By Zenebe Tamirat
(This is a reduced and simplified part of the history of the War of Adowa for young readers)
Once upon a time, there was a king in Ethiopia. His name was Minilik II. The king was wise and powerful. His domestic policy was based on strong and united Ethiopia.Administratively he was fair and square. Militarily he led his army into many wars. He fought like an ordinary soldier in all the battlefields he led.
He was also active in the foreign relations. He made contacts with German, Russia,
Belgium, France Italy and others in Europe. He got assistance from the European nations who opened diplomatic missions in Addis Ababa. Through these missions, he signed many bilateral agreements through which he obtained development assistance as well as military assistance.France opened the Alliance Francie elementary school and the Lice GebereMariam Secondary school in Addis Ababa. During the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the later was extended to a technical school under the Municipality of Addis Ababa. It also constructed a railway line running from Addis Ababa to its former colony, Djibouti.
Belgium supplied armaments such as rifles, one of which was nicknamed” Belgig”
by the local people. Italy also supplied armaments a caption of which was the four thousand
rifles that later Minilik used to defeat Italy at the renowned Battle of Adowa in 1896 flouting
the latter’s aggressive gamble to conquer and capture Ethiopia as a colony. In this battle
Italy’s belligerent army was devastated and shamefully defeated. To the humiliation of
Europe Italy’s generals vanquished and surrendered as prisoners of war.
Minilik was kind to his victims and treat them humanly proving to the world that
he was more civilized than those who came to conquer his country filled with chauvinistic
attitude and undermining the bravery and patriotism of the people of Ethiopia.
Later in a peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa, not only Italy but the whole of
Europe recognized the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Menelik’s Ethiopia in
exchange for the release of the prisoners of war. Because of the defeat, Italy was again
disintegrated and the upset parliament tried to impeach Prime Minister Francesco Crispy.
Crispi, an iron feet dictator who had turned Italy into a Police State survived the
impeachment but forced to resign from the premiership only to remain in parliament.
Author of Biographies for Best of Sicily, Vincenzo Salerno writes, “In 1896, with
Italian troops routed by Ethiopian forces at Adowa, Crispi was forced to resign as Prime
Minister, though he continued to serve in parliament. The significance of this defeat, the
first of European “power” by an African Army was extremely damaging to Italy’s
prestige. “ (www,bestofsicily.com)
On the other hand, Ethiopian composers also wrote a lyric saying:
“በገዛ ጠመንጃው በገዛው እርሳስ (Begeza Temenjaw, begezaw Ersas))
ተፈጠመ ጥልያን አበሻ እንዳይደርስ” (Tefeteme Talyan Abesha endayderse)
Referring to the four thousand rifles that Minilik bought from Italy while in alliance with
it some years before the War of Adowa, the relics tries to express that Ethiopia bet Italy
using Italian made weapons. It literally runs, “Forced by its own made rifle and its own
made bullets, Italy ended unwelcome to Abyssinia forever. Another lyric run:
ምኒልክ ተነስቶ ባያነሳ ጋሻ (Minilik tenesto, bayanesa gasha)
ግብሩ እንቁላል ነበር ይህን ጊዜ አበሻ። (Gibru enqulal neber yehen gize abesha)
This again literally means “ If it were not for the bravery of Minilik, The people of
Ethiopia would have been burdened by a heavy tax (to the invading forces of Italy) in a
form of “eggs.” (The writer thinks Italians were fond of eggs at that time).
Salerno also accuses Crispi of shaming Europe by mishandling Italy’s foreign
policy in Eastern Africa. “It was Crispi who mishandled Italy’s Foreign Policy in East
Africa” says Salerno “leading to the European nations humiliating defeat at the hands of
superior Ethiopian forces at Adwa in 1896.”
Today, as much as the European nations consider Italy’s defeat at Adowa as
humiliating to the whole of Europe, African nations, on the other hand, consider the
victory of Adowa not only as a victory of Ethiopia but as the victory of Africa and all black
nations of the world. Viva Minilik.
Note to Ethiopian Parents in the Diaspora
Anti-Amhara elements from Tigray are trying to disparage the leadership of Emperor Minilik in modernizing Ethiopia in general and his unparalleled success in achieving the victory in the battle of Adowa in particular.The purpose of this paper is to help your kids from the misguided information of these negative elements who may victimize your children with their false information. Please teach your kids the true history of our country Ethiopia and let them be proud,
The Writer, Zenebe Tamirat is available at ztamira@yahoo.com
