During the era of imperialism, a group of Western countries managed to conquer a large part of the globe. In 1884, these countries turned their attention to Africa at the Berlin Conference, and by the end of the 19th century, Africa was almost entirely dominated by colonial powers. There was, however, one country that was able to resist the land-hungry powers and remain independent: that was Ethiopia. In 1896, they successfully repelled an Italian attack at the Battle of Adowa, making them one of two African nations capable of resisting colonial rule. This freedom lasted until 1936, when they were briefly subject to Italian rule during World War II. The Battle of Adowa began in 1896, after Italy was awarded Eritrea and Ethiopia at the Berlin Conference. Italy had already successfully colonized Eritrea and was preparing to do the same to Ethiopia. An Italian offensive is organized under the leadership of the governor of Eritrea, General Oreste Baratieri ("Battle of Adwa"). The initiative was doomed from the start. The first obstacle to Italy's success was Ethiopia's underestimation. General Baratieri believed the Ethiopians were undisciplined savages and no match for his modern army (Blake). Unbeknownst to him, the Emperor of Ethiopia, King Menelik II, was amassing a formidable army. Additionally, he had purchased weapons with profits from the sale of natural resources. At the time of the battle, Menelik had assembled an army of 196,000 men, more than half of whom wielded modern weapons (Blake). Faced with this, Baratieri brought only 20,000 men ("Battle of Adwa"). Another mistake was that the general thought he would be able to lure the Ethiopians into geography, and Italy's erroneous assessment of their intelligence meant they were able to remain free until 1936. And When they were attacked again by Italy, geography made victory difficult to achieve and maintain. Ultimately, thanks to Italy's actions, their occupation of Ethiopia was short-lived, lasting only five years. Today, Ethiopia enjoys independence that began in 1941. Works Cited “Battle of Adwa”. EthiopianHistory.Com. Internet. May 5, 2011. .Blake, Greg. “First Italo-Abyssinian War: Battle of Adowa.” History Network. June 12, 2006. the web. May 5, 2011. “Second Italo-Abyssinian War.” Internet. May 5, 2011. Williamson, Mitch. “The Italian-Ethiopian War: 1935-1936 and 1936-1939”. War and game. November 3, 2010. The web. May 05 2011. .