Antonio Baldissera Bust

Antonio Baldissera served two armies during a period when Italy's borders and ambitions were changing. Born near Padua in 1838, he began his career in the Austrian army. After Venetia passed to Italy in 1866, he entered Italian service.

His later career took him to the Horn of Africa. He commanded Italian troops during the expansion from the Red Sea coast in the late 1880s, a process that brought Eritrean communities under colonial rule. Occupation established the conditions for colonial government. Officials then had to maintain that authority.

Baldissera returned to command in 1896 after the Italian defeat at Adwa. Ethiopia's victory had stopped the invasion led by his predecessor, Oreste Baratieri, and forced Italy to reconsider its position. Baldissera's immediate task was to restore military order and secure the colony rather than to reverse that decisive defeat.

He later became a senator and died in 1917. Older commemorative accounts praised his efficiency as an officer and administrator. A historical reading also has to include the people over whom colonial authority was imposed and Ethiopia's successful defense of its independence.