List of wars involving Ethiopia explained

This is a list of wars involving the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (modern-day Ethiopia) and its predecessor states.

Ethiopian Empire (1270 - 1975)

See also: Ethiopian Empire.

ConflictCombatant 1Combatant 2Results
Conquests of Amda Seyon I (1316 - 1332) Ethiopia Victories
Reconquests of Sabr Ad Din(1415-1430) Ethiopia Adal SultanateDefeat
  • Gidaya, Mora, Adal, and Hargaya incorporated into the Adal Sultanate
Badley ad-Din II's Invasion of Ethiopia
(1445)
Ethiopia Adal SultanateVictory
Abyssinian–Adal War
(1529 - 1543)
Stalemate
Iyasu II's Invasion of Sennar
(1738)
Ethiopia
 Sennar SultanateDefeat
  • Iyasu II's army defeated
  • Several of the Ethiopian Emperor's valuables lost
Zemene Mesafint
(1769 - 1855)
Various factions Various factionsReunification of Ethiopia
Ottoman–Ethiopian border conflicts
(1832 - 1848)
EthiopiaVictory
British Expedition to Abyssinia
(1867 - 1868)
EthiopiaDefeat
Ethiopian–Egyptian War
(1874 - 1876)
Ethiopia EgyptVictory
  • Egyptian Khedive defeated
  • Collapse of Egyptian Khedivate
Mahdist War
(1881 - 1889)
Mahdist stateVictory
Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889 EthiopiaVictory[5]
Menelik's Expansions(Late 19th century)Victories
First Italo-Ethiopian War (1896)Victory
  • Ethiopia retains independence
  • Italians defeated
Dervish War
(1900 - 1920)
    Dervish StateEthiopian allied victory
    • Collapse of the Dervish State
    Second Italo-Ethiopian War
    (1935 - 1937)
    Defeat
    East African Campaign
    (1940–1941)
    Ethiopian allied victory
    Woyane rebellion
    (1943)
    • Supported by:
    Tigrayan rebelsVictory
    • Revolt crushed
    Korean War
    (1950 - 1953)

      Stalemate
      Congo Crisis
      (1960–1964)
      Congo-Léopoldville
        Victory
        Bale Revolt
        (1963 - 1970)
        Victory
        • Revolt crushed, peace agreement
        1964 Ethiopian–Somali War
        (1964)
        Stalemate
        • Military offensive of Ethiopia repulsed, ceasefire agreement[6] [7]

        Communist Ethiopia (1975 - 1991)

        ConflictCombatant 1Combatant 2Results
        Eritrean War of Independence
        (1961 - 1991)

        and allies
        ELF---- EPLFDefeat
        Ethio-Somali War
        (1977 - 1978)

        and allies
        Victory
        • Somali retreat from Ogaden with assistance from Soviet, Cuban, and South Yemani personnel
        1982 Ethiopian-Somali Border War
        (1982)

        and allies
        Somalia
        • Supported by:
        Stalemate
        • Ethiopian invasion halted
        • Ethiopia occupies the border towns of Galdogob and Balanbale until 1988
        • United States delivers emergency military and humanitarian aid to Somalia to prevent further attacks by Ethiopia[8]
        Ethiopian Civil War
        (1974 - 1991)
        PDRERegime change
        • Fall of government, installation of new TPLF-led government, the EPRDF

        Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (from 1995)

        ConflictCombatant 1Combatant 2Results
        Insurgency in Ogaden
        (1995 - 2008)
        ONLFVictory
        • Military defeat of ONLF forces
        Eritrean–Ethiopian War
        (1998 - 2000)
        Victory
        Ethiopian occupation of Somalia
        (2006 - 2009)
        Victory
        • Islamists withdrawal from Somalia
        • Withdrawal of ENDF from Mogadishu and majority of Somalia (2009)
        Oromia–Somali clashes
        (2016 - present)
        Ongoing
        OLA insurgency
        (2018 - present)
        OLAOngoing
        Benishangul-Gumuz conflict
        (2019 - 2022)
        • Amhara militias
        • Gumuz militias
          • Gumuz Liberation Front
          • Buadin
        • OLA
        • TPLF
        Ongoing
        Tigray War
        (2020 - 2022)
        • Amhara militias
        Victory
        • The Ethiopian Government and TPLF come to an agreement on terms mostly favorable to the Ethiopian Government
        • Eritrean Defense Forces maintain presence in Tigray
        2020–21 Ethiopian–Sudanese clashes
        (2020 - present)
        • Amhara militias
        Ongoing
        • Most of the border recaptured by Sudan
        War in Amhara
        (2023 - present)

        ---- OLA

        FanoOngoing

        Notes and References

        1. Book: Hassen . Mohammed . Oromo of Ethiopia with special emphasis on the Gibe region . University of London . 22 .
        2. J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 75.
        3. E. A. Wallis Budge, A history of Ethiopia, pp. 307–308.
        4. Gikes. Patrick. Wars in the Horn of Africa and the dismantling of the Somali State. African Studies. 2002. 2. 89–102. University of Lisbon. 7 November 2016.
        5. Book: Meredith Reid . Sarkees . Frank Whelon . Wayman . Resort to War: A Data Guide to Inter-State, Extra-state, Intra-State, and Non-State Wars, 1816–2007 . Washington, D.C. . CQ Press . 2010 . 262 . The conclusion of the war is coded as a compromise.
        6. Web site: Somalia profile – Timeline. 4 January 2018. BBC Africa. 14 May 2018.
        7. Web site: Onwar. 4 January 2018. 13 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043143/https://www.onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fgreatersomalia1960.htm. dead.
        8. Web site: Somalia: Status of the Armed Forces. March 1982. Central Intelligence Agency. 20 October 2018.