It goes without saying that wars of all sorts bring destruction to human and material wealth. Of course, the degree of devastation varies depending on the nature of the wars, areas of fighting, arms used, duration of fighting, etc. The internal wars and defensive wars against successive foreign aggressors have left their multi-dimensional impact on the social, cultural, economic and political life of the Ethiopian society. Even though they did not take a vanguard position in major combats, the Ethiopian women had their share of the burden of wars.
To start with, the human loss did not only consist of the casualties of battlefields, but also of epidemics of cholera, typhoid and dysentery at camps and during the long march. These were in the main results of poor sanitation, lack of proper food and clean water. The large size of the population involved during military expeditions made the overcrowded marches and camping sites fertile grounds for the spread of epidemics. Human loss at times of military expeditions can also result from fire, explosion, accidents when crossing big rivers, danger of ferocious animals and rinderpest (Caulk 1976, 14; Pankhurst 1966, 56-57).
No statistical data is available for women casualties of war even for the modern period of Ethiopian history. One is often not sure of the total loss on the Ethiopian side let alone that of the women, for there was no tradition of registering participants in the military expeditions. At any rate the human loss because of wars has a direct effect on the life of women, including those who did not even take part in military engagements. They had to suffer from loss of husbands, brothers, fathers and relatives. Women camp- followers often had to witness the fall of their own husbands and brothers, and were obliged to carry away corpses from the battlefields for burial. This was particularly common during the Fascist invasion that caused an immense human loss Ethiopia had never seen before (some sources claim a total loss of 275,000 lives). The existing literature and eye-witness accounts of informants confirm the fact that the Italians did follow a policy of genocide both in the conventional war of 1935/36 and after their triumphant control of the capital. The Italians carried out air raids with planes that dropped bombs and sprayed poison gas against troops and civilians despite its prohibition at the Geneva Convention of 1925 (Mockler 1985, 86-87; New Times and Ethiopian News July 1936; Paulos 1980 E.C., 121; Greenfield 1965, 209).
The air raids caused indiscriminate deaths and suffering. Thus a British officer working in the Red Cross says, "most of my patients were women and girls wounded in their back, stomach, thighs, breasts, arms and ankles..." (Mockler 1985, 87). Likewise a British transport officer named Captain Brophil reports:
...I saw masses of women and children bombed and gassed. The army could get into rocks for refuge, but the women and children in the villages were absolutely unprotected and suffered far more terribly (Quoted in New Times and Ethiopian News, 9 May 1936).
It was not only women and children. All sorts of villagers and animals were chocked, blistered and burnt by the sprayed mustard gas. The Italian air attacks were so brutal that another member of the Red Cross, Dr. John Melley, reports:
This is not a war, it is not even a slaughter - it is the torture of tens of thousands of defenceless men, women and children with bombs and poison gas... We have treated hundreds of cases including infants in arms" (Quoted in Greenfield 1965, 209).
Besides the physical devastation, the air raid also caused intensive pollution of food and rivers and burnt down houses, animals, plants and even the soil.
The wholesale massacre was not confined to of both the conventional and guerrilla wars as it can be clearly seen from the general massacre of the innocent people of Debre Libanos Monastery in May 1936 and that of Addis Ababa following the abortive attempt on the life of Grazziani. The two incidents were only major examples of civilian atrocities committed throughout the Fascist Occupation (Gerima 1949 E.C. 152; Ministry of Information 1958 E.C., 44; New times and Ethiopian News, 18 September 1937). The human loss, particularly of the husbands and brothers, affected the women in many ways. Their family was broken and they became widows. Most of them could not support their family and became destitute. The poverty-stricken women fled to cities to become beggars or maid servants, either taking their children or leaving them behind. Quite a significant number of widows became prostitutes in the towns. The social and economic impact of wars was therefore felt at the grassroots level, knocking at each household (Gerima 1949 E.C., 8).
By and large, successive wars fought in the country left a lasting negative impact on the economic development of the country by eliminating the most productive elements of the country, causing physical destruction of property, moral deterioration and social insecurity, as well as encouraging banditry (Caulk 1976, 2). On the one hand, the traditional Ethiopian army used to loot the peasants living along the routes of military expeditions or in the nearby villages that became battlefields. There was no organized system of supplies to the army and in the event of scarcities of food, soldiers were allowed to loot the villagers. Villagers found hiding their property used to be flogged and harassed. The unfortunate peasants did suffer the insecurity not only of their lives and property but also of the honour of their wives and daughters. The latter were also victims of the ravages of the soldiers (Plowden 1868, 226-28; Parkyns 1853, 150; Gizaw 1956 E.C. 182; Pankhurst 1976, 5 and 1966, 67).
