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Battle of Adwa

Coordinates: 14°1′8″N 38°58′24″E / 14.01889°N 38.97333°E / 14.01889; 38.97333 (Battle of Adwa)
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Battle of Adwa
Part of the First Italo-Ethiopian War

Painting commemorating the Battle of Adwa, Catalogue No. E261845-0, Department of Anthropology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution.
Date1 March 1896
Location
14°1′8″N 38°58′24″E / 14.01889°N 38.97333°E / 14.01889; 38.97333 (Battle of Adwa)
Adwa, Ethiopia
Result Decisive Ethiopian victory
Belligerents
 Ethiopian Empire
Eritrean rebels		  Kingdom of Italy
Commanders and leaders

Ethiopian Empire Menelik II

Ethiopian Empire Alula Engida
Ethiopian Empire Makonnen
Ethiopian Empire Mengesha Yohannes
Ethiopian Empire Mikael of Wollo
Ethiopian Empire Tekle Haymanot
Ethiopian Empire Taytu Betul		 Kingdom of Italy Oreste Baratieri
Kingdom of Italy General Dobormida
Kingdom of Italy General Arimondi
Kingdom of Italy General Albertoni
Kingdom of Italy General Ellena
Strength
~100,000 (80,000 with firearms, rest with spears) [nb 1],
40 or so artillery guns (some antiquated)[1]		 17,700,
56 artillery guns
Casualties and losses
4,000–5,000 killed,
8,000 wounded[2]		 7,000 killed,
1,500 wounded,
3,000 captured[2]
The landscape of Adwa.

The Battle of Adwa (usually known as Adowa, or sometimes by the Italian name Adua) was fought on 1 March 1896 between Ethiopia and Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War.

Background

As the 20th century approached, most of 19th-century Africa had been carved up among the various European powers. The two independent exceptions were the tiny Republic of Liberia on the west coast of the continent and the ancient Ethiopian Empire in the strategic Horn of Africa. The Kingdom of Italy was a relative newcomer to the colonial scramble for Africa. Italy had only two recently-obtained African territories, both located near Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa: Eritrea and Somalia. Both were impoverished. Italy sought to improve its position in Africa by conquering Ethiopia, which would join its two territories.

In 1889, the Italians signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Emperor Menelik II. A disputed article of the treaty made the Ethiopian Empire a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. As a result, Italy and Ethiopia faced off in what was later to be known as the First Italo-Ethiopian War.

In late 1895, after advancing deep into Ethiopian territory, a small Italian-led unit was defeated by a much larger Ethiopian group at the Battle of Amba Alagi. The Italians were forced to withdraw to more defensible positions in Tigray, where the two main armies faced each other.

By late February 1896, supplies on both sides were running low. General Oreste Baratieri, commander of the Italian forces, knew the Ethiopian forces had been living off the land, and once the supplies of the local peasants were exhausted, Emperor Menelik's army would begin to melt away. However, the Italian government insisted that General Baratieri act. On the evening of 29 February, Baratieri met with his brigadiers Matteo Albertone, Giuseppe Arimondi, Vittorio Dabormida, and Giuseppe Ellena, concerning their next steps. He opened the meeting on a negative note, revealing to his brigadiers that provisions would be exhausted in less than five days, and suggested retreating, perhaps as far back as Asmara. His subordinates argued forcefully for an attack, insisting that to retreat at this point would only worsen the poor morale.[3] Dabormida exclaiming, "Italy would prefer the loss of two or three thousand men to a dishonorable retreat." Baratieri delayed making a decision for a few more hours, claiming that he needed to wait for some last-minute intelligence, but in the end announced that the attack would start the next morning at 9:00.[4] His troops began their march to their starting positions shortly after midnight.

The battle

Painting commemorating the Battle of Adwa, Catalogue No. E261845-0, Department of Anthropology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution.

