Ethiopian Empire

Ethiopian Empire የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ (Amharic) (Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya)
1270–1974 1936–1941: Government-in-exile
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ityopia tabetsih edewiha habe Igziabiher ኢትዮጵያ ታበፅዕ እደዊሃ ሃበ እግዚአብሐር "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God"
Anthem: Ityopp'ya Hoy dess yibelish[1] ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ ደስ ይበልሽ "Ethiopia, Be happy"
The location of the Ethiopian Empire during the reign of Menelik II (dark orange) compared with modern day Ethiopia (orange)
Capital	Unspecified (1270–1635) Gondar (1635–1855) Magdala (1855–1868) Mekele (1871–1885) Addis Ababa (1886–1974)
Common languages	Ge'ez (official) Amharic, Afar, Gamo, Gedeo, Gurage, Hadiyya, Kafa, Oromo, Sidamo, Somali, Tigrinya, Wolaytta (widely spoken)
Religion	Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Government	Absolute monarchy[2]
Emperor
• 1270	Yekuno Amlak (first)[3]
• 1930–1974	Haile Selassie I (last)
Prime Minister
• 1909–1927	Habte Giyorgis (first)
• 1974	Mikael Imru (last)
Legislature	Parliament of the Ethiopian Empire[4]
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Historical era	Middle Ages to Cold War
• Empire established	1270
• Italo-Ethiopian War	1895–1896
• Treaty of Addis Ababa	23 October 1896
• Constitution adopted	16 July 1931
• Italian invasion	3 October 1935 – May 1936
• Sovereignty restored	5 May 1941
• Admitted to the United Nations	13 November 1945
• Coup d'état by Derg	12 September 1974
• Monarchy abolished	21 March 1975[5][6][7][8][9]
Area
1950	1,221,900 km2 (471,800 sq mi)
1974	1,221,900 km2 (471,800 sq mi)
Population
• 1950	19575000
• 1974	35074000
Currency	Salt blocks Maria Theresa thaler (18th–19th c.) Ethiopian birr (from 1894)
Preceded by Succeeded by Zagwe dynasty Derg
Today part of	Ethiopia  Eritrea

The Ethiopian Empire (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ, Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya), also known as Abyssinia (derived from the Arabic al-Habash),^[10] was a kingdom that spanned a geographical area in the current state of Ethiopia. It began with the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty from approximately 1270 and lasted until 1974, when the ruling Solomonic dynasty was overthrown in a coup d'état by the Derg.

Following the British occupation of Egypt in 1882, Ethiopia and Liberia were the only two African nations to remain independent during the Scramble for Africa by the European imperial powers in the late 19th century. Ethiopia remained independent after defeating Italians during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. Later, after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italian Empire occupied Ethiopia briefly for five years and established the Italian East Africa colony in the region. The Italians were later driven out with the help of the British army. The country was one of the founding members of the United Nations in 1945.

By 1974, Ethiopia was one of only three countries in the world to have the title of Emperor for its head of state, together with Japan and Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty. It was the second-to-last country in Africa to use the title of Emperor; the only one later was the Central African Empire, which was implemented between 1976 and 1979 by Emperor Bokassa I.

Historical background

D'mt and Kingdom of Aksum

Main articles: Dʿmt and Kingdom of Aksum

Ethiopia's human occupation began early, as evidenced by the findings. It is believed that the ancient Egyptians claimed that Punt, known as gold country, was in Ethiopia in 980 BC. According to the Kebra Nagast, Menelik I founded the Ethiopian empire in the 1st century BC, around when the Axumite Empire was established. In the 4th century, under King Ezana of Axum, the kingdom adopted Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Church) as the state religion. It was thus one of the first Christian states.^[11]

After the conquest of Aksum by Queen Gudit or Yodit, a period began which some scholars refer to as the Ethiopian Dark Ages.^[11] According to Ethiopian tradition, she ruled over the remains of the Aksumite Empire for 40 years before transmitting the crown to her descendants.^[11] In 1063AD the Sultanate of Showa describes the passing of their overlord Badit daughter of Maya.^[12]

Solomonic dynasty

In 1270, the Zagwe dynasty was overthrown by a king claiming lineage from the Aksumite kings and, hence, from Solomon.^[14] The eponymously named Solomonic dynasty was founded and ruled by the Abyssinians, from whom Abyssinia gets its name. The Abyssinians reigned with only a few interruptions from 1270 until the late 20th century. This dynasty governed large parts of Ethiopia through much of its modern history. During this time, the empire conquered and annexed various kingdoms into its realm. The dynasty also successfully fought off Italian, Ottoman and Egyptian forces and made fruitful contacts with some European powers.

