Ethiopian Empire

Ethiopian Empire
የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ
*Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya*
Ethiopian Empire የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ; Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya
1137–1936; 1941–1974
	Flag Coat of arms of Ethiopia Coat of arms
	Motto: "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God"
	Anthem: Ityopp'ya Hoy; "Ethiopia be happy"
	The Ethiopian Empire in the 18th century.
Capital	Addis Ababa
Common languages	Amharic
Religion	Ethiopian Orthodox (official), Roman Catholic (1622-1632)
Government	Autocracy, absolute monarchy
Emperor
• 1137	Mara Takla Haymanot
• 1930–1974	Haile Selassie I
Prime Minister
• 1942–1957	Makonnen Endelkachew
• 1974	Mikael Imru
Legislature	Crown Council
Historical era	Middle Ages,; Scramble for Africa,; World War II, Cold War
• Established	1137
• 1st Italo-Ethiopian War	1895–1896
• Constitution created	16 July 1931
• Italian occupation	1936–1941
• Monarchy abolished	12 September 1974
Currency	Ethiopian Dollar
ISO 3166 code	ET
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Aksumite Empire
	Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa
Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia
Today part of	Ethiopia; Somalia; Djibouti; Egypt; Yemen; Saudi Arabia; Eritrea;

The Ethiopian Empire (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ, Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya) also known as Abyssinia, covered a geographical area that the present-day northern half of Ethiopia and Eritrea covers, and included in its peripheries Zeila, Djibouti, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia. It existed from approximately 1137 (beginning of Zagwe Dynasty) until 1974 when the monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'etat.

Following the British occupation of Egypt in 1882, it was the only African nation together with Liberia to remain independent during the Scramble for Africa by the European imperial powers in the late 19th century.

Aksumite Ethiopia

By the 400s BC, the Kingdom of Axum was established on the Red Sea coast and made itself known as a seafaring people active in the spice trade to India. They became known to the Romans no later than the 30s BC when Augustus conquered Egypt, and it is believed by then the square-rigged Axumite galleys were disdaining the long slow coastal trade route and riding the monsoon winds to and from India, moreover, having established trading with Rome for goods from inland Africa, the Ethiopians passed the trick on to Roman traders, and probably carried some of their cargoes for hire. The sea route also connected with the Silk Road through what is now Pakistan, so the Axumites also aided Rome in obtaining Chinese silk, and by the third century Rome had established trade entrepots in India and the sea route carried virtually all the eastern trade to the consternation of Roman statesmen who decried the flow of bullion out of Rome. Around 300 AD Axum both became Christian, and conquered the neighboring ancient kingdom of Kush. References to that time thereafter began referring to them as an Empire, and they themselves were by then using "Ethiopia" in correspondence. The kingdom spread south and westwards into Africa as well as onto the Arabian peninsula over the next few centuries, and generally flourished trading with both the Western Roman Empire or the barbarians who supplanted it and the Byzantine Empire until the Muslim conquest of Egypt ca 640 AD cut the Empire off from European markets. Indications are the Empire turned inland, locating its capital for example further west and expanding its territory in the uplands both to the south and west. References to "Ethiopia" and "Ethopian Christians" are sprinkled through European and Byzantine documents throughout the Early and High Middle Ages, but gradually dwindle, indicating there was some contact over the ensuing centuries after the Muslim conquest, but in general, the Empire went into a slow declining spiral but endured until the last Axumite king was killed by the mysterious Queen Gudit around 960.^[2]

Ethiopian Dark Ages

After the conquest of Aksum by Queen Gudit or Yodit, a period began which some scholars refer to as the Ethiopian Dark Ages.^[2] According to Ethiopian tradition, she ruled over the remains of the Aksumite Empire for 40 years before transmitting the crown to her descendants.^[2] Very little is known about the queen or the state, if indeed there even was one, she set up. What is evident however, is that her reign marked the end of Aksumite control in Ethiopia.

