amedeo
manages to reassert his authority and put a complete stop to large scale military
operations in East Africa, with De Biase only leading small scale police operations to
contain the rebellions while Amedeo continued to pursue negotiations with the rebel
leaders. From this point onward, Amedeo will act in near total autonomy from Rome.

Phase 5: The World War (1939-1940)

● May 1939 - June 1940: General Guglielmo Nasi is appointed as Amedeo's deputy
viceroy. Amedeo and Nasi put an end to large-scale military offensives like those of
Graziani and Cavallero, instead preferring to seek negotiations with representatives
of the Ethiopians. Military operations continue, but greatly lessened in scope and
scale, and exclusively aimed at containing the guerrillas.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Ethiopian resistance, hit hard by the continued
repressions, finalizes the adoption of a different strategy. Whereas at the start the ras
would favour open attacks and large offensives, which often proved ineffective
against Italian technological superiority, over time leaders such as ras Aregai began
to adopt a more guerrilla-focused approach; after the great 1937 revolt of Gojjam,
Ethiopian partisans began to move in smaller bands, avoiding direct confrontation
and instead preferring ambushes, hit-and-run attacks as well as sabotages of Italian
infrastructure.

As tensions rise in Europe, the Horn of Africa is considered a less than important
front by the Italian leaders, and the efforts dedicated to its logistics and supply
situation are minimal. Amedeo finds himself nearly completely abandoned, forced to
scramble to amass as many supplies as he needs. War plans foresee an invasion of
Sudan and an invasion of British Somaliland, then a shift to a defensive approach.

● July, 1940: With Italy now officially participating in WWII on the Axis side, Amedeo
orders an invasion into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan; meanwhile, another revolt explodes in
Gojjam, where the partisans have managed to fully reorganize and are now receiving
substantial help from the British. The offensive is a meager success: Italian troops
occupy the town of Gallabat, left abandoned by the British, and the adjacent border
 strip.

● August, 1940: Italian troops invade British Somaliland. The offensive is successful
but costly, as the British are forced to evacuate the territory but inflict heavy
casualties on the Italians, who fail to capture a significant amount of prisoners of war
as the British manage to retreat in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, the partisans

are renewing their
offensives from Gojjam,
leading attacks into the
largely undefended region
of Tigray, exploiting the
void left by Italian troops
who left for Sudan and
British Somaliland.

After the Somaliland

campaign, the Italian
forces in East Africa are
spent, consumed by their
own logistical inadequacy
and by the internal guerrilla: other offensives would be impossible, and Amedeo can
do nothing but wait, hoping for a miracle…

TNO Background - And then what happened?

Events after the Point of Divergence

This is a short timeline of the events taking place during and after WWII in the universe of
TNO, leading up to 1962.

● September, 1940: Italo Balbo spearheads a daring invasion of Egypt. Despite the
fact that Italian troops are mostly on foot and are way behind on mechanization
compared to the British forces they face, overwhelming numerical superiority and
crucial support from two German armored divisions, offered by Hitler, allow the Axis
forces to smash through the British lines in Sidi Barrani and Marsa Matruh.

● October, 1940: Axis forces are now on the outskirts of Alexandria, and king Farouk
of Egypt is convinced that Axis triumph is imminent. The king proclaims his intention
to move Egypt to the Axis camp, and orders British troops to evacuate the country.
The situation quickly devolves into chaos, as mass riots incited by Egyptian
nationalists and the Muslim Brotherhood attack British garrisons, which begin a
chaotic retreat from Egypt.
● November, 1940: A contingent of Italian troops enter Cairo in triumph, while the
armored troops (including the German panzer divisions) continue the race to Suez,
hoping to cut off the escape for the remaining British troops.

The defeat in Egypt as well as impending operation Sea Lion cripples British plans
for a counterattack in East Africa, as the British high command scrambles to recall as
many troops as possible for the defense of England. Amedeo continues to wait,
worried about a potential British counterattack from the Indian Ocean.

● December, 1940: The Suez Canal is seized by Axis troops after being destroyed by
the British troops, now in full rout. Large contingents of British troops are left stranded
in pockets across Egypt and Sudan, and are forced to surrender one by one.

● 1941: With British resistance in Africa basically collapsing and the Royal Navy
scrambling to defend the English shores, Amedeo finds himself free to resume
offensive operations in the neighboring territories evacuated by the British as well as
attempt to pacify the internal rebellion.

Italian troops move to occupy the remainder of Sudan and Southern Sudan, while
encircling the rebel held areas in the Amhara region.

● 1942: Italian forces, with their flank now secured, begin an invasion of Kenya.
Organized British resistance in the region is quickly wiped out; however, the country
lies devastated, and the complicated infrastructural situation makes it impossible for
the Italian troops to secure the interior of the country beyond the cities of Nairobi and
Mombasa. Martial law is applied in the Kenyan region, dissolving the existing African
political associations (primarily those dominated by the educated Kikuyu elite) and
causing a rapid flight of British European settlers from the White Highlands and other
agriculturally productive regions. The lands vacated by the Europeans are either left
abandoned or occupied by Kikuyu squatters, largely moving in from the now
increasingly unlivable Nairobi.

● 1943: A new wave of rebellion hits Tigray following a spat between the Gojjam
arbegnoch, led by ras Aregai, and the local population. The Tigray peasantry and
local religious leadership had grown to resent ras Aregai's "absolutist" leadership and
confiscations of agricultural produce to supply the rebellion, and demanded to have a
greater say in the conduction of the insurrection. Ras Aregai refuses to budge to the
demands of the Tigray people, resulting in a new rebellion (known as the "Woyane
rebellion") led by local religious chiefs, attacking both Italians and the arbegnoch.

In Mogadishu, the Somali Youth Club, an urban welfare and self help organization, is
founded. On the front, the SYC acts as a charitable Islamic organization open to poor
and "middle class" young Somalians, especially artisans, European servants, and
former Somalian soldiers of the Regio Esercito; in reality, the organization quickly
becomes a hotbed for the propagation of a brand of Somalian nationalism, merged
with a local form of Islamism harkening back to the days of the Dervish movement.
Under orders from Amedeo, the organization is tolerated by local authorities.
 Towards the end of the year, the situation in Tigray, where clases between the
arbegnoch and the Woyane have intensified, becomes critical as the Italians begin a
full counterattack, quelling the Woyane rebellion and forcing ras Aregai to retreat in
the mountains once more. The lack of foreign support and the now open rivalry with
the Woyane forces ras Aregai's arbegnoch into a long period of dormancy.

● 1944-Late 1940s: As Operation Sea Lion continues in full swing, WWII at large is
effectively over as the British Empire is now in full collapse. Amedeo's main
preoccupation in this stage is the rebuilding of the devastated infrastructure and
economy of Italian East Africa; several crucial roads and railways were damaged by
the war, and demobilization proved a difficult challenge as the large amount of
regular and irregular native soldiers which had been employed by the Regio Esercito
represented a potential source of trouble. Amedeo faced the problem by expanding
the traditional policy of compensating Eritrean ascari veterans with land. Over the
years, this fostered the creation of an "ascari class" of landed farmer-soldiers, living
in homesteads dotting the Eritrean countryside.

The situation was more complex for the irregulars: Somali irregulars, mostly recruited
from clans of the Somali interior, had been mostly cut off from their traditional clan
ties by the long years spent away; those who failed to be reintegrated into clan
society moved into the cities or agrarian villages, seeking employment, mostly as
farm workers in the ever expanding banana and sugar plantations owned by RAMB.
These poor workers turned to the SYC to seek charity aid, and the SYC's ranks
rapidly expanded, opening several new sections across Greater Somalia and
reaching out to the pastoral clans as well.

