The East African campaign (also known as the Abyssinian campaign) was fought in East Africa during the Second World War by Allies of World War II, mainly from the British Empire, against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa, between June 1940 and November 1941.

Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On 14 June, the British 11th Hussars and part of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, (1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured Fort Capuzzo. This was followed by an Italian counter-offensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September.

The North Africa campaigns were a series of World War II battles for control of the Suez Canal, a vital lifeline for Britain’s colonial empire, and the oil resources of the Middle East. Learn more about the history and significance of the North Africa campaigns in this article.

In October 1935 Italian troops invaded Ethiopia, forcing the country's Emperor, Haile Selassie, into exile. Ignoring protests from the League of Nations, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed a new Italian empire in East Africa, comprising Ethiopia and the pre-existing territories of Italian Somaliland and Eritrea.

Italy joined the war as one of the Axis Powers in 1940 (as the French Third Republic surrendered) with a plan to concentrate Italian forces on a major offensive against the British Empire in Africa and the Middle East, known as the "parallel war", while expecting the collapse of British forces in the European theatre.

2019年7月3日 · Following Italy's declaration of war on Britain and France, Italian troops quickly seized British Somaliland in the Horn of Africa and laid siege to the island of Malta. They also began a series of probing attacks from Libya into British-held Egypt. That fall, British forces went on the offensive against the Italians.

The Allied victory in North Africa destroyed or neutralized nearly 900,000 German and Italian troops, opened a second front against the Axis, permitted the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland in the summer of 1943, and removed the Axis threat to the oilfields of the Middle East and to British supply lines to Asia and Africa.

When Italy entered World War II in June 1940, the armies of Italian East Africa immediately set about invading the British territories of Sudan and Kenya. However, lack of resources meant their only major success was to conquer the much smaller colony of British Somaliland in August.

2024年6月15日 · Italian and British territories in Africa would ignite into conflict, shifting the war from the European continent for the first time. The ensuing North African Campaign would have a decisive impact on the future of the Second World War.

Fought in October-November 1942, this was the climax and turning point of the North African campaign of the Second World War. The armies of Italy and Germany suffered a decisive defeat by the British Eighth Army.