Battle of Adoua

The battles of Adoua (sometimes written battles of Adua or Adowa) is a victorious battle of the Ethiopian troops of the emperor Ménélik counter the Italian colonial troops in 1896.

Context

The Ethiopia has good relationships with the Italy what had made it possible Ménélik to obtain a great quantity of weapons. Thanks to that, it could conquer several rich person areas of Ethiopia. The May 2nd 1889, Ménélik and the Italians sign the treated of Wuchalé ( Ucciali in Italian). This treaty says that Ménélik recognizes Italian sovereignty on the Érythrée while Italy is the first country which recognizes in Ménélik the title of emperor of Ethiopia and to especially that it will be able to make forward by Érythrée, therefore an access to the sea, its imports of weapons and ammunition indicates him.

But it is especially article XVII of the treaty of Wuchalé which is the cause of the war. Indeed, the treaty was signed in 2 versions: one in Italian and the other in Amharique, the official language of Ethiopia, According to the amharic version: “S. Mr. the Empereur of Ethiopia will have faculty to make use of the government officials Italian, etc… ”. Whereas in the Italian version, the recourse to Italy was obligatory. The word “faculty” replaced by “obligation”

The European powers recognize the Italian ambitions in Ethiopia. The Italians take the town of Adowa (Adoua/Adua in Italian) to make pressure on Ménélik. They inform the short-nap cloth Mangacha which is also governor of the province of the Tigré ( Tigre in Italian) and wire of Johannes that they will not withdraw as much as Ménélik did not accept their interpretation of the treaty of Wuchalé.

After several years, Ménélik refuses to yield and buys a great number of weapons, mainly with the France and the Russia, to invade and annex generally by the force various territories. He denounces the treaty of Wuchalé the February 12th 1893 and informs the European countries of that " Ethiopia does not need anybody. It tightens the hands towards God ". Ménélik has all the same in its possession 82.000 rifles and 28 guns.

In December 1894, the war bursts between the Érythrée and Italy. At the beginning of January 1895, the Italians attack the Short-nap cloth Mangacha and seize most of the province of the Striped one. The September 17th, Ménélik forms an army of 100.000 warriors and gains important victories. The Italians fold up themselves then on Adoua which is located in the north of Ethiopia.

The battle

Ménélik has an army of 100.000 men equipped with modern rifles and has 40 guns. The warriors come from all the areas of Ethiopia. The local population is hostile to the Italians and is ready to help the army of Ménélik.

The Italian army is made up of 18.000 men including 10.596 Italians, the remainder being Eritrean warriors, and of 56 guns.

The Battle of Adoua proceeds on March 1st 1896. It is a bright victory for Ménélik: more than 40% of the soldiers of the Italian army are killed or wounded, the Italians lose 11.000 rifles and all their guns. The Italians had provided to tackle on March 1st because this day was one feastday for the Ethiopian church and the general Baratieri thought, wrongly, that many Ethiopian soldiers would be occupied by their religious rites. But it ran up against 100.000 warriors armed and ready with the combat.

Consequences

The treaty of Addis-Abeba (the new flower) which cancels the treaty of Wuchalé and by which Italy recognizes the independence of Ethiopia is signed. To avoid any mistranslation, the treaty, on the request of the Ethiopian government, is written into ahmaric and in French, the “two texts absolutely in conformity” and a convention which delimits the borders between Érythrée and Ethiopia is signed the July 10th, 1900.

This battle will give a great prestige to the Négus Ménélik II and makes it possible Ethiopia to become a African power with dimensions Westerners. The France and the Great Britain send to the court diplomatic missions to conclude from the treaties with the Ethiopian sovereign. Then the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the Tsar of Russia, the Mahdistes of the Sudan also send Ambassadeurs.

The country attracts black intellectuals of overseas: the Haitian Benito Sylvain, one of the first apostles of the Panafricanisme, came to Ethiopia between 1889 and 1906 four times as representative or a messenger from the president Alexis from Haiti. A Afro-American of cuban origin, William H. Ellis, visit him also Ethiopia in 1903 and 1904 to expose various development projects economic and of establishment of Afro-Americans. In 1911, the writer of the Gold Coast (the British colony of current the Ghana) J.E Casely Hayford] publishes a book, Ethiopia Unbound , with the following dedication: " With wire of Ethiopia of the whole world ". ----

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