Attempts to integrate former British Somaliland into the Italian administration cause
frictions with local, independent-minded clans in the hills of the interior. A rebellion
breaks out, spearheaded by religious leaders and led by Sheikh Bashir, a relative of
the "Mad Mullah" who led the Dervish forces in the 19th century. The rebellion is
rapidly put down by Italian troops, but Bashir narrowly manages to avoid capture and
goes into hiding.

Meanwhile, a large number of irregulars (largely Somalis and Oromos, but also
Yemenis and Eritreans) decided to turn to banditry, especially in the more remote and
poorly patrolled regions such as Ogaden and the Rift Valley, where they preyed on
isolated villages and market towns as shifta; in a lot of cases, these bands of
irregulars turned bandits were led by the same Italian officers who led them during
the war.

● Early 1950s: With rebellions largely dormant and most of the traditional rebel leaders
either paid off or dead, Amedeo, under encouragement from Rome, turns his
attention towards Kenya, which is still under a barely functioning regime of military
occupation. A "reconquest" and "pacification" campaign is planned and carried out:
the railway connecting Mombasa to Nairobi and the interior is slowly repaired as
Italian troops painstakingly make their way into the interior, facing much more trouble
due to bad weather and poor logistics than from any actual resistance, usually
 coming from scattered remnants of the British forces who refused to lay down arms.

The rapid expansion of the SYC causes a shift in the organization: it ideologically
develops into an explicitly pan-Somali unit, with the express goal of forming a Somali
national identity that transcends traditional clan divides and views Islam and unity of
all Somalis as its foundational principles. Alerted by the SYC's rapid growth, Amedeo
decides to do nothing but keep the organization under close watch; at the same time,
the rural Somali clans react to the expansion of the SYC, seen as a threat to
traditional clan power, by forming their own charity and "self-help" organization
modeled after the SYC, often much more openly pro-Italian. In particular, the
Digil-Mirfle, Isaaq, Dir and northern Darod clans each formed their own organization,
in many cases accepting Italian oversight and financial help.

Trouble begins in the semi-autonomous sultanate of Aussa as Italian authorities

begin to seize more and more land to distribute to the Eritrean Ascari and for
development of road and rail connections between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Such land had previously been pastoral land occupied by the semi-nomadic Afar
people, causing much resentment among the local tribes. Sultan Mahammad's
advisors suggest that he should attempt to oppose the Italians, and even offer aid to
the arbegnoch, but the cautious sultan refuses, causing even further tensions.

● 1955: A crisis breaks out in neighboring Sudan: South Sudanese troops garrisoning
Juba and the other major towns begin a mass mutiny against the Egyptian state,
resulting in widespread fighting. Italian forces from East Africa are ordered to invade
and restore order in the region, which is separated from Egyptian Sudan and turned
into an autonomous Italian governorate. Despite this, the South Sudanese guerrillas
continue their fights from the forests and swamps, albeit disorganized and
uncoordinated, at least initially. These guerrillas begin to call themselves anyanya
(local word for snake venom).

● 1956: Rebellion breaks out in the far western reaches of the Galla-Sidama
governorate, in the region inhabited by the Anuak people, fiercely resisting Italian
attempts to establish central authority in those remote areas. Anuak nobles and
aristocrats, who had so far been ruling themselves in near complete autonomy,
occupy the town of Pukumu and begin raiding Italian police stations and garrisons in
the region.

● Late 1950s: After a decade of dormancy, the arbegnoch under ras Aregai are ready
to resume the offensive. However, ras Aregai's once uncontested leadership over the
movement is now increasingly challenged by younger officers, some of whom
influenced by ideologies such as marxism, which entered Ethiopia through
neighboring Sudan and the local communist party. Now perfecting the art of the
guerrilla, the arbegnoch surgically strike Italian positions across the Amhara state.
Because of the unwillingness on part of Ciano's government to provide Amedeo with
adequate funding and supplies, the AOI administration fails to make headways into
the rebel-held mountain regions.
 With the reconquest of Kenya finally complete, the region is turned into a
Governorate of East Africa, with the name of Kenia. The agricultural lands are
intended to be distributed to Italian state companies for development, similarly to
Somalia; however, poor logistics and general lawlessness make the process
extremely inefficient. Quickly, the policy shifts towards selling off the land to
independent, private settlers, many of them veteran Italian soldiers, officers and
workers, who would later sell back the agricultural produce to Italian companies at a
favourable price; this causes a land glut, as many rush in the bid of seizing parcels of
productive Kenyan lands for cheap and turning a large profit from it. Many lands are
also illegally occupied by settlers, with the fascist authorities often turning a blind eye
due to widespread corruption or because it is precisely the low level local fascist
officers engaging in the illegal land grabbing for themselves. Immediately, settler
farming ushers in a massive demand for manpower, and the Kikuyu squatters and
urban dwellers are employed (or forced) to work in the settler farms.

In Somalia, the expansion of SYC and the proliferation of similar "clubs" has the
unintended side effect of increasing literacy rates and education among younger
Somalians, as secular schools and technical institutes ran by the SYC and the other
clubs provide an increasingly attractive alternative to the religious schools which
formed the entirety of the Somali education system.

● 1960-1962: Significant sections of the Amara governorate are under stable control by
the arbegnoch, and function as liberated areas.

In the Kenia governorate, the rapid and chaotic expansion of de facto unregulated
settler capitalism and ever-increasing demand for native manpower leads to
increasingly horrid work conditions for native labourers in the settler farms. Rural
workers, as well as slum-dwelling urban youths associated with Nairobi criminal
gangs, begin to take to the forests in increasing numbers, engaging in banditry and
issuing demands for "land and freedom". Despite the relative numerical strength, the
movement is totally uncoordinated and disorganized: yet, settlers in isolated areas
feel increasingly threatened by the "land and freedom armies", and due to the
corruption and inefficiency of the colonial police, the settlers begin to employ bands
of irregulars and shifta as well as corrupt Italian officers to work as mercenaries and
provide security.

In the governorate of Galla-Sidama, inspired by the successes achieved by SYC,

intellectuals belonging to several clans of the Oromo ethnicity begin organizing to
create a similar self-help and welfare association for their own people. Meanwhile,
the "Pukumu disturbance" in the Anuak regions is finally quelled in 1960 as an Italian
expedition defeats the rebels - the town of Pukumu is burned to the ground and many
Anuak nobles who contributed to the rebellion are arrested or killed. Despite this, the
disparate Anuak raiding parties begin to organize themselves as guerrilla bands
known as bura, getting help from the anyanya across the South Sudanese border
and espousing an increasingly explicit national liberation rhetoric, also involving the
Nuer people in their struggle. The bura quickly make significant gains, encroaching
on the provincial capital of Gambela.
East Africa in 1962 - But how does it work?