Zagwe Dynasty

The last of Queen Yodit's successors were overthrown by Mara Takla Haymanot. He founded the Zagwe dynasty in 1137,^[2] and married a female descendant of the last Aksumite emperor to stake his claim as the legitimate heir to the long dead empire.^[2] The Zagwe were of the Agaw people, whose power never extended much farther than their own ethnic heartland. The capital was at Adafa, not far from modern day Lalibela in the Lasta mountains.^[3] The Zagwe continued the Christianity of Aksum and constructed many magnificent churches such as those at Lalibela. The dynasty would last until its overthrow by a new regime claiming descent from the old Aksumite kings.

Solomonid Dynasty

In 1270,^[3] the Zagwe dynasty was overthrown by a king claiming lineage with the Aksumite emperors and thus that of Solomon (hence the name "Solomonid"). The Solomonid Dynasty was born of and ruled by the Habesha, from whom Abyssinia gets its name.

The Habesha reigned with only a few interruptions from 1270 until the late 20th century. It is under this dynasty that most of Ethiopia's modern history is formed. During this time, the empire conquered and incorporated virtually all the peoples within modern Ethiopia and some south part of Eritrea. They successfully fought off Italian, Arab and Turkish armies and made fruitful contacts with some European powers, especially the Portuguese with whom they allied in battle against the latter two aforementioned invaders.

Scramble for Africa and modernization

In 1868 following the imprisonment of several missionaries and representatives of the British government Britain launched a punitive expedition into Ethiopia. The campaign was a success for Britain and the ruler of Ethiopia committed suicide. The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa. Italy, seeking a colonial presence in Africa, invaded Ethiopia and following a successful conquest of some coastal regions, forced the Treaty of Wuchale upon Shewa (an autonomous kingdom within the Ethopian Empire), creating the colony of Eritrea.

Due to significant differences between the Italian and Amharic translations of the treaty of Wuchale, Italy believed they had subsumed Ethiopia as a client-state. Ethiopia repudiated the treaty in 1893. Insulted, Italy declared war on Ethiopia in 1895. The First Italo-Ethiopian War resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, in which Italy was decisively defeated. As a result the Treaty of Addis Ababa was signed in October, which strictly delineated the borders of Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize the independence of Ethiopia.

Delegations from the United Kingdom and France —European powers whose colonial possessions lay next to Ethiopia— soon arrived in the Ethiopian capital to negotiate their own treaties with this newly proven power.

Italian invasion and WWII

In 1935 Italian soldiers commanded by Marshal Emilio De Bono invaded Ethiopia. The war lasted seven months before an Italian victory was declared. The invasion was condemned by the League of Nations, though not much was done to end the hostility. In 1935, Italy used mustard gas during the invasion of Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Ignoring the Geneva Protocol, which it signed seven years earlier, the Italian military dropped mustard gas in bombs, sprayed it from airplanes, and spread it in powdered form on the ground. 150,000 chemical casualties were reported, mostly from mustard gas. In the aftermath of the war Italy annexed Ethiopia, uniting it with Italy's other colonies in eastern Africa to form the new colony of Italian East Africa, and Vittorio Emanuele III adopted the title Emperor of Abyssinia.

Rise of Derg

In 1974 a pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist military junta, the "Derg", led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, deposed Haile Selassie and established a one-party communist state. Haile Selassie was imprisoned and died in unclear circumstances, the most likely known rumour being that he was suffocated with an ether-soaked pillow.

References

Notes

^ Nathaniel T. Kenney, "Ethiopian Adventure", National Geographic, 127 (1965), p. 555.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Adekumobi, p. 10
^ ^a ^b Pankhurst, p. 45

Bibliography

Adekumobi, Saheed A. (2007). The History of Ethiopia. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 219 Pages. ISBN 0-313-32273-2.
Pankhurst, Richard (2001). The Ethiopians: A History. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 299 Pages. ISBN 0-631-22493-9.
Shillington, Kevin (2004). Encyclopedia of African History, Vol. 1. London: Routledge. pp. 1912 Pages. ISBN 1-57958-245-1.

External links

Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). "Abyssinia" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company.

[1] Nathaniel T. Kenney, "Ethiopian Adventure", National Geographic, 127 (1965), p. 555.

[A10-2] Adekumobi, p. 10

[P45-3] Pankhurst, p. 45

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