ETHIOPIA: MENELIK II, THE GREATEST EMPERORS OF ETHIOPIA


ETHIOPIA: MENELIK II, THE GREATEST EMPERORS OF ETHIOPIA

Menelik II became the Emperor of Ethiopia after the death of Yohaness IV. He first served as the King of Shoa province (one of the provinces under Ethiopia) from 1865-1889. He escaped from Emperor Theodore’s court where he was held hostage for some years and returned to Shoa where they made him Negus Nagast (King of Kings).
After the death of Emperor Theodore, Yohaness IV took over as the Emperor of Ethiopia after crushing some opposition. He recognized Menelik II as the king of Shoa. In 1889, Yohaness IV went to war against the Mahdist and was killed. In that war, Menelik II was neutral. After the death of Yohaness IV, Menelik II filled the vacuum and became the Emperor of Ethiopia.

MENELIK II AND THE EUROPEAN IMPERIALISTIC INTEREST IN ETHIOPIA AND AFRICA AT LARGE

When Menelik II became the Emperor of Ethiopia, the Europeans were strongly looking for territories in Africa for imperialistic purposes. The British, French and the Italians had already established bases along the coast of Somaliland and have declared protectorates with the intention of advancing to the Ethiopian highlands. The Italians were said to have taken the Eritrean Highlands after the death of Yohannes IV in 1889.

TREATY OF UCCIALI
Menelik II was worried over the Europeans interest in Ethiopia. He started seeking out solution to this in a bid to keep Ethiopia independent. This he did by taking two major routes namely diplomatic and as well military build up. He got a large number of arms from the Italians as the King of Shoa.
In one of his diplomatic moves, he reached an agreement with the Italians. This was later called the Treaty of Ucciali. In this treaty, he recognized Italy’s sovereignty over the Eritrean Highlands. The Italians in turn, recognized him as the Emperor of Ethiopia and allowed him access to the Sea for trade through the Italian territory.
This treaty later went sour because of language translational differences. The treaty was written on both Italian and Amharic languages. The Italian version claimed that the treaty made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate. The Menelik II Amharic version saw Italy as a mere Ethiopian diplomatic intermediary with the outside world. For this reason, Menelik II believed that consulting Italy in decision making was not compulsory on him.
In 1891, the Italians wrote a letter notifying other European powers about its control of Ethiopia. Menelik II in response wrote to the same European powers stating that his had not and will not surrender his territory to country. The letter went ahead to denounce the European powers partition of African territories.

BATTLE OF ADOWA
The Italians realizing that their interest cannot be gotten through diplomacy decided to use military solution. BY 1895, they attacked Ethiopia. They met a better prepared Ethiopian army. Before this time, Menelik II was able to unite the whole Ethiopian territories and enjoyed the support of many in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian army was larger than the Italian army. It was said to be up to five times the size of Italian army. The Ethiopian army knew the topography better than the Italians. The Ethiopian army was more strategized than the Italian army. The Italian army under rated the size and strength of the Ethiopian army.
In the deciding battle at Adowa in March 1896, the Italian army was crushed by the Ethiopian army. Menelik II did not press to expel the Italians out of Eritrea.

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