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Ethiopia From Tewodros II to Menelik II, 1855-89
Tewodros II's origins were in the Era of the Princes, but
his ambitions were not those of the regional nobility. He
sought to reestablish a cohesive Ethiopian state and to
reform its administration and church. He did not initially
claim Solomonic lineage but did seek to restore Solomonic
hegemony, and he considered himself the "Elect of God."
Later in his reign, suspecting that foreigners considered
him an upstart and seeking to legitimize his reign, he added
"son of David and Solomon" to his title.
Tewodros's first task was to bring Shewa under his control.
During the Era of the Princes, Shewa was, even more than
most provinces, an independent entity, its ruler even
styling himself negus. In the course of subduing the
Shewans, Tewodros imprisoned a Shewan prince, Menelik, who
would later become emperor himself. Despite his success
against Shewa, Tewodros faced constant rebellions in other
provinces. In the first six years of his reign, the new
ruler managed to put down these rebellions, and the empire
was relatively peaceful from about 1861 to 1863, but the
energy, wealth, and manpower necessary to deal with regional
opposition limited the scope of Tewodros's other activities.
By 1865 other rebels had emerged, including Menelik, who had
escaped from prison and returned to Shewa, where he declared
himself negus.
In addition to his conflicts with rebels and rivals,
Tewodros encountered difficulties with the European powers.
Seeking aid from the British government (he proposed a joint
expedition to conquer Jerusalem), he became unhappy with the
behavior of those Britons whom he had counted on to advance
his request, and he took them hostage. In 1868, as a British
expeditionary force sent from India to secure release of the
hostages stormed his stronghold, Tewodros committed suicide.
Tewodros never realized his dream of restoring a strong
monarchy, although he took some important initial steps. He
sought to establish the principle that governors and judges
must be salaried appointees. He also established a
professional standing army, rather than depending on local
lords to provide soldiers for his expeditions. He also
intended to reform the church, believing the clergy to be
ignorant and immoral, but he was confronted by strong
opposition when he tried to impose a tax on church lands to
help finance government activities. His confiscation of
these lands gained him enemies in the church and little
support elsewhere. Essentially, Tewodros was a talented
military campaigner but a poor politician.
The kingdom at Tewodros's death was disorganized, but those
contending to succeed him were not prepared to return to the
Zemene Mesafint system. One of them, crowned Tekla Giorgis,
took over the central part of the highlands. Another, Kasa
Mercha, governor of Tigray, declined when offered the title
of ras in exchange for recognizing Tekla Giorgis. The third,
Menelik of Shewa, came to terms with Tekla Giorgis in return
for a promise to respect Shewa's independence. Tekla
Giorgis, however, sought to bring Kasa Mercha under his rule
but was defeated by a small Tigrayan army equipped with more
modern weapons than those possessed by his Gonder forces. In
1872 Kasa Mercha was crowned negusa nagast in a ceremony at
the ancient capital of Aksum, taking the throne name of
Yohannis IV.
Yohannis was unable to exercise control over the nearly
independent Shewans until six years later. From the
beginning of his reign, he was confronted with the growing
power of Menelik, who had proclaimed himself king of Shewa
and traced his Solomonic lineage to Lebna Dengel. While
Yohannis was struggling against opposing factions in the
north, Menelik consolidated his power in Shewa and extended
his rule over the Oromo to the south and west. He garrisoned
Shewan forces among the Oromo and received military and
financial support from them. Despite the acquisition of
European firearms, in 1878 Menelik was compelled to submit
to Yohannis and to pay tribute; in return, Yohannis
recognized Menelik as negus and gave him a free hand in
territories to the south of Shewa. This agreement, although
only a truce in the long-standing rivalry between Tigray and
Shewa, was important to Yohannis, who was preoccupied with
foreign enemies and pressures. In many of Yohannis's
external struggles, Menelik maintained separate relations
with the emperor's enemies and continued to consolidate
Shewan authority in order to strengthen his own position. In
a subsequent agreement designed to ensure the succession in
the line of Yohannis, one of Yohannis's younger sons was
married to Zawditu, Menelik's daughter.
In 1875 Yohannis had to meet attacks from Egyptian forces
on three fronts. The khedive in Egypt envisioned a "Greater
Egypt" that would encompass Ethiopia. In pursuit of this
goal, an Egyptian force moved inland from present-day
Djibouti but was annihilated by Afar tribesmen. Other
Egyptian forces occupied Harer, where they remained for
nearly ten years, long after the Egyptian cause had been
lost. Tigrayan warriors defeated a more ambitious attack
launched from the coastal city of Mitsiwa in which the
Egyptian forces were almost completely destroyed. A fourth
Egyptian army was decisively defeated in 1876 southwest of
Mitsiwa.
Italy was the next source of danger. The Italian government
took over the port of Aseb in 1882 from the Rubattino
Shipping Company, which had purchased it from a local ruler
some years before. Italy's main interest was not the port
but the eventual colonization of Ethiopia. In the process,
the Italians entered into a long-term relationship with
Menelik. The main Italian drive was begun in 1885 from
Mitsiwa, which Italy had occupied. From this port, the
Italians began to penetrate the hinterland, with British
encouragement. In 1887, after the Italians were soundly
defeated at Dogali by Ras Alula, the governor of
northeastern Tigray, they sent a stronger force into the
area.
Yohannis was unable to attend to the Italian threat because
of difficulties to the west in Gonder and Gojam. In 1887
Sudanese Muslims, known as Mahdists, made incursions into
Gojam and Begemdir and laid waste parts of those provinces.
In 1889 the emperor met these forces in the Battle of Metema
on the Sudanese border. Although the invaders were defeated,
Yohannis himself was fatally wounded, and the Ethiopian
forces disintegrated. Just before his death, Yohannis
designated one of his sons, Ras Mengesha Yohannis of Tigray,
as his successor, but this gesture proved futile, as Menelik
successfully claimed the throne in 1889.
The Shewan ruler became the dominant personality in
Ethiopia and was recognized as Emperor Menelik II by all but
Yohannis's son and Ras Alula. During the temporary period of
confusion following Yohannis's death, the Italians were able
to advance farther into the hinterland from Mitsiwa and
establish a foothold in the highlands, from which Menelik
was unable to dislodge them. From 1889 until after World War
II, Ethiopia was deprived of its maritime frontier and was
forced to accept the presence of an ambitious European power
on its borders.
Data as of 1991
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