The Difficult Years: Eritrea and the Impact of the Great War (1914–1922)

This article investigates the economic and social situation of Eritrea from 1914 to 1922. Despite its distance from the battlefields, the impact that the Great War had on the country was significant. In addition to the troops sent to Libya, all available resources were sacrificed for the war effort. In this period the population had to deal with a marked deterioration in living conditions, and the war years passed amidst famine, shortages and dramatic price increases. Once the conflict ended, the negative spiral, instead of easing, worsened, plunging Eritrea into an even deeper economic crisis. Among the consequences of this situation was a rapid embrace of fascism among the settlers of Eritrea.