In March 1896 a definitive battle took place between the forces of colonial Italy and those of the Ethiopian Empire in a town in northern Ethiopia called Adwa. The battle was short but extremely violent with tens of thousands of deaths. At the time Emperor Menelik II had mobilized the Ethiopian people regardless of class and ethnicities. The mobilization drive would see millions of Ethiopian citizens march from their towns, villages, and cities into the Northern Highlands for the preservation of their African Empire. This battle would end in a decisive victory for Ethiopia, marking the country with a unique legacy of independence in the face of European aggression.