The Italian army comprised four brigades totaling 17,878 troops, with fifty-six artillery pieces.[5] However, it is likely that even fewer men fought in this battle on the Italian side: Harold Marcus notes that "several thousand" soldiers were needed for support and to guard the lines of communication to the rear, so he estimates the Italian army to have consisted of 14,923 effectives.[6] One brigade under General Albertone was made up of Eritrean askari led by Italian officers.[7] The remaining three brigades were Italian units under Brigadiers Dabormida, Ellena and Arimondi. While these included elite Bersaglieri, Alpini and Cacciatori units, a large proportion of the troops were inexperienced conscripts recently drafted from metropolitan regiments in Italy into newly formed "di formazione" battalions for service in Africa.[8][9]

As Chris Prouty describes:

They [the Italians] had inadequate maps, old model guns, poor communication equipment and inferior footgear for the rocky ground. (The newer Carcano Model 91 rifles were not issued because Baratieri, under constraints to be economical, wanted to use up the old cartridges.) Morale was low as the veterans were homesick and the newcomers, too inexperienced to have any esprit de corps. There was a shortage of mules and saddles.[10]

Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam.

Estimates for the Ethiopian forces under Menelik range from a low of 73,000 to a high of 100,000, outnumbering the Italians by an estimated five or six times.[11] The forces were divided among Emperor Menelik, Empress Taytu Betul, Ras[nb 2] Welle Betul, Ras Mengesha Atikem, Ras Mengesha Yohannes, Ras Alula Engida, Ras Mikael of Wollo, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael, Fitawrari[nb 3] Gebeyyehu, and Negus[nb 4] Tekle Haymanot Tessemma.[12] In addition, the armies were followed by a similar number of traditional peasant followers who supplied the army, as had been done for centuries.[2] Most of the army was composed of riflemen, a significant percentage of which were in Menelik's reserve; however, the army was also composed of a significant number of cavalry and infantry only armed with lances.[2] Also, in Ethiopian Army there was the small team of the Russian advisers and volunteers of the officer the Kuban Cossack army N.S. Leontjev.[13] [14][15][16][17] On the night of 29 February and the early morning of 1 March three Italian brigades advanced separately towards Adwa over narrow mountain tracks, while a fourth remained camped.[18] David Levering Lewis states that the Italian battle plan

called for three columns to march in parallel formation to the crests of three mountains — Dabormida commanding on the right, Albertone on the left, and Arimondi in the center — with a reserve under Ellena following behind Arimondi. The supporting crossfire each column could give the others made the… soldiers as deadly as razored shears. Albertone's brigade was to set the pace for the others. He was to position himself on the summit known as Kidane Meret, which would give the Italians the high ground from which to meet the Ethiopians.[19]

However, the three leading Italian brigades had become separated during their overnight march and at dawn were spread across several miles of very difficult terrain. Their sketchy maps caused Albertone to mistake one mountain for Kidane Meret, and when a scout pointed out his mistake, Albertone advanced directly into Ras Alula's position.

An 1890s Italian map of Adwa (the map appears to be facing west)

Unbeknownst to General Baratieri, Emperor Menelik knew his troops had exhausted the ability of the local peasants to support them and had planned to break camp the next day (2 March). The Emperor had risen early to begin prayers for divine guidance when spies from Ras Alula, his chief military advisor, brought him news that the Italians were advancing. The Emperor summoned the separate armies of his nobles and with the Empress Taytu beside him, ordered his forces forward. Negus Tekle Haymanot commanded the right wing, Ras Alula the left, and Rasses Makonnen and Mengesha the center, with Ras Mikael at the head of the Oromo cavalry; the Emperor and his consort remained with the reserve.[19] The Ethiopian forces positioned themselves on the hills overlooking the Adwa valley, in perfect position to receive the Italians, who were exposed and vulnerable to crossfire.[2]