Starting Situation and Government Structure

Head of State: Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Enrico Cerulli [Despotist]

Economy Minister: Oreste Bonomi [Despotist]
Foreign Minister: Vincenzo Di Meglio [Despotist]
Security Minister: Amedeo Guillet [Despotist]

Starting Parties

Communism: /
Socialism: Kenya Land and Freedom Armies (KLFA) - Dedan Kimathi
Social Democracy: Waldaa Wal-gargaarsa Maccaa fi Tuulamaa (WWMT) - Maammoo
Mazammir
Liberal Democracy: /
Conservative Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdullahi Issa
Authoritarian Democracy: Arbegnoch - Abebe Aregai
Despotism: Office of the Viceroy - Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta
Fascism: Partito Nazionale Fascista - Africa Orientale Italiana (PNF-AOI) - Davide Fossa
National Socialism: /
Ultranationalism: /

Starting Ideas:

● Colonial Segregation: Ever since the beginning of fascist colonialism, the

inhabitants of East Africa have been subjected to a harsh regime of racial
segregation. Native Africans have little to no opportunity to achieve education or any
form of advancement in society, and any kind of interaction between natives and
Italians is opposed by the authorities. While this policy's effectiveness at preserving
Italian racial purity is limited at best, it is certainly counterproductive when it comes to
the development and economy of the colonies.

● The Never-Ending War: Ethiopia may have been conquered three decades ago, but
its spirit has not yet been broken. Bands of arbegnoch, the Ethiopian partisans, are
still active in the mountainous and remote regions of the country, waging a
dangerous guerrilla warfare that has severely undermined our hold on the
countryside, while their counterparts in the cities gather intelligence, enact sabotages
and spread propaganda to further weaken our grip on the population. Led by "the
little Negus" Abebe Aregai, the partisans will not stop fighting until victory or total
eradication.

● Inefficient Bureaucracy: The administration of Italian East Africa is plagued with

systemic inefficiency. Organized in a heavy, top-down fashion, much of the
bureaucracy exists to administer the bureaucracy itself; competent functionaries are
a rarity, with most being either inept or grossly corrupt; the vast majority of local
administrators cannot speak a word of the native languages; a plethora of
committees and subcommittees are created and destroyed every week to prevent
responsibilities for failure from falling on any single fascist uniform.

● The Viceroy and the Inspector: The two most powerful men of East Africa are
almost a symbolic representation of the two contradictory ways that Italian
colonialism has conceived itself. On the one hand viceroy Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta,
proponent of a paternalistic, "white man's burden" notion of colonialism for the sake
of economic development and exploitation of the colonies; on the other hand, PNF
inspector Davide Fossa, embodiment of a violently fascist ideology of subjugation
and demographic expansion in the African territories. The clash between these two is
representative of the inner divisions inside the government apparatus of East Africa,
and inside the Italian community as well.

The Structure of the AOI Government

Italian East Africa (AOI from now on) is the political entity encompassing the entirety of
Italian colonies in the Horn of Africa. The supreme political authority in AOI is the office of
the viceroy or governor-general (the two terms are equivalent), in the person of duke
Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta. The
viceroy answers solely to the king
and the government in Rome;
theoretically, the Ministry for Italian
Africa was the Italian government
entity tasked with overseeing and
managing the African colonies, but
already in the late 30s much of the
Ministry's powers passed in the
hands of viceroy Amedeo, who has
been free to act in near total
autonomy for the past two and a half
decades. The central government
resides in Addis Ababa.

The territory of AOI is subdivided into

seven governorates, each led by a
governor, who is appointed by the
viceroy and oversees his
governorate with strong oversight
from Amedeo and the central
government.

Click to see full map

The viceroy has several adjutants and aides making up the central government of AOI,
specifically a deputy viceroy, a general chief of staff to oversee the military, a cabinet of
ministers and counselors, as well as the General Council (made up of the most high ranking
civilian officers such as magistrates etc.) and the Consultative Assembly (the General
Council plus representatives from each Governorate).

AOI's administration is characterized by top-heavy bureaucracy and widespread corruption.

Most of the bureaucracy is organized to administer the bureaucracy itself, and it is infamous
for its tendency to create large numbers of committees, subcommittees, and commissions,
largely in order to prevent responsibility falling on any single administrator. A large number of
officers are infamous for their narrow-mindedness and incompetence, as well as unashamed
corruption. Reputedly, Amedeo once quipped that 50% of his subordinates are inept and
25% are thieves, with many colonial officers being engaged in a veritable frenzy to get rich
as quickly as possible by stealing everything that can be stolen.

Amedeo's Character
Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta is a prince born of a cadet branch of the Savoia royal house;
despite his princely blood, Amedeo did not have an easy or comfortable life. Born in 1898, at
a young age, Amedeo was sent to study in St. Andrew's college in London, becoming fluent
in English; shortly after his return to Italy, he enlisted to fight in WWI at the age of sixteen,
becoming a first line artilleryman. After the end of the war, he went on his first trip to Somalia
alongside his uncle duke Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta, helping the latter in founding an
agricultural settlement in the region.

In 1921, after a spat with king Vittorio

Emanuele III, Amedeo left for Africa
again, this time for Belgian Congo,
where he found employment as a
worker in a soap factory in Stanleyville,
under a pseudonym. After returning
home, he graduated in law with a thesis
on colonial law: in his thesis, he would
argue in favour of a "white man's
burden" approach to colonialism, stating
that colonialism is acceptable and
justifiable as long as it results in an
improvement of the living conditions of
the colonized peoples.

Between 1937 and 1938, Amedeo

replaced general Rodolfo Graziani as
viceroy of AOI. Amedeo moved away
from his predecessor's policy of large
scale, massive military operations with
the goal of eradicating rebel presence in an area, instead opting for a mixture of political
approaches towards rebel leaders (mostly intimidating or bribing them into surrender) and
limited, small scale counter-guerrilla military operations, while focusing the resources of AOI
into the development of civilian infrastructure and public works.

Amedeo, under suggestion from Rome, has also largely abandoned the policy of
demographic colonization (i.e. focusing on making as many Italians as possible come to live
in AOI) in favour of pursuing economic colonization (i.e. exploiting the resources of the
region as much as possible for the benefit of Italy and the colonial government). This policy,
as well as his near absolute control over the colony, has caused some resentment among
the more ideological sections of the fascist regime both in Italy and abroad.

Amedeo's character is structured around the conflict between his strong moralistic and
paternalistic conviction that colonization is genuinely a force for good in Africa, versus the
horrible reality of East African life under Italian domination. While Amedeo genuinely tries to
improve the lives of his subjects, he will have to face not only the structural limits of the
colonial apparatus, but also the resistance of natives, whose main wish is not to have their
lives "improved" by a foreign regime which has consistently shown its disregard for the
locals' livelihoods, but rather for the Italians to leave so that the Horn of Africa may finally
regain its lost freedom. Despite his paternalistic "well intentioned" tendencies, Amedeo did
not hesitate to also make use of toxic gas to repress rebellions, much like his predecessor
Graziani; Amedeo can thus be characterized as a paternalistic authoritarian figure, whose
long experience in Africa and as viceroy made him cynical and jaded towards a continent for
which he sees no realistic alternative other than continued subjugation to white rule.

The PNF in East Africa and Davide Fossa

Unlike in Italy, where the Partito Nazionale Fascista's political machine played a key role in
the structure of the fascist regime, in AOI the fascist party had a very limited role politically,
with all authority concentrated in the hands of the viceroy and the governors. Despite its lack
of concrete influence in the political sphere, the PNF still had an important role in the cultural
and everyday life of Italians in AOI, as it was the main source of propagation for the regime's
fascist and racist propaganda. The local sections of the PNF in AOI are the main meeting
places for the Italian communities scattered in the region, where cultural events are
organized and where Italians are constantly reminded of their racial superiority and
civilizational mission in a land they rule by right of conquest. It should not be surprising that
whenever events such as the Yekatit 12 massacre take place, PNF officers are among those
most active in inciting racial hatred among the Italian community.

