Draft:Grupp Tamm

Group Tamm
Grupp Tamm
Active	1934-36
Country	Sweden
Allegiance	Ethiopia/Sweden
Type	Officer squad
Role	Training Advising
Size	Unknown/+7
Commanders
Notable commanders	Viking Tamm

Between 1934 and 1936, a small group of Swedish generals and diplomats would be active in Ethiopia to modernize and train the Ethiopian military. This squad was called "group Tamm" (Swedish:Grupp Tamm) after the leader of the force, Viking Tamm. The Swedish soldiers had been sent to Ethiopia at the request of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie request due to rising tensions with the Italians. Benito Mussolini had sought to incorporate Ethiopia as an Italian possession, something which did not see any objections from other major nations like France och Great Britain. The Emporer thus approached several neutral nations with the hope that they would be willing to lend their knowledge regarding military warfare, he knew that his army was all too under-equipped to fight off an European nation like Italy. Although the Swedes would agree to send some of their armed forces, they were careful not to provoke Benito in vain. While in Ethiopia the Swedish successfully opened the country's only military school in 1935 where large numbers of Ethiopian officers would be trained. The school would be reorganized into a brigade after the Italian invasion in 1935. The relations between Sweden and Ethiopia greatly improved during this period, in large part due to the military assistance provided. The two nations would even sign a treaty of friendship and trade amid strong Italian pressure. However, the Swedish forces would be called back after the outbreak of the Italian-Ethiopian War in 1935 due to the agreed-upon stipulation in the contract regarding the deployment of said forces. Disregarding the contract was not an option for the government in Stockholm as it would be too much of a provocation towards Italy, which had made efforts to make sure that the conditions would be honored.