Page 58 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 1

AFRICA’S HEROES

EMPEROR

MENELIK II

of ethiopia

(1844-1913)

On 1st March 1896 (123 years ago) Italy and Ethiopia were facing off against each other with Italy desiring
to enforce the contested Treaty of Wuchale, signed in 1889. The dispute was that one party (Italy) states that
Ethiopia was its Protectorate and the other (Ethiopia) claimed that its Amharic version stated no such thing.
The Kingdom of Italy, keen to enforce its authority to cause King Menelik II of Shewa (who was later to become
Emperor of Ethiopia) to abide by the Italian version of the treaty. This led to the First Italo-Ethiopian war which
ran from 1894 - 1896, with various skirmishes taking place during the two year period, with victories on the
Italian side. These battles culminated in the Battle of Adwa (or Adowa) in Eritrea.
It is claimed that a politically pressurized Italian military marched against Menelik II and his troops from the
night on 29th February and on the morning of 1st March, while Menelik II was praying and seeking divine
guidance for his next move (apparently supplies were running low and he was considering removing his
troops on the 2nd of March 1896), his spies spotted the Italians, who had manoeuvered themselves into
positions of disadvantage during their night march, having little to no knowledge or understanding of the
terrain.
The Ethiopians, under Menelik II’s instructions, took their militarily advantageous positions and humiliated
the Italians, killing 6,000 of their 17,000 plus troops, capturing 3,000 and driving the rest back into Eritrea.
What this did was force Italy to recognise Ethiopia as an independent state (via the Treaty of Addis Abeba),
and even though in 1935 (under Mussolini), they invaded and overran Ethiopia using airplanes and tanks and
toxic chemicals occupied Ethiopia for 5 years from 1936, Ethiopia stands as the African country that was
never colonized during the years following the Scramble and Menelik II is hailed as a master strategist whose
cunning ensured that his military were well armed and prepared for the Battle of Adowa, having skillfully