Adal Sultanate invasion

In 1529, the Adal Sultanate's forces led by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi invaded the Ethiopian Empire in what is known as the Abyssinian–Adal war. The Adal occupation lasted fourteen years. During the conflict, the Adal Sultanate employed cannons provided by the Ottoman Empire. In the aftermath of the war, Adal annexed Ethiopia, uniting it with territories in what is now Somalia. In 1543, with the help of the Portuguese Empire, the Solomonic dynasty was restored.

Princes Era

From 1769 to 1855, the Ethiopian empire passed through a period known as the "Princes Era" (in Amharic Zemene Mesafint). This was a period of Ethiopian history with numerous conflicts between the various ras (equivalent to the English dukes) and the emperor, who had only limited power and only dominated the area around the contemporary capital of Gondar. Both the development of society and culture stagnated in this period. Religious conflict, both within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and between them and the Muslims were often used as a pretext for mutual strife. The Princes Era ended with the reign of the Emperor Tewodros II.

Reign of Emperor Tewodros II and scramble for Africa

In 1868, following the imprisonment of several missionaries and representatives of the British government, the British engaged in the punitive Expedition to Abyssinia. This campaign was a success for Britain and the Ethiopian emperor 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 Ethiopian 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 1896 Battle of Adwa, 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.

Beginning in the 1880s, under the reign of the Emperor Menelik II, the empire's forces set off from the central province of Shoa to incorporate through conquest inhabited lands to the west, east and south of its realm.^[15] The territories that were annexed included those of the western Oromo (non Shoan Oromo), Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta,^[16] and Dizi.^[17] Among the imperial troops was Ras Gobena's Shewan Oromo militia. Many of the lands that they annexed had never been under the empire's rule, with the newly incorporated territories resulting in the modern borders of Ethiopia.^[18]

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 World War II

In 1935 Italian soldiers, commanded by Marshal Emilio De Bono, invaded Ethiopia in what is known as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The war lasted seven months before an Italian victory was declared. The Ethiopian Empire was incorporated into the Italian colony of Italian East Africa. The invasion was condemned by the League of Nations, though not much was done to end the hostility.

During the conflict, Italy used sulfur mustard in chemical warfare, ignoring the Geneva Protocol that it had 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 Victor Emmanuel III of Italy adopted the title "Emperor of Abyssinia".

On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France, as France was in the process of being conquered by Germany at the time and Benito Mussolini wished to expand Italy's colonial holdings. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland in August 1940 was successful, but the war turned against Italy afterward. Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia from England to help rally the resistance. The British began their own invasion in January 1941 with the help of Ethiopian freedom fighters, and the last organized Italian resistance in Italian East Africa surrendered in November 1941, ending Italian rule.

Fall of monarchy

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, a rumor being that he was suffocated with an ether-soaked pillow.^[19]

See also

Part of a series on the
History of Ethiopia
Early history Prehistory   Antiquity to 1st century BC Aksum to 10th century AD
Middle Ages Prehistory   Antiquity to 1st century BC Aksum to 10th century AD Zagwe dynasty to 1268 Early Solomonic period 1270–1529
Early modern history Ethiopian–Adal War 1527–1543 Oromo migrations 1543 – 17th century Habesh Eyalet 1557 – 17th century Early Gondar period 1632–1769 Aussa Sultanate 1734–1974 Zemene Mesafint 1769–1855
Modern history Unification 1855–1913 First Italo–Ethiopian War 1895–1896 Pre-Italian Modernization 1913–1936 Second Italo–Ethiopian War 1935–1936 Italian East Africa 1936–1941 East African Campaign 1941 Italian guerrilla war 1941–1943 Post-Italian Modernization 1941–1974 Federation with Eritrea 1952–1962 Eritrean Independence 1961–1991 Ethiopian Civil War 1974–1991
Recent history Ethiopian general election 2005 Ogaden conflict 2007–2008 War in Somalia 2006–2009
Topics Military Aristocracy Currency (Aksumite) Emperor
Ethiopia portal

References

Bibliography

• Adejumobi, Saheed A. (2007). The History of Ethiopia. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32273-0.
• Pankhurst, Richard (2001). The Ethiopians: A History. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 299 Pages. ISBN 978-0-631-22493-8.
• Shillington, Kevin (2004). Encyclopedia of African History, Vol. 1. London: Routledge. pp. 1912 Pages. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6.

External links

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Abyssinia". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). 1911.
  • "Ethiopia". Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). 1911.
  • "Abyssinia". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.