The Battle of Adwa
Africa’s nineteenth century started with the rise of African states and ended with the colonization of the continent by Europeans. Africans couldn’t keep the European empire at bay or keep their new or revived states going, like the states that grew out of the Mfecane in Southern Africa. At the start of the 20th century, only Ethiopia and Liberia were still independent African states.
The rest of Africa was ruled by seven European colonial forces. France and Britain cut up and hurt Liberia, so it was a smaller independent state when it entered the 20th century. Under the direction of Emperor Menelik II, Ethiopia not only beat back Italy’s attempts to colonize it by winning the Battle of Adwa, but it also doubled its size by the start of the 20th century. Menelik’s Ethiopia was made up of three main parts that all fell under his control.
First, there was the Ethiopia of the Ge’ez culture, which was divided into three parts: the beta mangest (the house of state), the beta kehenat (the house of clergy), and the gabbar (a person who paid taxes). The second part of Menelik’s Ethiopia was the southern mountains. The Oromos lived there, and their economy was a mix of farming and herding animals. Some Oromos had become Muslims, while others had their own “traditional” faith.
Last were the sweltering lowlands of eastern Ethiopia, where Somali Muslims predominated. Emperor Menelik ruled over these three important areas, as well as the cultural center of southern Ethiopia and the long area along the border with Sudan.
Ethiopia was able to stand up to the colonial attack for three main reasons: religion, being a state, and diplomacy. In the area of religion, the Judeo-Christian culture, the sense of being special and of being God’s chosen people, and the idea of a monophysite Christian island surrounded by religious enemies all helped to create a clear, unified identity. This Christian nationalism was a key part of getting people ready to fight off a foreign attack.
In war declarations and calls to arms against foreign invasions, faith, land, and a wife were cited as three sacred reasons to die for. It was said that the enemy came from far away to destroy the church, take over the land, and dishonor the wives.
The idea that Ethiopia is the home of a unique form of Christianity and a second Jerusalem was a big part of why the country came together to fight the Italians at the Battle of Adwa.
Another important thing was that Ethiopia had the longest history of being a state in Africa. This state was based on the watadar, or chawa, a group of armed men who were trained in the art of war. Also, Menelik’s skills as a diplomat and a soldier helped Ethiopia avoid the British “Scramble.” Menelik was able to make the biggest and best-equipped army in Africa by setting European countries against each other and getting a lot of arms from different places.
600,000 soldiers with modern weapons were at the military parade in Addis Ababa in 1902 to remember the Battle of Adwa. Ninety thousand of these people were in the main army of the empire. There were another 100,000 troops that didn’t take part in the parade, taking the total number of troops in Ethiopia’s army to 700,000. Ethiopia, under Menelik, was the best-armed and best-run African country at the time. This powerful force kept Ethiopia from being taken over by the “Scramble.”
Emperor Menelik II did a lot of great things, but his win at the Battle of Adwa in March 1896 over the Italians stands out. The win happened during the bad times, or kefu qan, when there was a big famine that killed a lot of people and ate up over 90% of the cattle. The Italians brought the rinderpest disease to Massawa in 1885.
This disease killed almost all of the cattle from the Red Sea to South Africa. Menelik was the king of Shawa, and the Italians liked him. After Emperor Yohannes IV was killed by Mahdist forces at the Battle of Matamma on March 10, 1889, Menelik signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy on May 2, 1889.
Article 17 of the contract was soon a source of disagreement about how to read it. In the Amharic text, it says that Menelik could talk to other powers with the help of the Italian government if he wanted to. In the Italian version, this was made a requirement, making Ethiopia, in fact, a protectorate of Italy. In January 1890, the Italians moved into the town of Adwa. They did this by crossing the Marab River, which was the border between their region of Eritrea and Ethiopia.
The Italians did this to get Emperor Menelik to agree with their view of the Treaty of Wuchale. Menelik refused to believe what the Italians said. Menelik finally spoke out against the Treaty of Wuchale on February 12, 1893. On September 17, 1895, he called for the whole country to get ready. The Battle of Adwa took place on March 1, 1896. It was a great victory for the Ethiopians over the Italians. After Menelik won at Adwa, on October 26, 1896, the Italians signed the Treaty of Peace at Addis Ababa.
This treaty made the Wuchale treaty no longer valid. In the pact, the Italians agreed that Ethiopia was a free country. Menelik agreed that Eritrea was an Italian territory. The Marab River was once again the border between Ethiopia and Italian Eritrea. Under Emperor Menelik, Ethiopia changed a lot. The most important steps toward change were taken.
During his time in power, he built schools, hospitals, roads, rail lines, telephones, a mail service, telegraphs, banks, hotels, and a ministerial cabinet. Menelik II was a modernizer. He followed in the ways of Emperor Tewodros II (1855–1868), who was also a modernizer and brought Ethiopia together. Menelik created the government map of Ethiopia as it is now.
Also Read: Haile Selassie I reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1892 until his death in 1975.
