I'm not a huge history buff, but games like Civ 5 and AOE 2 sometimes get you curious about history. Ethiopia is one that consistently gets included but probably isn't seen as a "major power" or anything when compared to most of those others.

I've also noticed that on lists of countries that were never or rarely conquered, Ethiopia ranks near the top. Only Japan seems to get credit as never being conquered, and they cheating cause they live on an island. Ethiopia, from what I could tell (again, different accounts and vague details), was occupied once in WWII, but never properly conquered or the resistance efforts fully defused/the emperor fully dethroned so much as forced into hiding. Even here, I'm unclear on if Ethiopia was conquered or not, only that Italy was mad cause Ethiopia kicked their butts ages ago. Either way, being the only African country to hold off European countries during the age of imperialism is certainly impressive and worth asking what made Ethiopia so special/how and why did they succeed.

I'd love to hear just some examples of interesting points in Ethiopian history, old or recent. Was Ethiopia properly conquered by Italy in WWII or not? What made Ethiopia a more influencial African country throughout history? Was there any particular reason they've been able to avoid being conquered whilst every other landlocked nation ever has at least been conquered once or twice?

Thanks in advance for any and all information. As I've said, I've tried finding stuff before, but I find the info rather difficult to come by if you don't even really know where to start. (or even then, WWII as an example, I've read articles claiming they were conquered and ones saying they weren't)