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First, while Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world its territories were much larger than current date. It had its own dynasty that can be traced back to King Solomon. Ethiopia, was not known to be a poor country by any means back in history (there is also a long history between Ethiopians, Jews, Indians, Chinese, and the French as well as Armenia (etc), a lot of Armenians left their country for Ethiopia).
In the battle of Adawa, the Italians attempted to counquer Ethiopia and were unsuccessful. So there was European interest there but the Italians were defeated by Ethiopians who were not equiped at the time with technology such as guns. They were still fighting with bow and arrows, the Russians had little to do with the Ethiopian victory. The Russian guns were more instrumental in overthrowing the King H.I.M. which was in the 70's.
Mussolini also made an attempt at overthrowing Ethiopia and was also unsuccessful. Ethiopia could not be conqured and credit should be given to the Ethiopians. Ethiopians are highly educated people, are familiar with their own terrain (mountains), and the climate so I believe those were the major contributing factors in the country's victories.
Wasn't the Queen of Sheba King Solomon's wife? You can't leave her out.
Yes, the Queen of Sheba who was Ethiopian and her name was Saba. They had a son, Menilek.
No one doubts who built up Eriteria. But the boundaries and some of the historical context here as it relates to Eriteria is not actually accurate. Won't comment further on the subject since this is not the point of the thread.
Yes, the Queen of Sheba who was Ethiopian and her name was Saba. They had a son, Menilek.
No one doubts who built up Eriteria. But the boundaries and some of the historical context here as it relates to Eriteria is not actually accurate. Won't comment further on the subject since this is not the point of the thread.
Please do! We here at city-data notoriously get off-topic! I really want to hear more about Eritrean-Ethiopian relations!
Were the Europeans simply not interested, or did they try and fail.
1, Ethiopia was colonized. But it is politically unpopular to call it that. The Italians controlled Ethiopia from 1936-1941. Italy's defeat in WWII and it's subsequent loss to the British on African soil, led to the modern independence of Ethiopia. Most people don't know Ethiopia was a protectorate of Great Britain until 1942.
2. The Italians underestimated and miscalculated how large the Ethiopian army was, which was several hundred thousand. the Italian army was a mere 1/10 the size.
3. After Italy's defeat they did sign a treaty Abyssinia, leaving Abyssinia as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy, not an independent country.
4. Ethiopia is as much a recent creation as the rest of Africa. Remember that states are a European invention therefore Ethiopia's borders are the result of the Berlin Conference and negotiations between local Ethiopian leaders and early European colonialists. This exchange was not only unique to Ethiopia.
6. You can still find remnants of Italian architecture and other colonial legacies throughout Ethiopia.
7. Understanding what colonialism is depends on your definition of it.
Yes, the Queen of Sheba who was Ethiopian and her name was Saba. They had a son, Menilek.
No one doubts who built up Eriteria. But the boundaries and some of the historical context here as it relates to Eriteria is not actually accurate. Won't comment further on the subject since this is not the point of the thread.
The Queen of Sheba is fictional character in Yemeni mythology, not a real person in history. The story of Sheba is actually a borrowed story from Yemen.
Italy was definitely there. Asmara, Eritrea was built almost entirely by the Italians, and built in their style of colonial architecture at the time as well.
I'm not sure the history of Eritrea vs Ethiopia, but I'd imagine it had something to do with Italy building that city, and people later dividing into two countries, possibly for some related reasons.
Eritrea and Ethiopia are two heterogenous countries. They were never one country as nation states were alien to Africans prior to the arrival of Europeans.
The Eritrean capital city of Asmara predates the presence of Italian colonialists. The Art Deco buildings the city is known for are left overs from the 1930s. Italian by design but build by the hands of Eritreans with Eritrean materials.
The Eritrean Ethiopian relationship has been shaped more so the 30 year independence launched by the Eritreans from the monarchist then communist Ethiopian regime. Eritrea is an anomaly in Africa since it was not awarded independence of the defeat of the Italians. Instead it was devastated by 10 year British rule then handed over to Ethiopia has a nice gesture. Eritrea was a victim of the Cold War politics of the 50s and 60s. Its tie to Ethiopia was more of a failed experiment by the Americans, who had their own interests in the region as well (oil, set up a military base, etc.)
The Italians did not colonize Ethiopia I am sorry to tell you that. The Italians themselves will tell you that and just about any African not only Ethiopian would confirm this. They did however occupy parts of Ethiopia for about 5 years but they did not colonize it which is a HUGE difference. Italians did not enslave Ethiopians, sell them, and or trade them. Ethiopia was neither sold off and or used for foreign investment and or gain. Nor were Ethiopians forced to learn another language or go to Italian schools. Nor did they EVER refer to an foreigner as King, Queen, and or Ruler of the country. Ethiopians fought the entire time of the occupation.
King Menilek signed a treaty with the Italians prior to and leading up to the historical battle of Adawa which gave the Italians parts of N. Ethiopia which was Eritrea and parts of the Tigray region which were in exchange for weapons. The treaty was not even in the Ethiopian national language. Italians used this treaty to identify the entire Ethiopia as their colony which of course Ethiopia disagreed with. So the two countries went to war and the Ethiopian defeat was the nail in the coffin for that idea.
To understand the Ethiopian and Eritrea conflicts you must understand that issues go way back far beyond the 50's & 60's and have nothing to do at all with Europe and or Americans (nothing).
When the Italians occupied and were defeated by Ethiopians and other European nations the 2nd time around, they were kicked out of the country. Ethiopians NEVER stopped fighting the Italians their entire occupation. The British notion is also incorrect but this writing is getting too long as it is. Please stop referring to Wikipedia for your history lesson and read some actual books. Most westerns and not trying to offend anyone don't even know other's history on a global scale and change events for their own reasoning.
People can re-write history all they want to but the fact is Ethiopia was not colonized. There was a Nazi Germany although Germans deny this and don't want to acknowledge this fact (the rest of the world know this to be the case), and white South Africans were not the first ones in that part of Africa (this should be obvious even though in their history books they wrote otherwise).
The Queen of Sheba was not fictional and not borrowed by Yemen although Yemeni people also share her history with Ethiopia. Ethiopia has its own history it need not borrow from others. What would be the Ethiopians need to borrow such an individual? She is referenced in the bible so not fictional at all unless you do not follow biblical teachings.
Africans do not refer to their countries as states, another correction. This is also not an evolution of Europeans. Africans are all different in shades, size, food, language, music, etc. Some of the territories do exist because of European colonization and or treaties amongst bordering nations.
Ethiopians were simply very strong and equipped without technology although they still won the war with Italy at the war of Adawa.
This a short and incomplete story,the ethiopians were defeated the second time around by italians,the ethiopians got help from the english army that intervened to drive out italians out the country.
there is a LOT of misinformation going around concerning Ethiopia's ancient past and contemporary history.
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