Though Mengiste writes a fictionalized account of war, the novel honors the national identity of Ethiopia and the stories of those who—while left out of formal histories—have shaped this identity. Many are familiar with World War II as a European conflict but have not heard the stories of the intertwined colonial conflicts that overstretched Axis powers and contributed significantly to Allied victory. Ethiopia is rarely acknowledged for its role in resisting Italian colonialism and thus weakening Italy’s forces in the global conflict. History has further ignored the significant contributions of Ethiopian women. Mengiste’s own grandmother served as a soldier during the Italo-Ethiopian wars, but textbooks mention no female soldiers. Mengiste aims to correct both oversights with The Shadow King.

The Italo-Ethiopian wars are integral to the shaping of Ethiopian national identity and securing its sovereignty in the international arena. Both the first and second Italo-Ethiopian wars were colonial wars of aggression in which Italy sought to expand its empire from what is now Eritrea into what it now Ethiopia. The First Ethiopian War of 1895 originated as a dispute regarding the Treaty of Wuchale and led to a conflict that established Ethiopian sovereignty in Western political terms.

Italian and Amharic translations of Article 17 of the Treaty of Wuchale differ grammatically.