Tewodros
II was the first emperor or negus of Abyssinia in almost 100
years to rule the entire empire, but it took the first five
years of his reign, 1855-61, to eliminate rebels and re-conquer
the provinces that had become virtually independent over the
past decades of civil war. Abyssinia was more or less peaceful
for a few short years between 1861 and 1863, but the military
resources, money and energy it had required to re-establish
the imperial borders had not allowed Tewodros to undertake other
necessary activities. Essentially, he was a good general but
a poor politician. In 1865, Menelik, the governor of Shewa province
revolted again. Tewodros attempted to strengthen his position
through an alliance with the British, but negotiations went
badly wrong. In the summer of 1867, a British army landed to
free some English hostages Tewodros had taken. The British stormed
the negus' stronghold, and Tewodros committed suicide.
Abyssinia again fell into disorder. An Egyptian invasion in
1875 was defeated by Afar and Tigray warriors. Then the Italians
invaded in 1885, backed up by British support. However, the
governor of Tigray, Ras Alual, defeated the Italians at Dogali
in 1887. That same year, Mahdists, a militant movement of Sudanese
Muslims, attacked Abyssinia. The emperor Yohannis met the Mahdists
in battle at Metema in 1889 and defeated them decisively, but
he himself suffered a mortal wound. Upon his death, the governor
of Shewa, Menelik, declared himself negus. Italy took the opportunity
to establish itself in Eritrea and north Somaliland, while the
British took south Somaliland, and the French occupied a small
region around the port of Djibouti. Abyssinia was cut off from
the sea. The Italians launched a new invasion from their coastal
base in late 1895, but Menelik inflicted a humiliating defeat
upon them at Adawa in 1896. This greatly increased Abyssinia's
prestige, and the nation's independence was preserved. Menelik
suffered a serious stroke in 1906, and his health declined until
he died in 1913.
While Abyssinsia barely held onto its independence, a Muslim
movement arose in the Sudan led by Muhammad Ahmad, who called
himself the Mahdi, "servant of Mohammed", in 1881.
The Mahdists, seeking to free the Sudan from Egyptian-British
control, defeated a British army in 1883, (Egypt itself had
been occupied by the British). The British governor of the Sudan,
Gordon, was killed in 1885 defending the colonial capital, Khartoum.
But revenge for his death would have to wait until 1898.
A mixed Egyptian-British army, about 20,000 men under General
Kitchener met the main Mahdist army of up to 60,000 on September
2, 1898. The Sudanese horsemen, still relying on the charge
with spear and sword, are slaughtered by long range rifle, artillery
and machine gun fire. 11,000 Sudanese were killed and 16,000
wounded in exchange for a handful of British losses.
25
years ago / 50 years ago
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years ago
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/ 4,000 years ago / 5,000
years ago / 10,000 years
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