1815-1896 1935-1944







Abyssinia
1896-1935



The BATTLE OF ADOWA 1896 had secured Ethiopia's independence. Italy had to lick it's wounds, France was satisfied in having found Ethiopia a grateful customer of French products (arms), Britain focussed on Mahdist Sudan, a missing link in it's Cape to Cairo line, and then was preoccupied by the Fashoda Crisis of 1898.
Yet, Ethiopia now was a landlocked country. Strained relations to Italy made the country dependent on France (the capital ADDIS ABABA was connected to the Djibouti railroad in 1917). In 1906 France, Britain and Italy signed an agreement, in which they recognized the independence and territorial integrity of Ethiopia.
Emperor MENELIK II. (1889-1913) introduced a number of reforms, one of them to move the capital to Addia Ababa in the 1890es. Ethiopia expanded to the south and east. Menelik II. tried to keep in good relations with both the French and the British, aware that they both did not desire to colonize his country.

During World War I plenty of German agents were active in Ethiopia. Emperor LIJ YASU gave in to their temptations; he dreamt of establishing a Great African Mussulman Empire, especially of affirming his rule over Ethiopia and the adjacent colony of Eritrea, as well as the adjacent British and French regions. The favours he showed to the Muslims, however, caused a reaction. At a great assembly held in Addis Abeba on Sept. 27th 1916 he was declared deposed, and ZAWDITU, a daughter of Menelik was proclaimed head of state and heir to the throne. A brief war followed, in which Negus Michael suffered a defeat and was taken prisoner at Chembebit (Oct. 27th 1916); LiJ Yasu was defeated at Dessie (Aug. 1917). Zawditu was crowned in February 1917. (Bertarelli 1929 p.566)

Lij Yasu was only 17 years of age when he became ras in 1913, some accounts state that he had converted to Islam; he entered into communication with SAYYID MUHAMMAD, the "Mad Mullah" that caused the British in British Somaliland to be so much troubled. The Ethiopian church functioned prominently in the coup which ousted Lij Yasu in 1916.
The Ras Tafari, the main architect of the deposure of Lij Yasu, was named heir-apparent and regent in August 1917. He created a centralized bureaucracy in 1919, established a system of law courts in 1921, was crowned Emperor in 1930 taking the name HAILE SELASSIE, had a constitution promulgated in 1931 which limited the power of parliament - the Emperor claimed a veto right over parliament's decisions - and declared the country's inhabitants equal before the law. The Ras Tafari strengthened education and the police force and saw that remnants of feudalism were abolished, such as feudal taxation. Slavery was also abolished, hospitals established; the country's first newspapers were published under Ras Tafari's administration.
In 1923, Ethiopia was admitted to the League of Nations; the same year Haile Selassie travelled to Europe, visiting Rome, Paris and London.. Ethiopia signed treaties with Britain (1930), Italy (1928, 1930), France (1930) which were more even-sided than the treaties signed by African dignitaries in the 1880es; Ethiopia had been accepted by international diplomacy as a partner.


For a list of Ethiopian Kings of the Solomonic dynasty, from Iyassu's Homepage, click here






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Biography of Haile Selassie, from Great Speeches of Leading Personalities; from africana.com, from Why we go to War, from Haile Selassie I., Konungarna's Konung, Herrarnas Herre, Det Segrande Lejonet af Juda Stam by Richard Ericsson, in Swedish
Biography of Lij Yasu, from Ethiopia on Web, brief, scroll down
Library of Congress, Country Studies Ethiopia
Imperial Ethiopia Home Page, Dynasty in Exile website
The Solomonic Kings of Ethiopia, from Iyassu's Homepage
Ethiopia Transformed, from African Cultures
The Battle of Adwa as a Historic Event, by Donald N. Levine; Ethiopia's Decisive Victory ad Adowa, by Greg Blake, from thehistorynet
DOCUMENTS Image from Chronik 2000 Bilddatenbank : Negus Menelik II. of Ethiopia, 1913
Haile Selassie, from Time Trail, a number of historical Time Magazine articles on H.S.
Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage, posts 1 map and 9 documents 1891-1908
Article Abyssinia, from EB 1902
News from Abyssinia, from "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it", Vol.1 No.24, April 1897, Vol.2 No.5, February 1898, posted by Gutenberg Library Online
REFERENCE L.V. Bertarelli, Guida d'Italia del Touring Club Italiano. Possedimenti e Colonie, Milano 1929 [G]
Haile Selassie, My Life and Ethiopian Progress, Vol.1 : 1892-1937, Chicago : Frontline (1976) 2003, KMLA Lib.Sign. 963.055 S464m
Article : Abyssinia, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p. 953 (on events of 1912) [G]
Article : Abyssinia and Shoa, in : Statesman's Year Book 1898 pp.316-317 (on events of 1897) [G]
Article : Abyssinia, in : Statesman's Year Book 1901 pp.359-361, 1905 pp.387-391, 1910 pp.563-567, 1919 pp.633-640, 1924 pp.645-650, 1925 pp.649-654, 1926 pp.631-636, 1928 pp.637-642, 1929 pp.631-636, 1932 pp.635-641 [G]
Article : Abyssinia, in : Americana Annual 1927 p.2 [G]
Article : Ethiopia, in : Americana Annual 1928 pp.227-228, 1930 p.287, 1931 pp.292-294, 1932 pp.256-257, 1933 pp.287-288, 1934 pp.226-227, 1935 p.254 [G]
Article : Abyssinia, in : The International Year Book 1898 pp.1-4, 1899 pp.1-3 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on October 18th 2007

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