Albertone's askari brigade was the first to encounter the onrush of Ethiopians at 6:00, near Kidane Meret,[20] where the Ethiopians had managed to set up their mountain artillery (so Menelik's adviser colonel Аrtamonov testifies, it is was 42 Russian mountain guns with team of fifteen advisers[21] , but Britannic historians prefer other version about Hotchiss and Maxim pieces either captured from the Egyptians or purchased from French and other European suppliers[22]). His heavily outnumbered askaris held their position for two hours until Albertone's capture, and under Ethiopian pressure the survivors sought refuge with Arimondi's brigade. Arimondi's brigade beat back the Ethiopians who repeatedly charged the Italian position for three hours with gradually fading strength until Menelik released his reserve of 25,000 Shewans and swamped the Italian defenders. Two companies of Bersaglieri who arrived at the same moment could not help and were cut down.

Dabormida's Italian brigade had moved to support Albertone but was unable to reach him in time. Cut off from the remainder of the Italian army, Dabormida began a fighting retreat towards friendly positions. However, he inadvertently marched his command into a narrow valley where the Oromo cavalry under Ras Mikael slaughtered his brigade, while shouting Ebalgume! Ebalgume! ("Reap! Reap!"). Dabormida's remains were never found, although his brother learned from an old woman living in the area that she had given water to a mortally wounded Italian officer, "a chief, a great man with spectacles and a watch, and golden stars".[23]

The remaining two brigades under Baratieri himself were outflanked and destroyed piecemeal on the slopes of Mount Belah. Menelik watched as Gojjam forces under the command of Tekle Haymonot made quick work of the last intact Italian brigade. By noon, the survivors of the Italian army were in full retreat and the battle was over.

Aftermath

The Russian support for Ethiopia led to the advent of a Russian Red Cross mission. The Russian mission was military mission conceived as a medical support for the Ethiopian troops it arrived in Addis Ababa some three months after Menilek's Adwa victory[24]. The Italians suffered about 7,000 killed and 1,500 wounded in the battle and subsequent retreat back into Eritrea, with 3,000 taken prisoner; Ethiopian losses have been estimated around 4,000–5,000, but with 8,000 wounded.[18][25] In their flight to Eritrea, the Italians left behind all of their artillery and 11,000 rifles, as well as most of their transport.[25] As Paul B. Henze notes, "Baratieri's army had been completely annihilated while Menelik's was intact as a fighting force and gained thousands of rifles and a great deal of equipment from the fleeing Italians."[26] The 3,000 Italian prisoners, who included General Albertone, appear to have been treated as well as could be expected under difficult circumstances, though about 200 died of their wounds in captivity.[27] However, 800 captured askaris, regarded as traitors by the Ethiopians, had their right hands and left feet amputated. Augustus Wylde records when he visited the battlefield months after the battle, the pile of severed hands and feet was still visible, "a rotting heap of ghastly remnants."[28] Further, many had not survived their punishment, Wylde writing how the neighborhood of Adwa "was full of their freshly dead bodies; they had generally crawled to the banks of the streams to quench their thirst, where many of them lingered unattended and exposed to the elements until death put an end to their sufferings."[29] There does not appear to be any foundation for reports that some Italians were castrated and these may reflect confusion with the atrocious treatment of the askari prisoners.[30]

Baratieri was relieved of his command and later charged with preparing an "inexcusable" plan of attack and for abandoning his troops in the field. He was acquitted on these charges but was described by the court martial judges as being "entirely unfitted" for his command. Chris Prouty offers a panoramic overview of the response in Italy to the news:

When news of the calamity reached Italy there were street demonstrations in most major cities. In Rome, to prevent these violent protests, the universities and theatres were closed. Police were called out to disperse rock-throwers in front of Prime Minister Crispi's residence. Crispi resigned on 9 March. Troops were called out to quell demonstrations in Naples. In Pavia, crowds built barricades on the railroad tracks to prevent a troop train from leaving the station. The Association of Women of Rome, Turin, Milan and Pavia called for the return of all military forces in Africa. Funeral masses were intoned for the known and unknown dead. Families began sending to the newspapers letters they had received before Adwa in which their menfolk described their poor living conditions and their fears at the size of the army they were going to face. King Umberto declared his birthday (14 March) a day of mourning. Italian communities in St. Petersburg, London, New York, Chicago, Buenos Aires and Jerusalem collected money for the families of the dead and for the Italian Red Cross.[31]