The highest office of the PNF in AOI is the PNF Inspectorate for AOI, overseeing and
coordinating the activity of the various local party sections. Since the late 30s, the chief
inspector has been Davide Fossa. As party inspector, Fossa has written a memorandum
containing his own political program for running the colony, structured around 10 very
fascist-sounding points (with a translation in common speech between parentheses):

1. Demographic colonization is one of the cornerstones of imperial conquest ("we need

to bring more Italians over here");

2. The action for demographic colonization must be strictly prudential ("we need to
make sure Italians don't mix with Africans");

3. Accurately choose the locations and severely select the families ("we need to make
sure that whoever we bring over here is a loyal fascist or at least willing to shut up
and do as we tell them");

4. Rural centres should have a unitary ethnic character ("if you're black stay away from
where we live");

5. Estates should be between 30 and 50 hectares in size. Let families lead and work in
the farm, but they should always have under them a certain amount of indigenous
manpower ("and if those blacks don't want to work, we'll make them");

6. The family should be quickly involved in administering the property ("we can't keep
running everything ourselves");
 7. The direction of the rural centres should be unitary under a technical and economical
viewpoint ("don't get any weird ideas though, we're still in charge");

8. The profits, and even the wages, should be adequate to the possibilities of
production ("if you come here as a colonist and you're still poor it's not our fault");

9. Farmers should be militarily organized and trained ("so they can shoot black people
more efficiently if needed");

10. Execution of the settlement program should be carried out in a period from six to
twelve years long ("because God knows if we'll be able to stay here for that long
otherwise").

Since the same period, Fossa has also been the leader of the other major PNF institution in
AOI, which is the Fascist Inspectorate for Production and Labour in AOI. The task of the
IFPL-AOI was to oversee and coordinate civilian labour in the colony, (theoretically) making
sure no excessive abuses were committed, with its local office resolving conflicts between
workers and employers. While the effectiveness of the inspectorate in actually looking out for
workers has always been minimal (abuses and illegality are rampant and most things are
done at the total discretion of the employers and the local governors), the IFPL-AOI is still an
important institution on which the Italian community is often economically reliant for welfare
and work-related issues.

Despite the relative political weakness of the PNF in AOI, Fossa's position as both party
inspector and labour inspector has allowed him to amass an almost unparalleled personal
power in AOI, second only to that of the viceroy himself, for whom Fossa has come to harbor
a bitter personal and ideological rivalry. Fossa's character is that of an incredibly ambitious
fascist officer, who has been working tirelessly for years to institute his "shadow empire"
parallel to Amedeo's authority. Fossa's character should be structured around the conflict
between his drive for personal power and the utopia of a "fascist Africa" where
farmer-colonists and their black subjects leave in peace and contentment, each respectful of
each other's role, and the horrendous outbursts of violence which are the inevitable
consequence of racist policies espoused by fascism, exploding in events such as the
aforementioned Yekatit 12 massacre and innumerable other such cases.

Law Enforcement and Military

The public force organization responsible for

keeping law and order in the colony, entrusted
with basically every sphere of civilian policing
including enforcement of censorship,
anti-smuggling operations, traffic and road
policing, bodyguard service for governors and
other high ranking officers, enforcement of racial
segregation laws, etc. etc., is the Polizia
dell'Africa Italiana (PAI, or Italian Africa Police).
Created specifically to enforce the laws of a
totalitarian and racist regime, the PAI employs
mostly white officers overseeing a multitude of
white and also African agents. Over the years and
under Amedeo's directive, the PAI was gradually
expanded and reformed, greatly increasing its
efficiency as a public order and repression
apparatus. The commander of the PAI is general
Walter Cerrini.

The other organization entrusted with local law

enforcement is the Carabinieri, the military
gendarmerie of the Italian army. The Carabinieri form part of military forces in AOI, but the
vast majority of Italian military assets in AOI belong to the Regi Corpi Truppe Coloniali
(RCTC, or Royal Colonial Troops Corps), which is to say native soldiers and NCOs led by
white officers. The RCTC are composed of a very wide variety of different troops, both
regular and irregular, differing in equipment and organization. The majority of regular RCTC
troops form the ascari, which are native battalions serving in the various different branches
of the Italian armed forces (ascari serving under the Carabinieri are known as zaptié); most
ascari are recruited in Eritrea and Somalia. Irregular troops worthy of note are the dubat
(irregular Somalian infantry) as well as the bande, native irregulars led by Italian officers.
Irregular troops are normally used in auxiliary roles, as well as for maintaining order in the
more remote and isolated regions of the vast territories of AOI.

It pays to mention that the bande were often under only very loose control by Italian military
authorities. More often than not, the Italian officers leading the bande were more akin to
adventurers or cowboys than to actual military officers, allowing their men to plunder
captured villages and actively partaking in such borderline banditry actions. Each banda
leader had their own style of leadership: while some were infamous for strict
disciplinarianism and poor treatment of their own soldiers, others (including Amedeo Guillet,
a character which will likely one day get his own doc describing him) were known for a more
"democratic" leadership and respectful treatment of their soldiers.
General Policy Towards Natives

In general terms, racism was one of the main pillars of fascist ideology and colonialism since
its very early moves. It helps to compare fascist colonial policy with that of two opposite
contemporary colonial empires: the British and the French. The typical British colony was
governed by indirect rule: existing pre-colonial power structures (princely states, petty
kingdoms, chiefdoms, religious authorities etc.) were typically left in place and kept in a
vassalage or protectorate status, essentially co-opted for the colonial goals of Great Britain.
On the contrary, French colonialism tended to dismantle local power structures and
implemented an European style system of administration and education, with the goal to
focus on the creation of a class of évolués, European-educated natives who could shoulder
the daily tasks of bureaucracy and administration, thus favouring the integration of the
colony into the larger empire.

Fascist colonialism avoided both of these things: at once, it destroyed traditional power
structures (like in the French case), but did nothing to provide better education to the native
populations or to involve them in government. The racist ideology of fascism postulated that
the African races would be biologically unfit to ever participate in the administration of the
Italian empire at all but the most local of levels (e.g. that of village chiefs); simultaneously,
traditional power structures (like the Ethiopian aristocracy or the Somali sultanates) were
viewed as unreliable at best and as a threat to Italian interests at worst, and were usually
liquidated as soon as it was convenient to do so. In fascist ideology and rhetoric, African
races were seen as naturally incapable of development or progress, and any advancement
by Africans would be the more or less direct result of the Italian and European "civilizing
mission".

