Oltre il paradigma coloniale. La resistenza etiopica tra proto-nazionalismo africano e rivendicazione imperiale (1935-1941)

The idea of ​​a pre-colonial Ethiopian nationalism, based on the imperial figure and the Orthodox Church, makes it an "anomalous" case compared to the African nationalisms that emerged post-1945: anti-colonial, secular, and based on borders drawn by European powers. Ethiopia, in fact, fought to reestablish a millennia-old sovereign state, not to create a new one. This essay aims to move beyond the colonial paradigm, whose narrative frames African nationalisms as direct reactions to Berlin's partition. By placing Ethiopia in a category of its own, it emphasizes the restoration of Haile Selassie's authority and the pre-existing state structure as the primary objective of resistance. Within this framework, however, the anti-Italian struggle nevertheless forged, in the crucible of war, a sense of modern and pan-Ethiopian national belonging, overcoming (at least temporarily) internal ethnic fractures. The Ethiopian Resistance, or Patriots' Movement (Arbegnoch in Amharic), against the Italian occupation (1935–1941) was a heterogeneous military force of extremely heterogeneous groups, whose composition reflected the complex ethnic, social, and political structure of the Ethiopian Empire. The role of the Ethiopian Church, closely linked to imperial power, played a significant role in supporting the resistance movement. The "proto-nationalism" that emerged during the Resistance would favor Haile Selassie's great "Pan-Africanist" leadership in the African emancipation processes of the 1960s.