On the other hand, the feudal wars fought for territorial expansion particularly in the second half of the 19th century resulted not only in human and material destruction, but also in multi-dimensional cultural, economic and political domination of the subjugated peoples. The latter were forced to pay heavy tribute and suffer from cultural and religious oppression. Resistance to the rule of the conquerors and failure to pay tribute often resulted in the enslavement of the accused. Slave-hunting expeditions were also launched under the pretext of suppressing rebellious regions. In all cases life became miserable for the subject people. One manifestation of peasant response to the oppression, other than protest, was to flee his village, leaving his family helpless, in search of a relatively better master or to become a vagrant in towns. The unfortunate women did not only loose their husbands, but their holdings as well (Bahru 1991, 88; Afework 1901 E.C., 182; Pankhurst 1976, 5 and 1966, 67). Their fate was no better than their husbands. Therefore women suffered the poverty resulting from the feudal mode of surplus appropriation, and the harassment due to slave hunting expeditions.
The Italo-Ethiopian wars fought between 1935 - 41 did not result in the deportation of slaves for obvious reasons. Indeed, slave trade was eradicated during their occupation. Nonetheless, women used to be deported as prisoners or were compelled to become exiles by the fascist invaders. The impact of this on family life was equally disastrous to many of them (Tsehay 1980, 81; Gerima 1949 E.C., 192-93; Gander 1949, 43). It led to divorces, health problems, poverty and the increase in the number of street children that consisted of orphans and those who did not know the whereabouts of their parents.
The Fascist occupation has left further impact on social life and health of the Ethiopian women. The cohabitation of the Fascist solders with Ethiopian women was so widespread that some felt "the Italian conquerors were conquered by the weaker sex"(Sbacci 1985, 171). The first immediate result was the birth of a great number of mixed-race children. The Fascist regime could not tolerate this development and issued successive laws forbidding relations between the Italian soldiers and Ethiopian women. Soldiers were encouraged to take Italian wives. Ethiopian women were prohibited to visit Italian camps or become their servants. All these measures were, however, unsuccessful (Pankhurst 1987, 33). Thus when the Italians gave up their colony in East Africa, thousands of Ethiopian mothers were left with their mixed- race children.
Secondly, the Fascist Occupation encouraged the expansion of prostitution in major urban centres. Not only widows but also married women were persuaded to join the new occupation, tempted by Italian gifts and pays to prostitutes. At any rate the expansion of prostitution had many negative consequences. It broke many families. Some Ethiopian prostitutes were used by the Italians as intelligence workers like the bandas. Prostitution also created a fertile ground for the spread of different venereal diseases. It contributed to unwanted pregnancies which often encouraged abortion. Those who either failed to abort or feared to do it gave birth to thousands of fatherless children (New Times and Ethiopian News, 14 November 1936; Gerima 1949 E.C., 121). Many women lost their lives in the process of abortion by taking traditional medicine. Still many women were physically crippled or became barren. Prostitutes learnt taking drugs, smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol brought by their Italian lovers.
Viewed from a positive perspective the successive wars in general and the Italo-Ethiopian wars of 1935-41 in particular left a lasting impact on the life of women by promoting their status in military affairs, improving the traditional division of labour, enhancing their political role and giving many women access to new business occupations such as bars and restaurants. Likewise, by encouraging the employment of women in their small-scale industries, the Italians did not only teach different skills to women but also began a new trend in the composition of the industrial labour force. The post-War training of women in different occupations must have been enhanced partly by the Italian occupation that awakened the women to demand further economic and political roles (Andu Ityopiawi 1936 E.C., 9; Salome 1958, 78). The first nursing school attached to the Haile Selassie I Hospital was opened in 1949 and its first eight graduates were all female (Pankhurst 1957a, 100; Ali 1955 E.C., 55). The Ethiopian Women's Welfare Work Association was reinstated at the dawn of the Liberation. It opened a school for the orphans of war (1941). The Princess Tsehay Memorial Infant and Maternity Clinic and Women's Vocational School were also established by it. The latter afforded general education and training in domestic works, dress-making, clerical work, etc.
The war enhanced the political participation of women. Woizero Senedu Gebru became the first woman MP in Ethiopia in the 1957 parliamentary election. Woizero Ayelech Meshasha and Woizero Rabia Abdul Kadir followed her example. Yodit Imiru became Ethiopia's first woman minister (Pankhurst 1957a, 100). Though their number is very insignificant, these people pioneered the political emancipation of women.