Naturally, in light of this profoundly racist worldview, daily life in the colonies is organized
alongside strict racial segregation regulations. Ethnicities are kept vigorously separated
whenever possible in all spheres of life, including politics (the natives are afforded no real
autonomy or political representation), education (blacks normally can't access formal
education other than those offered by religious schools, where available), jobs, and so forth.
Interestingly, the separation is even present in language. The vast majority of Italians who
live in AOI can only speak Italian; mid level government functionaries can, at best, speak
some Arabic; Italians who have a good knowledge of the more widespread languages, like
Ge'ez, Somalian or Amharic, are few and far between; and finally, Italians who have a good
knowledge of the innumerable minor and regional languages are so rare they might as well
not exist. This is one of the many signs that what was expected of natives in AOI was
nothing other than obedience and discipline. Interactions between Italians and natives did of
course occur on a daily basis, but with the Italian side nearly always in a position of total
superiority.
Finally, it is worth mentioning one of the many grim "side effects" of fascist colonial policy:
the institution of madamato, or informal concubinage between Italian men and native
women. The disruption of traditional social life of East African natives led numerous young
women and girls, who could no longer rely on family and clan ties, to leave for the colonial
cities. There, they'd find droves of Italian men, who, more often than not, arrived in Africa
alone as their wives remained in Italy. This resulted in the girls (some of them as young as
12) becoming madame, something between concubines, maids and sex slaves for these
Italian men, in order to find a stable accomodation. The madame were often treated as little
more than objects, traded and exchanged between Italians as they came and went about the
colonies; when they got pregnant, or simply at their "master's" whim, they were usually
abandoned with basically nothing to support themselves (and their children, if they had any).
It is worth noting that there were exceptions, with some Italian men treating their madame
with respect and recognizing the children they had with them. The fascist government
attempted to crack down on madamato in order to preserve racial purity, imposing heavy
punishments on people found guilty and attempting to import large numbers of European
prostitutes to satisfy the needs of the colonial Italians, but madamato was never completely
rooted out. One of the main tasks of PAI was precisely policing and regulating prostitution in
AOI, in the attempt to prevent madamato and any sort of sexual or intimate relationship
between Italian and natives.

Northern Ethiopia in 1962 - The Neverending War

Governorates of Scioà and Amara

The governorates of Amara (named after the Amhara people) and Scioà (the Italianization of
Shewa) were created out of much of the northern half of the old Ethiopian empire. Scioà is
the smallest out of all the
governorates, and only
includes AOI's capital,
Addis Ababa, and the
surrounding highlands,
while Amara is much
larger and includes the
entire mountainous
region of north, stretching
all the way to the
mountains surrounding
lake Tana and
encompassing the areas
of Gojjam, Wollo,
Begemder, Menz, Wag,
and the Simien
mountains - its capital is the ancient city of Gondar.

The region used to be the heartland of the old Ethiopian empire, and the homeland of its
dominant ethnic group, the Amhara, which is still the majority ethnic group in the region, with
several smaller ethnic groups also occupying the vast region. Traditionally, the region was
under the authority of the Ethiopian emperor, but in truth local political power was held by the
numerous feudal aristocrats composing the ruling class of the empire. Another significant
power player in the region has always been the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as
the vast majority of Amharas are followers of said church; the Tewahedo clergy owned
sizeable amounts of land, with villages and towns often appearing next to large monasteries
and religious communities.

With such a geographic and political situation, it should not be surprising that the Amara
region has been, since the start of the Italian occupation, the main hotbed of resistance to
Italian rule. Much of the population not only harbors a sense of pride in the lost Ethiopian
empire, but it is also made up of mountain folk used to living in tightly knit rural and religious
communities, where gun ownership is extremely common (as a defense against local wildlife
and bandits, as well as a sign of leadership by the family head); this, combined with the
Italian policy that anyone found in possession of a gun is a partisan and should be punished
by execution or imprisonment, obviously further exacerbated tensions.

Italian colonial policy also actively antagonized the local aristocracy, which was seen as a
source of trouble, leading many of the ras to actively support the resistance; Italian
authorities also consistently disrespected the Tewahedo church, routinely violating the
sanctity of monasteries, churches and consecrated lands, while also having no qualms about
murdering droves of monks and priests suspected of aiding the resistance. The proportion of
Italian repression against the Amhara ethnic group was nothing short of genocidal, with
numerous villages being destroyed out of suspicion they may provide shelter for the
resistance; serious plans were considered for a mass deportation of the Amhara
communities scattered around Ethiopia, to be concentrated into the Amara governorate. It
was only when Amedeo became firmly established as viceroy that attempts to woo the
Amhara aristocracy became more
systemic; despite this, some
opportunistic nobles needed little
encouragement, one example being
ras Haile Selassie Gugsa, who
defected to the Italian side as soon
as hostilities began in October of
1935.

The main resistance movement to

Italian occupation developed as a
direct response to the invasion by the
local aristocracy and the Tewahedo
church; its members are known as
arbegnoch or arbegnuoc, meaning
"patriots" in Amharic (singular is
arbegna, meaning "patriot"). Despite
being one of the earliest historical examples of an organized anti-colonial mass movement,
the arbegnoch lacked any cohesive ideological orientation beyond wishing to see the end of
Italian domination and a return to the days of the Ethiopian empire. The leadership of the
arbegnoch was drawn from the pre-colonial aristocracy; among them is the undisputed
leader of the arbegnoch, Abebe Aregai. In the long years of their endless war, Aregai and
the arbegnoch mastered the art of guerrilla, slowly and painstakingly learning exactly where
and when to strike in order to hurt Italians the most; this has allowed them to exploit the
impassable mountains and lackluster infrastructure of Amara to liberate several mountain
strongholds from which to operate freely, especially in the region of Gojjam, Wollo and Menz.

Aregai's skill as a military commander does not mean he doesn't face internal opposition,
however. After almost 30 years of occupation, the idea of a restoration of the long exiled
negus on the throne appears to be more a pipe dream than a realistic possibility. This is one
of the factors which led a variety of embryonal political currents to appear among the
arbegnoch, ranging from progressivism to various forms of socialism. However, the nature of
the occupation and the resistance has made it impossible to establish anything resembling
formal parties or political organizations, and while these ideas do circulate among Ethiopian
patriots (especially in the cities), they have not found an outlet, at least yet.

While of course the arbegnoch's activities are mostly concentrated in the countryside, it does
not mean urban areas aren't affected. The so-called "ya west arbegnoch" are the section of
the resistance movement which acts in Italian controlled territory to provide the partisans
with intelligence and supplies, as well as conducting sabotage operations and even urban
insurgency. It is among these well developed networks of "urban arbegnoch" (many of whom
are women) that socialist and leftist ideas circulate the most, largely aided by the fact that
many of them are from working class backgrounds (for example, the arbegnoch movement
is well rooted among the Addis Ababa railway workers). The "ya west arbegnoch" are often
considered by Italian authorities to be more dangerous than the partisans in the mountains,
due to the secrecy of their operations.

In conclusion, a few notes on AOI's capital, Addis Ababa: the city is the largest urban centre
in AOI, home to a large population of Italians which is basically the only significant Italian
community in northern Ethiopia. Rebuilt by the Italians over the years and theoretically
designed as a harmonious fascist city where ethnicities are separated into their own
quarters, in reality the city is a chaotic mess, as urban plans were never fully implemented
and often changed mid-way, while abusive construction is rampant.

Southern Ethiopia in 1962 - The Wild Frontier

Governorates of Harar and Galla-Sidama

The Governorates of Harar (named after its capital, Harar) and Galla-Sidama (named after
the two largest ethnic groups, the Galla or Oromo and the Sidama) make up a vast region
which is referred to as Southern Ethiopia. While this territory is wildly diverse from an
ethnographic and geographical viewpoint, there are some shared traits: this whole territory
constituted the southern frontier of the Ethiopian empire, over which the Ethiopian emperors
struggled to impose their rule. Overall, the Oromo ethnic group forms the majority of the
population, with other notable groups being the Amhara, the aforementioned Sidama, the
Harari people, the Anuak, and a vast plethora of others. Islam is the dominant religion, but
there are significant Christian (Ethiopian Orthodox as well as Catholic) minorities; many
ethnic groups also still practice their traditional religions.