One question much asked – both then and long afterward – is why did Emperor Menelik fail to follow up his victory and drive the routed Italians out of their colony? The victorious Emperor limited his demands to little more than the abrogation of the deceptive Treaty of Wuchale. In the context of the prevailing balance of power, the emperor's crucial goal was to preserve Ethiopian independence. In addition, Ethiopia had just begun to emerge from a long and brutal famine; Harold Marcus reminds us that the army was restive over its long service in the field, short of rations, and the short rains which would bring all travel to a crawl would soon start to fall.[32] At the time, Menelik claimed a shortage of cavalry horses with which to harry the fleeing soldiers. Chris Prouty observes that "a failure of nerve on the part of Menelik has been alleged by both Italian and Ethiopian sources."[33] Lewis believes that it "was his farsighted certainty that total annihilation of Baratieri and a sweep into Eritrea would force the Italian people to turn a bungled colonial war into a national crusade"[34] that stayed his hand.


As a direct result of the battle, Italy signed the Treaty of Addis Ababa, recognizing Ethiopia as an independent state. Almost forty years later, on 3 October 1935, after the League of Nations's weak response to the Abyssinia Crisis, the Italians launched a new military campaign endorsed by Benito Mussolini, the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This time the Italians employed vastly superior military technology such as tanks and aircraft, as well as Chemical warfare, the Ethiopian forces were soundly defeated by May 1936. Following the war, Italy occupied Ethiopia for five years (1936–41), before eventually being driven out during World War II by British Empire and Ethiopian patriot forces.

Significance

"The confrontation between Italy and Ethiopia at Adwa was a fundamental turning point in Ethiopian history," writes Henze. "Though apparent to very few historians at the time, these defeats were the beginning of the decline of Europe as the center of world politics."[35] On a similar note, the Ethiopian historian-anglophile Bahru Zewde observed that "few events in the modern period have brought Ethiopia to the attention of the world as has the victory at Adwa;" however, Bahru Zewde puts his emphasis on other elements of this triumph: "The racial dimension was what lent Adwa particular significance. It was a victory of blacks over whites.".[36]

The Russian Empire enthusiastically paid victory compliments to the Ethiopian army. One of the documents of that time states, "The Victory immediately gained the general sympathy of Russian society and it continued to grow." The unique outlook which polyethnic Russia exhibited to its ally Ethiopia disturbed many supporters of European nationalism during the twentieth century.[37] [38]The Russian Cossack captain Nicholas Leontjev with team of volunteers of participated in the battle as an advisor to Menelik.[39]

This defeat of a colonial power and the ensuing recognition of African sovereignty became rallying points for later African nationalists during their struggle for decolonization, as well as activists and leaders of the Pan-African movement.[40] As the Afrocentric scholar Molefe Asante explains,

After the victory over Italy in 1896, Ethiopia acquired a special importance in the eyes of Africans as the only surviving African State. After Adowa, Ethiopia became emblematic of African valour and resistance, the bastion of prestige and hope to thousands of Africans who were experiencing the full shock of European conquest and were beginning to search for an answer to the myth of African inferiority.[41]

On the other hand, many writers have pointed out how this battle was a humiliation for the Italian military. One student of Ethiopia, Donald N. Levine, points out that for the Italians Adwa "became a national trauma which demagogic leaders strove to avenge. It also played no little part in motivating Italy's revanchist adventure in 1935". Levine also noted that the victory "gave encouragement to isolationist and conservative strains that were deeply rooted in Ethiopian culture, strengthening the hand of those who would strive to keep Ethiopia from adopting techniques imported from the modern West - resistances with which both Menelik and Ras Teferi/Haile Selassie would have to contend" .[42]

