The author deals with a little known chapter from the history of Primorska, and how the Slovenes in Italy experienced the war in Ethiopia, in 1935 and 1936, which had, among other things, disrupted the negotiations between Italy and Yugoslavia. Several hundreds of military conscripts deserted to Yugoslavia, others publicly demonstrated against their conscription, and there were also cases of defection to the Ethiopian side and helping guerrillas. The Communist Party of Italy and the Slovenian National Revolutionary Organisation took advantage of growing public discontent with the war economy, rationed supply and autarchy, for the formation of an anti-Fascist and anti-military national front.