The Ethiopian Mauser — The Ethiopian contract Model 33 short rifleEthiopia has a proud history

The Ethiopian Mauser — The Ethiopian contract Model 33 short rifleEthiopia has a proud history of being one of the few nations in Africa to have never been occupied by a foreign power.  In fact, Ethiopian sovereignty can be traced back to ancient biblical times. To fend off European colonial powers, Ethiopia needed the best in arms that was offered at an economical price.  During the 1930’s, the rifle of choice was the Mauser rifle, invented in Germany and manufactured all over the world.  In 1933 the Ethiopian Government contracted with Mauser Works to purchase an order of Mauser Standard Modell bolt action rifles.  The Mauser Standard Modell was a rifle produced by Mauser purely for export purposes, and would serve as the direct forerunner of the German KAR98k bolt action rifle, which would become the standard service arm of the German Army during World War II. The Ethiopian contract rifles were stamped 1933, thus they were known as the Ethiopian Model 33 short rifle.  All Model 33's were factory stamped with the Ethiopian crest on the top of the receiver, which included the initials of Emperor Haile Selassie, as well as the “Lion of Judah” marked on the side of the receiver. The Mauser company logo was featured on the rear of the bolt.The Ethiopian Mauser would see action when in 1935 Italian forces under Benito Mussolini invaded, kicking off what is now called the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.  While the Ethiopians greatly outnumbered Italian forces, they lacked aircraft, tanks, and artillery, while their Italian opponents were well equipped for modern warfare. There were also not nearly enough Model 33 rifles to arm the entire Ethiopian Army, thus they had to make due with whatever they had; a wide variety of small arms from around the world with different calibers. Despite the  exceptional bravery of Ethiopia’s finest, the ancient kingdom could not withstand the assault of a modern industrialized military.  Ethiopia suffered losses that number in the hundreds of thousands, especially after the Italians began using poison gas, illegal under the Geneva Convention.While Ethiopia had been beaten, it was not defeated.  Armed resistance groups sprang up all over the country, severely mauling the Italian occupiers.  Furthermore, the Italian Army began suffering the effects of African diseases.  In 1941 Ethiopian freedom fighters, with the assistance of British troops, removed the Italian occupiers from Ethiopia. -- source link

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