In the late 19th century, European powers trampled across Africa, brutally colonizing one country after another. Italy, for its part, targeted Ethiopia. But when his troops attacked on March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa, they were outmatched by a large and well-armed Ethiopian force. By winning this pivotal victory, Ethiopia not only secured its own independence, but also inspired the anti-colonialist movement.
As early as the 1400s, European nations made inroads into Africa, largely to facilitate the transatlantic slave trade. However, for centuries, tropical diseases and navigational challenges restricted most of their activities to coastal areas. In 1870, when the slave trade had dwindled, Europeans controlled only about 10 percent of the continent.
The ‘Scramble for Africa’
However, by 1885, the so-called Scramble for Africa was underway, with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal dividing up virtually the entire continent between them. At the height of colonialism, only Liberia, created for the resettlement of free black Americans, and Ethiopia remained independent.
Relatively new to the game, Italy began its colonial military exploits in 1885, when, with British support, it occupied the Red Sea port of Massawa. From there, it spread throughout the Horn of Africa, establishing the colony of Eritrea, on lands formerly controlled by Ethiopia, and also occupying much of present-day Somalia. Its military presence increased particularly after an 1887 battle, when some 500 Italian soldiers were killed in an ambush.
“At that point, to be a great power you need at least two things,” says Haile Larebo, an associate professor at Morehouse College who specializes in African colonial history. “You need a navy… and you need colonies.” He adds that the Italians were “just imitating others”, like the British and the French.
In 1889, Italy signed a treaty with the Emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, who recognized the Italian claim to Eritrea in exchange for a loan of arms and money. But major disagreement arose, exacerbated by differences between the Italian and Amharic versions of the text, over whether the treaty had made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate, with no control over its foreign affairs.
Menelik and Taytu Betul prepare defense
King Menelik II surrounded with his chiefs of arms.
DigitalVision Vectors / Getty Images
Menelik, who claimed to be a descendant of the biblical King Solomon and Queen of Sheba, and his wife, Taytu Betul, a shrewd opponent of European expansionism, prepared to defend their sovereignty. In addition to procuring modern weapons, they launched a public relations campaign with the help of several sympathetic Europeans.
Swiss-born engineer Alfred Ilg, for example, who served as Menelik’s de facto chief of staff, helped modernize the country’s infrastructure and, during trips to Europe, reportedly promoted Ethiopia as the “Switzerland of Africa.” Other Europeans published admiring articles about the Ethiopian court, sometimes referring to the devout Menelik as “the Christian monarch of Africa.” Menelik became something of a celebrity, later even exchanging phonograph messages with Queen Victoria of England. “He is a down-to-earth monarch,” says Haile, with a “charming” and “magnetic” personality.
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Menelik calls for mass mobilization
During his rise to power, Menelik brutally mutilated rival Ethiopians, branded slaves with the sign of the cross, destroyed mosques, and encouraged looting. Nonetheless, with the Italians posing a common threat, Menelik rallied the country’s rebellious provincial rulers behind him. When he called for a massive mobilization in September 1895, he was able to muster between 80,000 and 120,000 soldiers, with men coming from almost every region and ethnic group in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Italy had advanced to within 250 miles of Addis Ababa, the newly founded Ethiopian capital. Menelik, accompanied by Taytu, led his army north on what would become a five-month march totaling almost 600 miles. As Raymond Jonas, author of “The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire,” writes, Menelik covered more ground than William Tecumseh Sherman in his March to the Sea or Napoleon in his ill-fated invasion of Russia.
In December 1895 and January 1896, the Ethiopian army annihilated an Italian vanguard column at Amba Alage and then besieged an Italian fort at Mekele, forcing its surrender largely by implementing Taytu’s strategy of cutting off the water supply. The Ethiopians then slipped past the main entrenched Italian force and advanced towards the Adwa area. Throughout, Menelik allegedly spread false rumors, downplaying the size and cohesion of his troops. “This is one of the greatest campaigns of the 19th century,” Jonas said in a 2012 podcast.
Conscious of his lack of food, water, and accurate maps, the Italian commanding officer Oreste Baratieri considered withdrawing to Eritrea. But, on February 25, 1896, he received a telegram from the Italian Prime Minister, Francesco Crispi, essentially urging him to act. His subordinate generals also pushed for a decisive engagement, prompting Baratieri, who had earlier promised to bring Menelik back to Italy in a cage, to advance three brigades.
Italians withdraw completely, Ethiopia establishes its independence
When fighting broke out on March 1, the Italians and their African auxiliaries found themselves quickly disorganized, badly outnumbered, and exposed in inhospitable terrain. By the end of the day, they were in full retreat, leaving behind their artillery and approximately 3,000 prisoners. “[Menelik] they outwitted and outflanked the Italians in every way,” says Haile. Many women contributed to the victory, serving as water distributors, health care providers, prison guards, and morale boosters. Taytu herself commanded her own personal army.
Overall, the Ethiopians inflicted a casualty rate of up to 70 percent (while also suffering relatively heavy losses). They brought the Italian prisoners back to Addis Ababa, in what Jonas calls a “racial turn of the tables that put whites at the mercy of blacks in significant numbers for the first time.” Well treated, they were gradually released, while, on the contrary, the Africans fighting alongside the Italians allegedly had their right hand and left foot amputated.
In the aftermath of the battle, Crispi’s government collapsed and Baratieri was put on trial. (He was acquitted). Furthermore, Italy agreed to recognize the independence of Ethiopia, as did other European powers, which negotiated with Menelik to establish the country’s borders.
Menelik’s victory also had far-reaching consequences. Before Adwa, according to Haile, Europeans generally thought of Africans as primitive savages, to be ruled over and eventually displaced by Europeans. But afterwards, Haile says, Europeans were forced to take “Africans much more seriously,” even as racist attitudes remained entrenched.
Italian forces later returned under the command of Benito Mussolini and briefly occupied Ethiopia with the help of fighter jets and chemical weapons. Nonetheless, the Ethiopian resistance endured as a “beacon” for future African independence movements, Haile explains, as well as the concept of Pan-Africanism. It also indirectly influenced pop culture: in the Black Panther movies and comics, for example, the fictional Wakanda is portrayed as the only African nation that was never colonized.
“Really,” says Haile, “the basis of all this is Adwa.”