Film

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ^ According to Pankhurst, the Ethiopians were armed with approximately 100,000 rifles of which about half were "fast firing.".[1]
  2. ^ Roughly equivalent to Duke.
  3. ^ Roughly equivalent to Commander of the Vanguard.
  4. ^ Roughly equivalent to King.
Citations
  1. ^ a b Pankhurst, The Ethiopians, p. 190
  2. ^ a b c d e von Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 108.
  3. ^ Harold G. Marcus, The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913, 1975 (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), p. 170
  4. ^ David Levering Lewis, The Race for Fashoda (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987), p. 116. ISBN 1-55584-058-2
  5. ^ Lewis, Fashoda, pp. 116f. He breaks down their numbers into 10,596 Italian officers and soldiers and 7,104 Eritrean askaris.
  6. ^ Marcus, Menelik II, p. 173
  7. ^ Thomas Pakenham, page 481 "The Scramble for Africa", ISBN 0-349-10449-2
  8. ^ George Fitz-Hardinge Berkley The Campaign of Adowa and the rise of Menelik, London: Constable 1901.
  9. ^ Raffaele Ruggeri, page 82 Le Guerre Coloniali Italiane 1885/1900, Editrice Militare Italiana 1988
  10. ^ Prouty, Empress Taytu and Menilek II (Trenton: The Red Sea Press, 1986), p. 155. ISBN 0-932415-11-3.
  11. ^ Richard K.P. Pankhurst has published one collection of these estimates, Economic History of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie University, 1968), pp. 555–57. See also Herausgegeben von Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C. Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003, p. 108.
  12. ^ Pétridès (as well as Pankhurst, with slight variations) break the troop numbers down (over 100,000 by their estimates) as follows: 35,000 infantry (25,000 riflemen and 10,000 spearmen) and 8,000 cavalry under Emperor Menelik; 5,000 infantry under Empress Taytu; 8,000 infantry (6,000 riflemen and 2,000 spearmen) under Ras Wale; 8,000 infantry (5,000 riflemen and 3,000 spearmen) under Ras Mengesha Atikem, 5,000 riflemen, 5,000 spearmen, and 3,000 cavalry under Ras Mengesha Yohannes and Ras Alula Engida; 6,000 riflemen, 5,000 spearmen, and 5,000 Oromo cavalry under Ras Mikael of Wollo; 25,000 riflemen under Ras Makonnen; 8,000 infantry under Fitawrari Gebeyyehu; 5,000 riflemen, 5,000 spearmen, and 3,000 cavalry under Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, von Uhlig, Encyclopaedia, p. 109.
  13. ^ RUSSIAN MISSION TO ABYSSINIA.
  14. ^ Who Was Count Abai?.
  15. ^ The activities of the officer the Kuban Cossack army N.S. Leontjev in the Italian-Ethiopic war in 1895-1896
  16. ^ - WITH THE ARMIES OF MENELIK II by Alexander K. Bulatovich
  17. ^ Leonid Artamonov, a Russian general, geographer and traveler, military adviser of Menelik II, as one of Russian officers of volunteers attached to the forces of Ras Tessema (wrote: Through Ethiopia to the White Nile).
  18. ^ a b von Uhlig, Encyclopaedia, p. 109.
  19. ^ a b Lewis, Fashoda, p. 117.
  20. ^ In the attached map, this is labelled "Chidane Meret", which is immediately above (west) of the hill "Rajò".
  21. ^ Leonid Artamonov, a Russian general, geographer and traveler, military adviser of Menelik II, as one of Russian officers of volunteers attached to the forces of Ras Tessema (wrote: Through Ethiopia to the White Nile).
  22. ^ Sean McLachlan, page 37 "Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896", ISBN 978 1 84908 457 4
  23. ^ George Fitz-Hardinge Berkeley, Campaign of Adowa (1902), quoted in Lewis, Fashoda, p. 118.
  24. ^ The Russian Red Cross Mission
  25. ^ a b Pankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998), pp. 191–2.
  26. ^ Henze, Layers of Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 170.
  27. ^ Chris Prouty notes that Albertone was given into the care of Azaj Zamanel, commander of Empress Taytu's personal army, and "had a tent to himself, a horse and servants". Empress Taytu, pp. 169f.
  28. ^ Augustus B. Wylde, Modern Abyssinia (London: Methuen, 1901), p. 213
  29. ^ Wylde, Modern Abyssinia, p. 214
  30. ^ Prouty has collected the few documented experiences of these POWs, none of whom claim to have been treated inhumanely (Empress Taytu, pp. 170–83). She repeats the opinion of the Italian historian Angelo del Boca, that "the paucity of the record is attributable to the glacial welcome received in Italy by the returning prisoners for having lost a war, and the fact that they were subjected to long interrogations when they debarked, were defrauded of their back pay, had their mementoes confiscated and were ordered not to talk to journalists" (p. 170).
  31. ^ Prouty, Empress Taytu, pp. 159f.
  32. ^ Marcus, Menelik II, p. 176.
  33. ^ Prouty, Empress Taytu, p. 161.
  34. ^ Lewis, Fashoda, p. 120.
  35. ^ Henze, Layers of Layers of Time, p.180.
  36. ^ Bahru Zewde, A History of Modern Ethiopia (London: James Currey, 1991), p. 81.
  37. ^ RUSSIAN MISSION TO ABYSSINIA.
  38. ^ Who Was Count Abai?.
  39. ^ The activities of the officer the Kuban Cossack army N.S. Leontjev in the Italian-Ethiopic war in 1895-1896
  40. ^ Professor Kinfe Abraham, "The Impact of the Adowa Victory on The Pan-African and Pan-Black Anti-Colonial Struggle," Address delivered to The Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, February 8, 2006
  41. ^ Molefe Asante, quoted in Rodney Worrell, Pan-africanism in Barbados, (New Academia Publishing: 2005) p. 16
  42. ^ "The Battle of Adwa as a 'Historic' Event", Ethiopian Review, 3 March 2009 (accessed 9 March 2009)

