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| Photo of Negus (King) Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia |
In 1844, Menelik II, the son of King (Negus) Haile Melekot, was born in Ankober, Ethiopia. When King Melekot died in 1855, Menelik II was imprisoned at Magdala by Emperor Tewodros II, a noble who usurped the Imperial throne of Shewa. The royal family of the Shewa region throne traces its lineage to the union of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Queen of Sheba of Abyssinia, which goes back into the history of the Kush and Nubia ancient royal kingdoms. A young Menelik II would eventually escape his Magdala capture and return to the region of his father in Shewa where he claimed title to its Imperial throne.
Emperor Menelik II was a federalist that believed that the region would be strongest under a consolidated central Imperial crown at Addis Ababa (aka Addis Abeba or "new flower"), a location that would be chosen in 1886 by his Empress Taytu Betul, a city-state like London and Washington D.C. Menelik II's leadership efforts focused on consolidating the Ethiopian empire under royal patriarchal Imperial rule. During his reign, the British had heavily armed Emperor Yohannes IV (aka King John of Abyssinia) against Emperor Tewodros II. In 1863, Emperor Tewodros II reportedly committed suicide after being defeated by the British at Magdala.
By 1880, Menelik II was signing a treaty with the Italians in the Wollo province at Wuchale, acknowledging the establishment of the Italian colony of Eritrea and its capital at Asmara. Eritrea is in the northern Tigrean region. As a result, this treaty signing weakened the rule of Ras Mengasha, the son of the late Emperor Yohannes IV, over the region. When Menelik II signed the treaty with the Italians, he did not know that the Amharic version was different than the Italian version (Uccialli), a common trickery used by many European colonialist against native populations. When Menelik II discovered the deception, he denounced the Italian treaty. Italy declared war against Menelik II and invaded Ethiopia from Asmara.
Menelik II defeated the Italians at Amba-Alagi and Mekele. On March 1, 1896, Menelik II inflicted a decisive blow against Italian soldiers at the Battle of Adwa, forcing Italy to recognize Ethiopia's national sovereignty. Ras Mengesha was able to eventually secure Emperor Menelik II's recognition of his position as Prince of Tigray (aka Tigrai). Ras Mengesha had supported Menelik II's efforts to defeat the Italian invasion in 1896 in the Battle of Adwa. Menelik, however, refused to crown Ras Mengesha as King of Zion, which led to his rebellion against Menelik. In 1898, Menelik II defeated a rebellion by Ras Mangasha, further consolidating Imperial authority over Ethiopia, unifying the Ethiopian highlands. Ras Mengesha was defeated and placed under house arrest until his death. Menelik also signed agreements with the French settling the limits of French establishments on the Somali coast and at Jibuti (Djibouti).
By 1880, Menelik II was signing a treaty with the Italians in the Wollo province at Wuchale, acknowledging the establishment of the Italian colony of Eritrea and its capital at Asmara. Eritrea is in the northern Tigrean region. As a result, this treaty signing weakened the rule of Ras Mengasha, the son of the late Emperor Yohannes IV, over the region. When Menelik II signed the treaty with the Italians, he did not know that the Amharic version was different than the Italian version (Uccialli), a common trickery used by many European colonialist against native populations. When Menelik II discovered the deception, he denounced the Italian treaty. Italy declared war against Menelik II and invaded Ethiopia from Asmara.
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| Map of Ethiopia |
Menelik II defeated the Italians at Amba-Alagi and Mekele. On March 1, 1896, Menelik II inflicted a decisive blow against Italian soldiers at the Battle of Adwa, forcing Italy to recognize Ethiopia's national sovereignty. Ras Mengesha was able to eventually secure Emperor Menelik II's recognition of his position as Prince of Tigray (aka Tigrai). Ras Mengesha had supported Menelik II's efforts to defeat the Italian invasion in 1896 in the Battle of Adwa. Menelik, however, refused to crown Ras Mengesha as King of Zion, which led to his rebellion against Menelik. In 1898, Menelik II defeated a rebellion by Ras Mangasha, further consolidating Imperial authority over Ethiopia, unifying the Ethiopian highlands. Ras Mengesha was defeated and placed under house arrest until his death. Menelik also signed agreements with the French settling the limits of French establishments on the Somali coast and at Jibuti (Djibouti).
