With a great gathering in Piazza Venezia, on October 2, 1935, Mussolini announces the start of the military operations on the Ethiopian Plateau. At dawn the next day the Italian troops, having arrived in the Horn of Africa during the previous months, cross the Mareb River, the boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and begin their march on Abyssinian territory, heading toward the capital city. Thus begins the War of Ethiopia, which will end eight months later, in early May 1936, with the capture of Addis Abeba and the proclamation of the Italian Empire. This DVD follows a precise reconstruction of the military and political events with some of the main documentaries produced by the Istituto Luce to celebrate the undertaking. The most famous is Il cammino degli eroi (The Way of the Heroes), made by Corrado D’Errico in 1937, a one-hour film that dwells on the preparatory phase of the conflict. The war only appears in the end, as a final explosion after the country’s long human and industrial preparation. Sulle orme dei nostri pionieri (In the Footsteps of Our Pioneers), imbued with a deep anti-British sentiment, explains the reasons for the war, stressing those considered by the regime to be the historic rights acquired by Italy in the Horn of Africa, particularly in the Abyssinian Plateau. Lastly, La fondazione della nuova Addis Abeba (The Foundation of the New Addis Abeba) shows the images of Ethiopia’s capital city after its conquest. The arrival of the Italians is presented as the start of rebirth and civilization for the city and its inhabitants