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Alternative Titles: Battle of Adowa, Battle of Adua
Battle of Adwa, Adwa also spelled
Adowa or Italian
Adua, (March 1, 1896), military clash at Adwa, in north-central Ethiopia, between the Ethiopian army of Emperor Menilek II and Italian forces. The Ethiopian army’s victory checked Italy’s attempt to build an empire in Africa. The victory had further significance for being the first crushing defeat of a European power by African forces during the colonial era.
Prelude
From the mid-19th century, Ethiopia was an aggregate of semi-independent kingdoms, which were presided over by the Ethiopian emperor. The 1889 death of Emperor Yohannes IV was followed by great disorder as his potential successors fought for ascendancy. The Italians had supported Sahle Miriam of Shewa (Shoa) in the years prior to this, supplying him with modern weaponry, ammunition, and funds that helped him acquire military strength. He used that strength to incorporate smaller Ethi
Haile Selassie I, original name
Tafari Makonnen, (born July 23, 1892, near Harer, Ethiopia died August 27, 1975, Addis Ababa), emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 who sought to modernize his country and who steered it into the mainstream of post-World War II African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations and made Addis Ababa the major centre for the Organization of African Unity (now African Union).
Top Questions
Who was Haile Selassie I?
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen) was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, although he was in exile from 1936 to 1941 after Italy invaded the country. Prior to being emperor, he served as regent from 1916 to 1930.
Academic Opinion By. Aleksandra W. Gadzala April 2nd, 2016 is an independent political-risk consultant based out of Boca Raton, FL and an Africa contributor with Oxford Analytica.
Since November 2015, Ethiopia has been beset by an unprecedented wave of protests. They began as a rebuke to a government plan to expand the municipal boundaries of the capital, Addis Ababa, into Oromia Region. They have since expanded to the neighboring Amhara Region, underscoring decades of grievances against ethnic marginalization and authoritarian rule by the governing Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The regime has responded aggressively. Human Rights Watch reports upwards of five hundred people have been so far killed in what the United States has decried as an “excessive use of force.” Tens of thousands more have been detained. An unexplained fire on September 3 in Kilinto prison in which hundreds of political prisoners are housed killed at least twenty-three. R