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| Photo of Lil Iyasu on horse mounted left. |
In 1883, Menelik II consolidated his power further through marriage to Empress Taytu Betul, an influential noblewoman of Imperial lineage whose uncle ruled Tigrai and much of northern Ethiopia. While Menelik II would have no children with Taytu, he did have two daughters, then Princesses Zewditu and Shoaregga, and a son who died as a child, Prince Wossen Seged. In May 1909, Lij Iyasu (aka Lij Yasu), Menelik II's grandson by his daughter Shoaregga, was married to Romanework Mangasha, the daughter of Ras Mengasha and niece of his wife Empress Taytu. Lij Iyasu was 13 years old at the time of this political marriage.
In March 1910, after Negus Menelik II became ill, the Imperial Crown Council of Ethiopia was formed, headed by Fitawrari Habtegiorgis Dinagde. Lij Iyasu was designated by Menelik II as his patriarchal Imperial successor. Lij Iyasu's allegiance to the Islamist, however, precipitated a domestic crisis in Ethiopia. Iyasu had aligned himself with Ethiopia's traditional enemies, the Somalis and the Gallas, and converted to Islam -- proclaiming that Ethiopia would join the Turks' Holy War under his leadership.
On December 12, 1913, Emperor Menelik II died and was buried at the Baeta Le Mariam Monastery Church of Addis Ababa. Lij Iyasu was excommunicated by Marrheos X, Abuna of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who feared that he might turn Ethiopia into a Muslim state. The Shewa nobility was not content with what has been described as Lil Iyasu's colorful lifestyle, including taking several Muslim wives. He also exiled Princess Zewditu Menelik and her husband to the countryside, as a threat to his rule.
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| Photo of Nigiste Negaste Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia |
Iyasu ruled for about three years but was never officially crowned. He was deposed in 1917 by the Imperial Crown Council and his royal cousin Ras Tafari Makonnen, the future Emperor Haile Selassie through the Imperial matriarchal lineage, was elevated as regent. Menelik II's daughter Zewditu Menelik, was crowned Nigiste Negast (Queen of Kings) and reigned as Empress from 1917 to 1930 by the ancient Abyssinian-Kushitic code of the Fetha Negast (Law of the Kings), as discerned by the Imperial Crown Council of Ethiopia.
Ras Tafari was made heir apparent to Empress Zewditu. Lij Iyasu was placed under house arrest in Sellale. To the end of her life, Empress Zewditu referred to her deposed nephew as "Getaye (my lord master) Iyasu". None of Zewditu's children survived to adulthood and the facts surrounding her death in 1930 has always left question of whether it was by natural cause.
Hey,There is nothing more tragic than considering and treating another human being as sub-human because they are of a different ethnic group.”
ReplyDeleteTo say there is no grave humiliating discrimination against other ethnic groups is to insult the hurting people once more. It is like telling them that they are liars for crying out. No wonder the saga continues. What good this denial has gotten us so far? Why are we so obsessed to be right to the point that we are losing our brothers and sisters? How can we speak of loving Ethiopia and such absurd denial using the same mouth?Thank you!!!
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Africa Current News
They try to make nigga a bad thing its a wonderful thing its not even a thing its a king correct word and spelling Negus!!!
ReplyDeleteI am a mentor and I volunteer at grade schools, and never ever do they teach our children these things.
ReplyDeleteBut I am making sure that I teach them.
WE PROUD ETHIOPIANS BITTEN THE ITALIANS AT THE BATTLE OF ADWA. ADWA THE VICTORY OF AFRICA!
ReplyDeletehey guys o you know any traditional institutions that were under Menelik time, its urgent please
ReplyDeleteAre there any ethiopians that came to Southern Africa. Has someone done geneology of groups living around great Zimbabwe in particular the Manwa clan
ReplyDeleteThis is Commendable. They are our worthy heroes.Ethiopia extended to Carthage (North of Africa) but Islamic murderers and enslavers killed millions of our people by selling them to foreign lands
ReplyDeletePrince Uzoigwe The History
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of immigration came from the former Independent and Sovereign State of southern Italy, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It included all continental southern Italy from Abruzzi, to Calabria and Puglia, and Sicily. It was occupied in 1860, without a declaration of war, by the northern Piedmontese Kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy (Kingdom of Sardinia). A ten-year bloody civil war followed, and, as a result, about half million people, Neapolitans and Sicilians, were murdered by the Italian Army of occupation. The National Treasury of the Two Sicilies was robbed and appropriated by the invaders. Even machines from Neapolitan factories were moved to the North. To this was added the economic depression caused by the colonizing policies of "united" Italy. For many Neapolitans and Sicilians the only way of salvation was emigration.
