The only African nation to resist the Europeans successfully was Ethiopia. Menelik II was the emperor of Ethiopia and the power behind their success. He had tricked Italy, France, and the British against each other because they were trying to bring Ethiopia into the spheres of influence. While doing this, he bought a supply of modern weapons from Russia and France. When Menelik was about to sign a treaty with Italy, he realized it had different wording than the treaty did in Amharic. In Amharic the treaty stated that he was giving up just a tiny portion of his land. However, in Italian, Italy claimed all of Ethiopia as a protectorate. As this was going on, Italian forces were advancing into northern Ethiopia. So, Menelik declared war on them called the Battle of Adowa. As one of the Greatest battles in the history of Africa, Ethiopia defeated the Italians and kept their nation's independence.
No comments:
Post a Comment