March of the Iron Will
| March of the Iron Will | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War | |||||||||
Italian troops marching in Addis Ababa | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Italy | Ethiopia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Pietro Badoglio | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
The March of the Iron Will (Italian: marcia della ferrea volontà) was an Italian offensive occurring from 26 April to 5 May 1936, during the final days of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Its goal was to capture the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in a show of force for Fascist propaganda. An Italian mechanized column under the command of Pietro Badoglio, Marshal of Italy, advanced from the town of Dessie to take Addis Ababa. The march covered a distance of approximately 200 miles (320 km). It was an achievement that demonstrated the offensive potential of motorized forces in securing bold advances. However, the Italian "March of the Iron Will" turned out to be little more than a logistics exercise. An anonymous journalist at the time described it as "more of a sports event than a page in military history."