Darker skinned southern Italians endured the penalties of blackness on both sides of the Atlantic. In Italy, Northerners had long held that Southerners — particularly Sicilians — were an “uncivilized” and racially inferior people, too obviously African to be part of Europe.
Racist dogma about Southern Italians found fertile soil in the United States.
Prince Uzoigwe Italian colonialism
In the period of the great geographical explorations, some European countries begin to extend their dominions overseas and to create real colonial empires, in particular in Africa and the Americas, by France, the Netherlands, England, Spain and Portugal.
The pre-unification states of the Italian peninsula did not participate in these expansions.
To see the beginning of the Italian colonial activity, it was necessary to wait for the creation of the Kingdom of Italy, following the Italian unification.
In 1882 Italy began its penetration into Eritrea, a distant region on the coasts of the Red Sea. The conquest, however, will stop almost immediately, because Italy is located in front of Ethiopia: not a group of scattered tribes but a well-organized millenary empire.
In 1887 Francesco Crispi came to power. Alongside the iron fist in domestic politics, Crispi supports a resumption of colonial policy because he wants to make Italy a great power.
On 7 May 1885, speaking in the Italian Parliament, Francesco Crispi declared:
"What is our purpose? One: to affirm the name of Italy in the African regions and also to show the barbarians that we are strong and powerful. The barbarians feel nothing but the force of the cannon: well, this cannon will fire at the right moment".
Thus Crispi occupies the city of Asmara in 1889, which will constitute the first nucleus of the colony of Eritrea. He then favors Menelik's ascent to the imperial throne of Ethiopia in exchange for the concession of the protectorate, that is, the colonial submission of his country to Italy. Finally, when according to Crispi, Menelik does not respect the agreements, Italy wages war on him but faces a tragic defeat (Adua). It is 1896 and Crispi is forced to resign.
Francesco Crispi was also the creator and the greatest supporter of the invasion of southern Italy, in which he participated.
Prince Uzoigwe The History
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of immigration came from the former Independent and Sovereign State of southern Italy, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It included all continental southern Italy from Abruzzi, to Calabria and Puglia, and Sicily. It was occupied in 1860, without a declaration of war, by the northern Piedmontese Kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy (Kingdom of Sardinia). A ten-year bloody civil war followed, and, as a result, about half million people, Neapolitans and Sicilians, were murdered by the Italian Army of occupation. The National Treasury of the Two Sicilies was robbed and appropriated by the invaders. Even machines from Neapolitan factories were moved to the North. To this was added the economic depression caused by the colonizing policies of "united" Italy. For many Neapolitans and Sicilians the only way of salvation was emigration.
Darker skinned southern Italians endured the penalties of blackness on both sides of the Atlantic. In Italy, Northerners had long held that Southerners — particularly Sicilians — were an “uncivilized” and racially inferior people, too obviously African to be part of Europe.
Racist dogma about Southern Italians found fertile soil in the United States.
Prince Uzoigwe Italian colonialism
In the period of the great geographical explorations, some European countries begin to extend their dominions overseas and to create real colonial empires, in particular in Africa and the Americas, by France, the Netherlands, England, Spain and Portugal.
The pre-unification states of the Italian peninsula did not participate in these expansions.
To see the beginning of the Italian colonial activity, it was necessary to wait for the creation of the Kingdom of Italy, following the Italian unification.
In 1882 Italy began its penetration into Eritrea, a distant region on the coasts of the Red Sea. The conquest, however, will stop almost immediately, because Italy is located in front of Ethiopia: not a group of scattered tribes but a well-organized millenary empire.
In 1887 Francesco Crispi came to power. Alongside the iron fist in domestic politics, Crispi supports a resumption of colonial policy because he wants to make Italy a great power.
On 7 May 1885, speaking in the Italian Parliament, Francesco Crispi declared:
"What is our purpose? One: to affirm the name of Italy in the African regions and also to show the barbarians that we are strong and powerful. The barbarians feel nothing but the force of the cannon: well, this cannon will fire at the right moment".
Thus Crispi occupies the city of Asmara in 1889, which will constitute the first nucleus of the colony of Eritrea. He then favors Menelik's ascent to the imperial throne of Ethiopia in exchange for the concession of the protectorate, that is, the colonial submission of his country to Italy. Finally, when according to Crispi, Menelik does not respect the agreements, Italy wages war on him but faces a tragic defeat (Adua). It is 1896 and Crispi is forced to resign.
Francesco Crispi was also the creator and the greatest supporter of the invasion of southern Italy, in which he participated.