Historically, the region was divided in a vast number of local and tribal polities such as petty
kingdoms, city states, and tribal entities, founded on trade and the cultivation of certain crops
such as coffee or enset, and, in the case of the lowland peoples, semi-nomadic cattle
husbandry. Over the centuries the Ethiopian state to the north gradually absorbed the
southern statelets, through military conquest or through treaties partially binding local
leaders to the authority of the negus. Amhara leaders and their entourages (usually
Christian) moved in great numbers to the fertile, Oromo inhabited valleys of southern
Ethiopia, becoming feudal
lords and ruling over lands
toiled by Oromo peasant
workers (usually Muslim).

Over time, this caused some

resentment to appear between
Oromos and Amharas, which
the Italians promptly exploited
after their colonial conquest.
Under Italian domination, the
vast mineral and agricultural
resources of southern Ethiopia
remained largely untapped:
modern infrastructure is
basically non-existent, the
terrain is rough, and Italy simply did not have the resources to penetrate in the far reaches of
southern Ethiopia. Apart from garrisons in the major cities and towns, Italian presence is
mostly theoretical, and the number of Italian settlers is practically equal to zero. Despite this,
the remoteness of the region (making it difficult to access even to the arbegnoch) and the
fact that Italian authorities had their attention focused elsewhere means that southern
Ethiopia was governed by a sort of "benign neglect", and it is comparatively much more
peaceful than the northern half of Ethiopia, with many local tribal groups largely still being
allowed to exist in accordance to their traditional customs with little or no Italian oversight.

Geographically, the region can be divided into three large sectors: the lowlands, west and
around the Omo river, the highlands, to the north and around the southern part of the
Ethiopian Rift Valley, and the arid regions to the east, corresponding to the borders of the
Harar governorate.

The lowlands are a region of hills, dense forests and river valleys located around and directly
to the west of the Omo river. This region is inhabited by a vast plethora of ethnic groups
including (but not limited to) the Anuak, Welayta, Sidama, Gurage, Hadiya, and many more:
most of these groups still practice their traditional religion, but there are large portions of
them which converted to Islam or Christianity. These populations were (and still are) largely
independent minded, often developing prosperous polities (such as the Kingdom of Kaffa)
based around trade and agriculture which got absorbed by Ethiopia in the 19th century. Out
of these, the most independent-minded of the bunch, which never got fully absorbed by
Ethiopia let alone by Italy, are the Anuak, inhabiting the very western wetlands around the
Baro river. The Anuak are traditionally a cattle-farming people based around a clan structure
which constantly traded with Ethiopia but was never fully absorbed by it, and often viewed
with open hostility the Amhara feudal lords and Oromo peasants (collectively and
disparagingly referred to as "red-faced highlanders") who were perceived as a danger to
their traditional cattle-based society. This cattle-reliant lifestyle, as well as their Nilotic
language (whereas most other Ethiopian languages are Semitic or Cushitic), makes the
Anuak very much akin to the other Nilotic people across the border with Sudan, which helps
explain why the anyanya rebellion of Southern Sudan has spread to the Anuak lands too: at
game start, the Anuak are in open rebellion, and threatening to take the local capital of
Gambela under the banner of a nascent Anuak nationalism.

The central highlands of Southern Ethiopia, located around the southern portion of the
Ethiopian Rift Valley as well as the hilly regions to its northwest, are the traditional heartland
of the majority Muslim Oromo people. This region holds the most valuable agricultural land in
Ethiopia, which is why the feudal Ethiopian empire was so keen on seizing it: Oromo
peasants toiled under Amhara lords and sold their crops at Amhara controlled marked
towns, as Addis Ababa attempted to dismantle traditional Oromo society to impose the
imperial feudal order. With Italian conquest, the fascists hoped that the Ethiopian Rift Valley
could become a new breadbasket for the African colonies: this plan largely failed due to
logistical and economic complications, with modern, Italian owned farms in Oromo territory
being few and far between, and most lands being used according to traditional clan customs.
Despite this, Italian domination had the somewhat unintended side effect of giving rise to a
nascent Oromo national and political consciousness: taking inspiration from similar
developments in Somalia, educated Oromos are beginning to form "self-help associations"
(such as the Mecha and Tulama Self-Help Association) to provide charitable welfare for
Oromo agricultural workers. In reality, these welfare associations are a thin cover to spread a
nascent Oromo nationalism and anti-colonialism.

Finally, the eastern portion of the territory coincides with the Harar Governorate and it is
made up of an arid and semi-desert highland gradually degrading into the Ogaden desert
towards the Somalian border. The capital of this region is the city of Harar: historically, the
area was its own independent emirate, and was only conquered by Ethiopia in the late 19th
century. Harar is considered one of the holiest cities of Islam (earning the nickname of "City
of Saints") and is an important centre of Islamic learning. The major ethnic group here is the
Harari people, who are majority Muslim. The largest city of the region is not Harar, but the
important market centre of Dire Dawa, mostly inhabited by Oromos.
Eritrea in 1962 - The Firstborn Colony

Governorate of Eritrea

Somalia in 1962 - The Lost Homeland

Governorate of Somalia

Kenya in 1962 - The Fever Tree

Governorate of Kenia
Decolonization Skeleton Content

The outcomes of IEA decolonization for democratic Italy are based on the Imper GUI. Each
region of IEA will have a different outcome depending on its CONTROL stat when
decolonization happens.

1. ERITREA

High Control:

REPUBLIC OF ERITREA

Territory: Bassopiani Eritrei, Altopiani Eritrei, Dancalia, Tigrai, Aussa

Capital: Asmara

Head of State: Uoldeàb Uoldemariàm [LibDem]

Cabinet

Head of Government: Ibrahim Sultan Ali [ConDem]

Economy Minister: Vincenzo Di Meglio [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Abdulkadir Kebire [ConDem]
Security Minister: Mohammed Saeed Nawed [ConDem]

Starting Parties

Communism: Partito Democratico Popolare dei Lavoratori Eritrei (PDPLE) - Saleh Iyay
Socialism: Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo (FLE) - Idris Mohammed Adem
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Partito per la Libertà ed il Progresso (PLP) - Woldeab
Woldemariam
Conservative Democracy: Lega Musulmana (LM) - Ibrahim Sultan Ali
Authoritarian Democracy: Partito Nuova Eritrea (PNE) - Vincenzo di Meglio
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Blocco Indipendenza: Eritrea is governed by a wide coalition including all parties

which campaigned for its independence, appropriately called "Independence Bloc".
However, behind this apparent unity, the Eritrean parties are divided along ethnic and
confessional lines, with each representing a different community: the
Christian-dominated Liberty and Progress Party, the Muslim League, and the New
Eritrea Party, representing the local Italian community.

● The Tigray Question: The mountainous province of Tigray, historically a part of

Ethiopia, was annexed into Eritrea after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. This caused
much resentment among the Tigrayans, some of whom wish to be reunited with a
free Ethiopia, while others believe that Tigray should be an independent state in its
own right. Unless the province is kept under close watch, it will surely be a major
source of trouble.
Medium Control:

REPUBLIC OF ERITREA

Territory: Bassopiani Eritrei, Altopiani Eritrei, Dancalia, Tigrai

Capital: Asmara

Head of State: Uoldeàb Uoldemariàm [LibDem]

Cabinet

Head of Government: Ibrahim Sultan Ali [ConDem]

Economy Minister: Vincenzo Di Meglio [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Abdulkadir Kebire [ConDem]
Security Minister: Mohammed Saeed Nawed [LibDem]

Starting Parties

Communism: Partito Democratico Popolare dei Lavoratori Eritrei (PDPLE) - Saleh Iyay
Socialism: Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo (FLE) - Idris Mohammed Adem
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Partito per la Libertà ed il Progresso (PLP) - Woldeab
Woldemariam
Conservative Democracy: Lega Musulmana (LM) - Ibrahim Sultan Ali
Authoritarian Democracy: Partito Nuova Eritrea (PNE) - Vincenzo di Meglio
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Blocco Indipendenza: Eritrea is governed by a wide coalition including all parties

which campaigned for its independence, appropriately called "Independence Bloc".
However, behind this apparent unity, the Eritrean parties are divided along ethnic and
confessional lines, with each representing a different community: the
Christian-dominated Liberty and Progress Party, the Muslim League, and the New
 Eritrea Party, representing the local Italian community.

