Emperor Menelik II (1889-1913)
Subsequent to Emperor Yohannes's death in March 1889, Prince Menelik of Shewa was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, and he established Entoto as his Capital, on the hill of Addis Ababa. Menelik expanded his rule to the south, east and north west of the country by subjugating the local nobles and and kingdoms in Lasta, Yejju, Kaffa, Welayta, Sidama, Gojjam, Wello, and Begemder. He then moved on to incorporate Western Tigray territories such as Tselemti, Armachiho, Lemalemo, Abraha Gera, Amba Georgis, Metema-Yohannes, Adi Arkay and Ras Degena into Gonder province to widen his wife, Empress Taytu Betul, family’s provincial administration of Northern Begemder (Gonder). Emperor Menelik’s systematic destruction of Tigrayan heritage was intended to supress Tigrayans' rivalry to his rule and diminish Tigrayan ethnic population resulting in the increasing of ethnic Amhara population in districts of Tselemti, Addi Arkay, Armachiho, Lemalemo, Abraha Gera, Amba Georgis, Metema-Yohannes and Ras Degena. Historically, these incorporated Western Tigray were part of Tigray before and during the reign of Emperor Yohannes IV.
Menelik faced a major threat to his rule from the Italians who still occupied Massawa, Saati and the Red Sea Coast. Menelik was helpless to defend the country from the Italian occupation, and he attempted to negotiate with Italians. The Treaty of Wechale was signed effectively Menelik had granted Eritrea to Italy in exchange recognition of Ethiopian sovereignty. What Menelik did not know was the Italians inserted a clause in the Italian version of the Treat of Wechale, restricting Ethiopia from foreign contact stating all contacts must be made through Italy. Menelik's nightmare did not end there, the Italians attempted to court the Tigrayans Princes into the alliance with Eritrea and the Italians invaded north part of Tigray. The Tigrayans led by Ras Mengesha Yohannes fought the Italians at the battle of Senafe. Ras mengesha Army was overun by the Italians and he retreated to Mekele. The Italians extened their occupation into Adwa, Adigrat, Mekele and Amba Alagie that led to the Battle of Adwa.
The Ethiopian army equipped with spears, machetes and a few rifles marched on Adwa to defend their country from the foreign invader Italy. In March 1896, the Ethiopian Army led by Ras Alula defeated the Italian army, which was one of the proudest moments in the Ethiopian history. The Italians defeat at the Battle of Adwa was not enough for Ras Alula warriors who wanted to drive the Italians out of Eritrea for good. Nevertheless, Menelik returned to Addis Ababa leaving Eritrea under Italian occupation. Menelik is believed to have said, "leave the Italians to rule Eritrea beyond Merab River". This dismayed many Tigrayans who prepared to die and defend their country's sovereignty against Italian occupation.
After his return to Addis Ababa, Menelik negotiated with Italy to define a common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He signed an agreement recognising Eritrea as a sovereign state of Italy, beyond the Merab River as main border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ethiopia remained an independent and sovereign state, though Menelik lost Eritrea to Italy, during the "Scramble of Africa".
Menelik then moved his Capital from Entoto to Addis Ababa, which is now the Capital of Ethiopia. Menelik began to build schools and hospital in Addis Ababa and introduced electricity and telephone. He continued his modernisation programme by building a railway, with the help of the French, linking Addis Ababa to Djibouti through Dera Awa, main trade centre of Harar.
In 1913, Menelik died from ill health. Iyasu was the successor and designated heir of Menelik II.
References
- Roderick Grierson and Stuart Munro-Hay, The Ark of the Covenant, 2000, published by Phoenix, London, UK, ISBN 0753810107
- Stuart Munro-Hay, Ethiopia, The Unknown Land a Cultural and Historical Guide, 2002, published by I.B. Tauris and Co. Ltd., London and New York, ISBN 1 86064 7448
- Jenny Hammond, Fire From The Ashes, A Chronicle of the Revolution in Tigray, Ethiopia, 1975-1991, 1999, published by The Read Sea Press, Inc., ISBN 1 56902 0868
- Philip Briggs, Ethiopia, The Bradt Travel Guide, Third Edition, 2002, published by Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, England, UK, ISBN 1 84162 0351
- Binyam Kebede (2002). http://www.ethiopiafirst.com (4ladies.jpg, Afar-lady.jpg, Afar-girl.jpg, lady-artful-lips.jpg, Man-face-art.jpg, Man-face-art2.jpg, Somal-lady.jpg, Debra-Damo.jpg, Buitiful-girls.jpg, lady-face-art.jpg, man-hair-style.jpg, yeha.jpg, harar.jpg,). Many thanks to Binyam Kebede for his permission to copy and use these pictures from his website.
- Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Office of Population and Housing Census Commission Central Statistical Authority, November 1998, Addis Ababa
- Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and The Bible, The Schweich Lectures, The British Academy, Published by The Oxford University Press, first published 1968, Reprinted 1989, 1992, 1997, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, United Kingdom, ISBN 0-19-726076-4
- Mr. Solomon Kibriye (2003). Imperial Ethiopia Homepage, http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown. Many thanks to Mr. Solomon Kibriye for the contribution and comments he has made to this website.
- Wikipedia, Sabagadis Woldu, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabagadis_Woldu
- Wikipedia, Wube Haile Maryam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wube_Haile_Maryam
- Wikipedia, Metema, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metemma
- Wikipedia, Adi Arkay, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addi_Arkay_(woreda)
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