References

  • Berkeley, G.F.-H. (1902) The campaign of Adowa and the rise of Menelik, Westminister : A. Constable, 403 p.
  • Henze, P.B. (2004) Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, London : Hurst & Co., ISBN 1-85065-522-7
  • Lewis, D.L. (1988) The race to Fashoda : European colonialism and African resistance in the scramble for Africa, 1st ed., London : Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-0113-0
  • Marcus, H.G. (1995) The life and times of Menelik II : Ethiopia, 1844-1913, Lawrenceville, N.J. : Red Sea Press, ISBN 1-56902-010-8
  • Pankhurst, R. (1968) Economic history of Ethiopia, 1800-1935, Addis Ababa : Haile Sellassie I University Press, 772 p.
  • Pankhurst, R. (1998) The Ethiopians : a history, The peoples of Africa Series, Oxford : Blackwell Publishers, ISBN 0-631-22493-9
  • Rosenfeld, C.P. (1986) Empress Taytu and Menelik II : Ethiopia 1883-1910, London : Ravens Educational & Development Services, ISBN 0-947895-01-9
  • Uhlig, S. (ed.) (2003) Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, 1 (A-C), Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, ISBN 3-447-04746-1
  • Worrell, R. (2005) Pan-Africanism in Barbados : An Analysis of the Activities of the Major 20th-Century Pan-African Formations in Barbados, Washington, DC : New Academia Publishing, ISBN 0-9744934-6-5
  • Bahru Zewde (1991) A history of modern Ethiopia, 1855-1974, Eastern African studies series, London : Currey, ISBN 0-85255-066-9
  • With the Armies of Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia at www.samizdat.comA.K. Bulatovich With the Armies of Menelik II translated by Richard Seltzer
  • A. K. Bulatovich Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes: Country in Transition, 1896–1898, translated by Richard Seltzer, 2000
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