At the beginning of the 20th century, all of Africa was in European hands, except for one country. Despite all the factors unfavorable to this single country, Ethiopia, in 1896 they successfully defended themselves against the Italians in the Battle of Adwa. Unfortunately, when the Italians invaded a second time in 1935, the Ethiopians were not as successful. How come the Ethiopians were defeated when they were not victorious 50 years earlier? Was the technological advancement too much for the Ethiopians or was it the lack of leadership they once had in the years leading up to the second invasion? I believe this was due to the lack of good leaders before and during the second Italian invasion, attributed to Ethiopia's defeat, rather than their technological deficiencies. To first understand the loss of the second war, we must first briefly examine their victory in the first. war. In this conflict, Ethiopia defeated the Italians because their leaders made the right choices before and during the war. It all started with Emperor Tewodros II, who “unified Ethiopia under one emperor.” Before this, Ethiopia was in great disarray, with many different kings and warlords ruling different regions of Ethiopia. This was a crucial step in the defeat of the Italians, because without the full cooperation of all Ethiopian warlords, the Italian army would have easily defeated the fragmented Ethiopian states. Another crucial decision made by Tewodros II was to modernize the Ethiopian army with firearms. He learned this lesson hard after a harsh defeat by the modern-equipped Egyptian army, and from that experience he used it to improve his empire. With just these two simple improvements, Ethiopia was now in the middle of paper...the Italian bullets never could. Even in our time, the most modern military like the United States is not guaranteed to defeat a less advanced enemy like the Taliban. Ultimately, it all depends on the training of the soldiers and the leadership of their superiors.WORKS CITED Del Boca, Angelo. War of Abissinia. Translated by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. The Ethiopian War 1935-1941, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969. Milkias, Paulos. The Battle of Adwa. Np: Algora Publishing, 2005. Nicolle, David and Raffaele Ruggeri. The Italian invasion of Abyssinia 1935-36. London: Osprey Military, 1997. Wienholt, Arnold. The last bastion of Africans. London: John Long, 1938. Gilbert, Erik and Jonathan T. Reynolds. Africa in world history: from prehistory to the present day. Boston: Pearson, 2012.