![]() ![]() Meanwhile, Italy had advanced to within about 250 miles of Addis Ababa, the newly founded Ethiopian capital. When he called for a mass mobilization in September 1895, he was able to raise around 80,000 to 120,000 troops, with men pouring in from almost all of Ethiopia’s regions and ethnic groups. Nonetheless, with the Italians presenting a common threat, Menelik united the country’s fractious provincial rulers behind him. Menelik Calls Up Mass Mobilizationĭuring his rise to power, Menelik had viciously mutilated rival Ethiopians, branded slaves with the sign of the cross, destroyed mosques, and encouraged pillaging. “He’s a down-to-earth monarch,” says Haile, with a “charming” and “magnetic” personality. Swiss-born engineer Alfred Ilg, for example, who served as Menelik’s de facto chief of staff, helped modernize the country’s infrastructure and, during trips to Europe, reportedly promoted Ethiopia as “Africa’s Switzerland.” Other Europeans published admiring articles about the Ethiopian court, sometimes referring to the devout Menelik as “Africa’s Christian monarch.” Menelik became somewhat of a celebrity, and, later on, even traded phonograph messages with England’s Queen Victoria. ![]() ![]() In addition to securing modern weapons, they launched a public relations campaign with the help of several Europeans sympathetic to their cause. Menelik, who claimed to be descended from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and his wife, Taytu Betul, a shrewd opponent of European expansionism, prepared to defend their sovereignty. King Menelik II surrounded with his chiefs of arms. But a major disagreement arose, exacerbated by differences between the Italian and Amharic versions of the text, over whether the treaty had turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate, without control of its external affairs. In 1889, Italy signed a treaty with Ethiopia’s emperor, Menelik II, who recognized the Italian claim to Eritrea in exchange for a loan of arms and money. “You need a navy…and you need colonies.” He adds that the Italians were “simply mimicking others,” such as the British and French. “At that time, to be a big power you need at least two things,” says Haile Larebo, an associate professor at Morehouse College, who specializes in African colonial history. Its military presence particularly ramped up following an 1887 battle, when some 500 Italian soldiers were killed in an ambush. From there, it spread out along the Horn of Africa, establishing the colony of Eritrea-on land formerly controlled by Ethiopia-and occupying much of present-day Somalia as well. At colonialism’s peak, only Liberia, created for the re-settlement of free Black Americans, and Ethiopia remained independent.Ī relative newcomer to the game, Italy began its colonial military exploits in 1885, when, with Britain’s encouragement, it occupied the Red Sea port of Massawa. The 'Scramble for Africa'īy 1885, however, the so-called Scramble for Africa was fully underway, with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal carving up virtually the entire continent among themselves. In 1870, by which time the slave trade had subsided, Europeans controlled only about 10 percent of the continent. Yet, for centuries, tropical diseases and navigational challenges restricted most of their activities to coastal areas. In winning this pivotal victory, Ethiopia not only secured its own independence, but also inspired the anti-colonialist movement.Īs far back as the 1400s, European nations made incursions into Africa, largely to facilitate the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But when its troops attacked on March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa, they were overpowered by a large and well-armed Ethiopian force. In the late 19th century, the European powers ran roughshod over Africa, brutally colonizing one country after another. ![]()
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