● The Tigray Question: The mountainous province of Tigray, historically a part of

Ethiopia, was annexed into Eritrea after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. This caused
much resentment among the Tigrayans, some of whom wish to be reunited with a
free Ethiopia, while others believe that Tigray should be an independent state in its
own right. Unless the province is kept under close watch, it will surely be a major
source of trouble.
 SULTANATE OF AUSSA

Territory: Aussa

Capital: Asaita

Leader: Mahammad ibn Yayyo [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Almirah Hanfare [AuthDem]

Economy Minister: Barakat Gourad Hamadou [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Ali Aref Bourhan [AuthDem]
Security Minister: Ahmed Dini Ahmed [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Court Reformists - Almirah Hanfare
Despotism: Mahammad's Court - Mahammad ibn Yayyo
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Deserts of Dancalia: The territory of our state consists in large part of the Afar
Depression, also known as the Danakil Desert. One of the hottest places on Earth,
the Danakil Desert has been home to the Afar people and their livestock for
centuries, but the extreme terrain and climate makes it difficult to develop anything
resembling a modern infrastructure.

● Backwards Administration: The traditional ways of the Afar are that of a pastoralist
people, governed by a caste-based clan system with a sultan on top. While under the
Italians the coastal regions were somewhat developed, the desertic interior is still
ruled according to the ancient ways, but there are many who believe that a
modernizing push is needed to drag Aussa out of antiquity and into modernity.
Low Control:

STATE OF ERITREA

Territory: Altopiani Eritrei, Bassopiani Eritrei, Dancalia

Leader: Idris Mohamed Adem [Socialism]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Mohamed Said Nawud [AuthDem]

Economy Minister: Saleh Iyay [Communism]
Foreign Minister: Osman Saleh Sabbe [Socialism]
Security Minister: Hamid Idris Awate [Socialism]

Starting Parties

Communism: Partito Democratico Popolare dei Lavoratori Eritrei (PDPLE) - Saleh Iyay
Socialism: Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo (FLE) - Idris Mohammed Adem
Social Democracy: Movimento di Liberazione Eritreo (MLE) - Mohamed Said Nawud
Liberal Democracy: Partito per la Libertà ed il Progresso (PLP) - Woldeab Woldemariam
Conservative Democracy: Lega Musulmana (LM) - Ibrahim Sultan Ali
Authoritarian Democracy: Partito Nuova Eritrea (PNE) - Vincenzo Di Meglio
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Ascari Regime: The presently existing Eritrean state is holding itself together
because of mass mobilization of former Regio Esercito colonial forces who turned
their guns against their Italian officers. If we cannot maintain these forces loyal and
cohesive, then our new country might fall into chaos.

● Political Struggles: In the wake of Italian evacuation from Eritrea, the country is
governed by a coalition of leftist and nationalist forces, all opposed to Italian
intervention. However, different currents, personal rivalries and competing visions
over the future of the country drive deep cracks in this broad front: from secular
nationalists to marxists-leninists, everyone wants to have a say in what Eritrea's
future should look like, and it's likely that this clash may turn violent.
 SULTANATE OF AUSSA

Territory: Aussa

Capital: Asaita

Leader: Mahammad ibn Yayyo [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Almirah Hanfare [AuthDem]

Economy Minister: Barakat Gourad Hamadou [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Ali Aref Bourhan [AuthDem]
Security Minister: Ahmed Dini Ahmed [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Court Reformists - Almirah Hanfare
Despotism: Mahammad's Court - Mahammad ibn Yayyo
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Deserts of Dancalia: The territory of our state consists in large part of the Afar
Depression, also known as the Danakil Desert. One of the hottest places on Earth,
the Danakil Desert has been home to the Afar people and their livestock for
centuries, but the extreme terrain and climate makes it difficult to develop anything
resembling a modern infrastructure.

● Backwards Administration: The traditional ways of the Afar are that of a pastoralist
people, governed by a caste-based clan system with a sultan on top. While under the
Italians the coastal regions were somewhat developed, the desertic interior is still
ruled according to the ancient ways, but there are many who believe that a
modernizing push is needed to drag Aussa out of antiquity and into modernity.
 STATE OF TIGRAY

Territory: Tigrai

Capital: Macallè

Leader: Haile Maryam Redda [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Yeebio Woldai [Despotist]

Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister: Seyoum Mengesha [Despotist]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Abbo Gerebs - Haile Maryam Redda
Despotism: Court of the Ras - Seyoum Mengesha
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Millenarian Nationalism: The Tigrayan rebellion is a heterogeneous mixture of

disaffected aristocracy, masses of peasants, bandit chiefs, Christian religious
leaders, and tribal populations. Holding this disparate mass together is a spirit of
religious nationalism fostered by its leaders: Tigray, the ancient heartland of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, has a God-given mission to liberate itself and all of East
Africa from foreign oppressors.
● The Woyane and the Ras: While the rank and file of Tigrayan rebels is formed by
masses of angry peasants and by groups of roving shifta led by Haile Maryam
Redda, it has found much support among the local aristocracy too, with a powerful
patron being ras Seyoum Mengesha. While internal struggles among the rebellion
chiefs are inevitable, this conflict may determine the future of Tigray as a whole.
2. NORTHERN ETHIOPIA
High Control:

ETHIOPIA

Territory: Goggiam, Semien, Uollo Jeggiu

Capital: Gondar

Leader: Abebe Aregai [AuthDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Mesfin Sileshi [AuthDem]

Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister: Mengistu Neway [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Arbegnoch - Abebe Aregai
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Indomitable Arbegnoch:

● The Political Question:

 KINGDOM OF ABYSSINIA

Territory: Scioà, Debre Berhan

Capital: Addis Abeba

Leader: Haile Selassie Gugsa [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government:
Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism: Gugsa's Court - Haile Selassie Gugsa
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Puppet Aristocracy:

● Ya West Arbegnoch:
Medium Control:

ETHIOPIA

Territory: Goggiam, Semien, Uollo Jeggiu

Capital: Gondar

Leader: Abebe Aregai [AuthDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Mesfin Sileshi [AuthDem]

Economy Minister: Jagama Kello [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Senedu Gebru [AuthDem]
Security Minister: Mengistu Neway [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Arbegnoch - Abebe Aregai
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Indomitable Arbegnoch:

● The Political Question:

 ABYSSINIAN MILITARY ADMINISTRATION

Territory: Scioà, Debre Berhan

Capital: Addis Abeba

Leader: Amedeo Guillet [Despotism]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government:
Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism: Amministrazione Militare Abissina (AMA) - Amedeo Guillet
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Negotiating a Retreat:

● Deteriorating Public Order:

Low Control:

ETHIOPIA

Territory: Goggiam, Semien, Uollo Jeggiu, Debre Berhan

Capital: Gondar

Leader: Abebe Aregai [AuthDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Mesfin Sileshi [AuthDem]

Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister: Mengistu Neway [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Arbegnoch - Abebe Aregai
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Indomitable Arbegnoch:

● The Political Question:

 GOVERNORATE OF SCIOÀ

Territory: Scioà

Capital: Addis Abeba

Leader: Davide Fossa [Fascism]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Angelo Tuttoilmondo [Fascism]

Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism: Partito Nazionale Fascista - Africa Orientale Italiana (PNF-AOI) - Davide
Fossa
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Little Duce's Empire:

● Winds of Yekatit:
3. SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA
High Control:

SULTANATE OF OROMO AND SIDAMA

Territory: Gimma - Uollega, Arussi - Bale, Harar, Borana, Sidama, Omo

Capital: Gimma

Leader: Abba Jofir [AuthDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Maammoo Mazammir [Socialism]

Economy Minister: Baro Tumsa [Socialism]
Foreign Minister: Ababiya Abajobir [Socialism]
Security Minister: Tadesse Birru [Socialism]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Adda Oromoo (AO) - Tadesse Birru
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: The Sultan's Court - Abba Jofir
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Building a Nation:

● The Sultan and the Front:

 REPUBLIC OF GAMBELA

Territory: Gambela

Capital: Gambela

Leader: Pal Chay [SocDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Agwa Alemu [Socialism]

Economy Minister: Tongyik Tenjah [SocDem]
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister: Thowat Pal [SocDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Gambela Liberation Front (GLF) - Agwa Alemu
Social Democracy: Gambela People's Democratic Unity Party (GPDUP) - Pal Chay
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Anuak and Nuer:

● The Jenubi Project:

Medium Control:

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH ETHIOPIA

Territory: Gimma - Uollega, Arussi - Bale, Harar [DMZ], Borana, Sidama, Omo [DMZ],
Gambela [DMZ]

Capital: Gimma

Leader: Girma Wolde-Giorgis [LibDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government:
Economy Minister: Bulcha Demeksa [LibDem]
Foreign Minister: Tesfaye Dinka [LibDem]
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Adda Oromoo (AO) - Tadesse Birru
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata (WFU) - Bulcha Demeksa
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Limited Control:

● Towards a New Ethiopia?:

Low Control:

COLLAPSE OF AUTHORITY

Territory: Gimma - Uollega, Arussi - Bale, Harar, Borana, Sidama, Omo, Gambela

Capital: Gimma

Leader: None [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government:
Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Widespread Devastation:

● Collapse of Central Authority:

4. SOMALIA
High Control:

SOMALI REPUBLIC

Territory: Mogadiscio, Giuba, Scebeli, Mudugh, Migiurtinia, Ogaden, Isaaq, Gibuti

Capital: Mogadiscio

Leader: Abdullahi Issa Mohamud [ConDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Aden Abdulle Osman Daar [ConDem]

Economy Minister: Haji Farah Ali Omar [ConDem]
Foreign Minister: Aden Isaq Ahmed [ConDem]
Security Minister: Michael Mariano [ConDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Midowga Soomaaliweyn (MSW) - Haaji Mahammad Husseen
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
Conservative Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdullahi Issa
Mohamud
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Long Live Somalia!:

● Federalist Opposition:
Medium Control:

SOMALI REPUBLIC

Territory: Mogadiscio, Giuba, Scebeli, Mudugh, Migiurtinia, Ogaden, Isaaq, Gibuti

Capital: Mogadiscio

Leader: Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke [LibDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Haji Bashir Ismail Yusuf [LibDem]

Economy Minister: Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein [LibDem]
Foreign Minister: Abdulrahim Abby Farah [LibDem]
Security Minister: Abdillahi Mohammed Ahmed [LibDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Midowga Soomaaliweyn (MSW) - Haaji Mahammad Husseen
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdirashid Ali
Sharmarke
Conservative Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdullahi Issa
Mohamud
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Political Cliques:

● Clan Upheaval:
Low Control:

SOMALI REPUBLIC

Territory: Mogadiscio, Giuba, Scebeli, Mudugh, Migiurtinia, Ogaden, Isaaq, Gibuti

Capital: Mogadiscio

Leader: Jama Ali Korshel [Despotist]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Siad Barre [Despotist]

Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister: Salaad Gabeyre Kediye [Despotist]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Midowga Soomaaliweyn (MSW) - Haaji Mahammad Husseen
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdirashid Ali
Sharmarke
Conservative Democracy: Ururka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed (UDS) - Abdullahi Issa
Mohamud
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● The Supreme National Council:

● Clan Rebellion:
5. KENYA
High Control:

REPUBLIC OF KENIA

Territory: Alto Kenia, Basso Kenia, Kenia Orientale, Litorale Keniota, Nairobi, Lago Rodolfo

Capital: Nairobi

Leader: Ronald Ngala [ConDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Daniel arap Moi [ConDem]

Economy Minister: Barack Hussein Obama [ConDem]
Foreign Minister: Masinde Muliro [ConDem]
Security Minister: Paul Ngei [ConDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Kenya People's Union (KPU) - Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy: Kenia African Democratic Union (KADU) - Ronald Ngala
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Majimbo:

● Italian Influence:
Medium Control:

REPUBLIC OF KENIA

Territory: Alto Kenia, Kenia Orientale, Litorale Keniota, Nairobi

Capital: Nairobi

Leader: Ronald Ngala [ConDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Daniel arap Moi [ConDem]

Economy Minister: Barack Hussein Obama [ConDem]
Foreign Minister: Masinde Muliro [ConDem]
Security Minister: Paul Ngei [ConDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Kenya People's Union (KPU) - Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy: Kenia African Democratic Union (KADU) - Ronald Ngala
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Majimbo:

● Italian Influence:
 KENYA LAND AND FREEDOM ARMY

Territory: Basso Kenia, Lago Rodolfo

Capital: Nakuru

Leader: Dedan Kimathi [AuthDem]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Kahiu Itina [Despotist]

Economy Minister: Musa Mwariama [AuthDem]
Foreign Minister: Muthoni wa Kirima [Despotism]
Security Minister: Stanley Mathenge [AuthDem]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy: Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) - Dedan Kimathi
Despotism: Kenya Riigi (KR) - Kahiu Itina
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Mzungu Aende Ulaya, Mwafrika Apate Uhuru:

● Disorganized Armies:
Low Control:

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF KENYA

Territory: Nairobi, Litorale Keniota, Kenia Orientale, Basso Kenia, Lago Rodolfo

Capital: Nakuru

Leader: Jaramogi Oginga Odinga [Socialism]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government: Bildad Kaggia [Socialism]

Economy Minister: Ochola Ogaye Mak'Anyengo [Socialism]
Foreign Minister: Pio Gama Pinto [Socialism]
Security Minister: Fred Kubai [Socialism]

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism: Kenya People's Union (KPU) - Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy: Kenia African Democratic Union (KADU) - Ronald Ngala
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism:
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● Not Yet Uhuru:

● War in the Highlands:

 KENYA SELF-DEFENCE FORCES

Leader: Tullio Moneta [Despotism]

Starting Cabinet

Head of Government:
Economy Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Security Minister:

Starting Parties

Communism:
Socialism:
Social Democracy:
Liberal Democracy:
Conservative Democracy:
Authoritarian Democracy:
Despotism: Kenia Self-Defence Forces (KSDF) - Tullio Moneta
Fascism:
National Socialism:

Starting Ideas:

● One Fire:

● Shady Connections: