EDITOR *** CORBETT:
'THE BATTLE OF ADOWA'
Book Two: The Glory of the King
Part I: Before Adowa; Section I
ID* Investigative Day
& Paperback Writer Inc.

PART ONE:
1. Before Adowa

BEFORE THEODORE'S dramatic suicide on Easter Monday, April 13, 1868, the most important of the minor kings was Menelik of Shoa, the area around present-day Addis Ababa.
Menelik had been captured by Theodore in 1855 when the emperor overran Shoa. The teenager had escaped several years later from the fortress at Magdala, and with the aid of the Gallas, who hated the emperor, he had regained the Shoa throne that belonged to his father.
Now Menelik had a very strong army, but was too prudent to attack Theodore himself; he stood back and waited for the British to defeat the emperor.
Following Theodore's death, Ethiopia had no emperor for three years and Menelik's ambition to gain the throne was impeded by other challengers -- Wagshum Gobaza, of Zagwe blood, who had proclaimed himself emperor under the throne name of Takle Giorgis II and Tigre's Prince Kassa.
Kassa had aided British commander Sir Robert Napier during his rescuing expedition of a number of Theodore-held prisoners from Magdala. When Napier left Ethiopia in May 1868, he gave the Tigrean prince guns, ammunitions and military supplies. These arms strengthened Kassa's 12,000 troops and they were easily able to defeat Gobaze's 60,000-man army in an 1871 battle.
Menelik, who had shown his sense of destiny by taking the throne name of the son of Solomon and Sheba, decided against challenging Prince Kassa, who declared himself King of Kings of Ethiopia and was crowned at Aksum, taking the throne name of Yohannes IV (John). While Emperor John had fought his way to the emperorship, Menelik ignored the struggles in the North and, acting on French advice, methodically set about conquering the rich Gallas country to the south and west of his kingdom. He bought modern equipment for his troops, and French adventurers, including the famed poet Rimbaud, did a furious business in outdated arms, which they bought in Europe for five-six francs and sold in Shoa for 40.
Although the new Negus was as brave as Theodore, possessing his virtues, but none of his vices, he never was given an opportunity to show his ability to develop the country.
The travellers of his generation were no longer freelancers like Bruce and Plowden, but bagmen with machines and western devices made in Birmingham and Leipzig and Lille and Brussels, and with a supply of blank treaty forms in their luggage. Through the whole of his reign he was almost ceaselessly distracted by the aspirations, military and commercial, of outside powers.
Egypt's ambitious and crafty Khedive Ismail, who harbored plans of conquerng Ethiopia, seized the whole of the Red Sea shore from under the shadowy suzerainty of Turkey, and by 1875 he had encircled John's territory on the east and south, and had occupied Berbera and Harar. He decided to attack John from the north, but the Ethiopians, fighting in the mountain country which suited them best, routed his two expeditions in 1875 and 1876.
The 1882 revolt of Arabi Pasha led to the bombardment of Alexandria and the British occupation. The Mahdist rebellion followed and by 1883 all the Sudan south of Khartoum was in hands of the Dervishes.
These disturbing neighbors didn't worry John at first; indeed, their victory might well prove an advantage, for on the strength of it in the British -- on whom the death of Gordon at Khartoum in 1884 seemed to make a disheartening impression -- advised the Egyptians to abandon all their southern conquests. When they evacuated Harar and the coast, it looked as if the obstacles to Ethiopian aggrandizment were melting unaided.
But they were only to be replaced by another menace. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had turned the Red Sea from a cul-de-sac into a highway and had given a new importance to the coast.
The scramble for Africa was beginning, and the powers were becoming practised at unfurling flags.
The unwitting Emperor John was launched into the middle of an eternal triangle: Britain, France and Italy.

2. The Italians

IN 1869, a private Italian company had bought a trading station called Asab and a few years later it was taken over by the Rubbatino Shipping Company.
In 1882, the Italian government bought the port from the Company and sent a mission to Menelik in Shoa to conclude a trade treaty and to obtain his help in improving their colony.
As a late comer to the game, Italy was hungry for a piece of African territory, and Ethiopia, known to the Europeans as Abyssinia, with its interminable problems and occasional power vacuums, seemed to be ready for the picking.
In 1884, the British, for a short time, occupied the coast to be known as Eritrea, in order to evacuate certain Egyptian garrisons marooned by the Madhi in Sudan.
They sought Ethiopian help by promising Emperor John the ex-Egyptian territories behind Massawa.
The next year -- 1885 -- the British left, and at the same time encouraged and approved of Italy's occupation of further coastal towns, including Massawa, a move which brought them dangerously near to the newly-promised boundaries of Tigre.
John didn't object when the Italian staked a claim on the hot, humidly miserable lowlands along the Red Sea, but the situation changed abruptly when the Italians began trying to edge into the Ethiopian highlands.
Menelik had accepted guns and aid from the Italians in Somali, but he stood aloof as John challenged the encroachment from Massawa.
Skirmishes with the Ethiopians began to take place on the northern border and guerilla tactics, led by the mighty Ras Alula, wiped out the Italians at Dogli on Wednesday, January 26, 1887.
The defeat resulted in the evacuation of all up-country outposts.
The news trouble Rome.
Reinforcements were sent to Massawa.
Meanwhile, the British, disturbed at the prospect to war, sent Sir Gerald Portal to Shoa to try to preserve the peace, but to no avail.
The Italians marched inland, but before any battle took place they seemed to decide on new tactics.
They would bargain with Menelik against John.

3. A Ras Named Alula

ALTHOUGH THE BRITISH seemingly were willing to give away land, which didn't belong to them, to the Italians, a Tigrean ras, named Alula, stood his ground.
Alula was John's right-hand man, who sarcastically told the British emissary, Sir Gerald Portal: "The Italians can take Ethiopian land, but only after I become governor of Rome."
The son of a farmer, Alula, didn't have the advantages of the wealthy or influential, but his hard work moved him into a position of power. He would become one of Ethiopia's greatest leaders.
In later years, Portal would remember him, admirably, despite the fact, Alula had once imprisoned the British envoy.

Gerald Portal: He (Alula) was dressed in a long dark robe of purple silk, with, I think, some gold embroidery work on it. His head was uncovered save for his own curly hair, which he wore rather longer than was usual with Abyssinians, and not plaited in rows. His complexion was darker than most men of the Tigre mountains, being of a rich chocolate color. But, whatever, the color, the owner of that powerful, cruel and intelligent face would be bound to make his name known in any country, whether as a leader or destroyer of men. There's another striking peculiarity -- a pair of gleaming tawny eyes of much lighter color than the skin of his face. To these flashing yellow orbs whose effect was aided by a brilliant row of white regular teeth. I had seen such eyes in the head of a tiger and of a leopard, but never in that of a human being. On one side of the ras, on the divan, lay his curved sword, and on the other was a Martini-Henry carbine.

In Wylde's Abyssinia, the writer describes Alula like "an English gentleman, adding "I knew him for 20 years ... he never persecuted any man for his religion, which is a remarkable record."

Emperor Johnwas also furious at the British intrusion into Ethiopian land rights while encouraging and approving Italy's real estate grab. He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, with these words: "How can you say that I shall hand over to the Italians the country which Jesus Christ gave to me? ... If your wish were to make peace between us, it should be when they are in their country and I in mine."
John was also extremely bitter at Menelik's refusal to help against the Italians.

In 1888, Emperor John from the northern province of Tigre had tried to gain a close relationship with the Shoan king, Menelik, by proposing a marriage between John's 12-year-old son, Araya, and Menelik's six-year-old daughter, Zawditu.
Menelik, at first, objected because he believed his daughter was too young.
On the wedding day, which was filled with pomp and splendor, Zawditu's gold cloth-covered tent was surrounded by some of the most beautiful women in Ethiopia. Cannons covered the area with thick smoke, and through the haze, came a procession of at least 500 slaves, 5,000 cattle and thousands of individual costly articles.
However, before the year was out, Araya died of poisoning, and a conciliation between the North and the South disintegrated because Menelik and the Italians were still gun dealing.
The real riff between Menelik and John festered into an open wound when the Emperor named his illegitimate son by his brother's wife, Mangasha, as his heir and successor, instead of Menelik.
The king of Shoa would have to wait for another day before ascending to the throne.

4. The Day John Died

ON THURSDAY, January 12, 1888, the Dervishes had come to Gondar, destroying all its Christian churches and killing both the clergy and people.
When Emperor John heard of the slaughter, he sent Negus Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam as his avenging angel, and his 100,000 men defeated them on the Field of Metema.
The ruler of Sudan sent out 80,000 men, under the leadership of Angah, and this time Tekle Haimanot was defeated and his daughter captured.

John wanted Ethiopia to have one religion and he decreed that all Moslems accept the Christian faith, and he even forced them to take communion. Those who refused were punished severely and sent away to the Sudan or regions around the Red Sea as refugees. As a result, these refugees wanted to attack the emperor at every opportune time.

After King Tekle Haimanot lost, he became dissatisfied and joined with Menelik and refused to cooperate with Emperor John, who proposed to go to Gojjam and Shoa to unite them through disciplinary action, or, if necessary, by force, but his advisers urged him against fighting with his own brothers while the country had outside enemies.
He listened to their advice and on Saturday, March 9, 1889, he went to Metema.
John had personally taken to the field along with Ras Mangasha, Ras Mikael and Ras Alula, who had been responsible for fighting the Italians above Massawa.
During the March battle, the Ethiopians smashed the Sudanese fortifications, but a stray Mahdist bullet struck John in the stomach.
At dawn on Monday, Match 11, 1889, he gathered all his chiefs around him and solemnly acknowledged Mangasha as his son and heir and put him in their care, particularly his trusted ras, Alula.
And then he died.

5. A Very Gross Act

JOHN's FAMILY, along with the bishops, placed the Emperor's body in a coffin.
However, the Dervishes seized it; took the body out of the coffin and beheaded it.
His head was taken to their leader in The Sudan, Anduruhman Calif Abdulahi, together with a gold watch, a gold-covered Bible, a letter that had been sent to him by Queen Victoria, and a pair of eyeglasses.
The Calif prepared a great feast and put the emperor's head on a stick and paraded it through his marketplace while the Calif rode on a camel, demonstrating his victory.

STEPHEN MENGESHA: My great grandfather, Emperor Yohannes IV, went to battle against the Dervish. He ruled from 1872 to 1889. The Dervish were then in power, in what is present-day Sudan. Yohannes lost his life as the infidels tried to conquer his Christian kingdom. He was killed by the Dervishes of the Mahdi in 189 at the Great Battle of Metema. Remember the movie, Khartoum? Well, when the Muslims -- the Dervishes -- reached the city of Gondar, they pillaged it. They burned all the churches and tried to convert the priests to the religion of Islam. Emperor Yohannes was wounded and died. The Dervishes came and exhumed the Emperor's body and once it was identified, decapitated him and put his head on a stick and were dancing in Khartoum. It was a big celebration for Islam, in slaying the Christian king.

It had been a fitting end for the Emperor to die at the moment of victory; but it was a terrible misfortune for this country.
At the time, Ethiopia was surrounded by enemies: John had disposed of the Dervishes, but the Italians remained at Massawa on the northeast frontier while in the south, Menelik of Shoa had allied himself with the Italians.
Menelik sent his man, Seyum, into Tigre while General Baldissera, rushed down and occupied the northern towns of Asmera and Keren.
When the old warrior, Alula, returned from Metema, he hunted down Seyum.
Although Mangasha and Alula, considered to be his "mind and arm," realized that three of their northern territories were in the grip of the Italians, they began to gradually assert their authority in Tigre.

6. The Rise Of Menelik

NO SOONER did the news of John's death on the Field of Metema reach Shoa than both Menelik and the Italians took advantage of the anarchy which followed.
Proclaiming himself Emperor on Tuesday, March 26, 1889, Menelik had no serious rival. He was able to trace his descent to the daughter of King David (1508-40), meaning he belonged to the Solomonic line; he was also the most outstanding personality among the rases; and the best argument of all, he had the Shoan army at his back.
The other claimant, Ras Mangahsa in Tigre, had no material advantage to offer.
With customary prudence, however, he determined not to act alone, and once turned for support to his Italian allies; here, obviously, was an opportunity for negotiation.
However, the Italians and Menelik would eventually go to war over the interpretation of a clause in their "peace and trade" alliance -- the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli).
The war would be Ethiopia's greatest military triumph and be the first - and only time - an African nation defeated a European colonial power.
The Battle of Adowa of 1896 was fought less than 20 miles from Aksum, where the Ark of the Covenant, the Very Essence of God, supposedly lies in a chapel next to St. Mary of Zion Church.
Aksum in the province of Tigre was also the sacred place where Ethiopian emperors were anointed and crowned for generations. Menelik, who was from Shoa and therefore an "enemy" of Tigre, for they believed they had the absolute right to rule Ethiopia, had to wait for his coronation day in the holy city.

7. A Place Called New Flower

FROM THE late 1870s, Menelik began to show interest in the region in which Addis Ababa is located and headquartered the royal camp at several sites in the area.
His first major settlement was established on the slopes of Mount Wuchacha, west of the present settlement, but he soon moved northwards, and set up his camp near the summit of Entoto Mountain, a choice determined by strategic considerations. It was here he created a palace.
The next important building to be constructed at Entoto was the Church of Maryam, a circular structure, the foundations for which were laid in 1885.
It was in this Church of Maryam that Menelik was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in November 1889. Even today, there's an effigy of the old monarch on its walls.
Entoto, as Menelik's capital, rapidly acquired a considerable population.
At the turn of the century, the British game-hunter and ethnographer, P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, described it as a "populous city," while his compatriot, Herbert Vivian, believed that it "must have comprised 50,000 souls."
The site, which had initially been selected as a fortress, wasn't suitable as a capital for more peaceful times.
Because of inclement weather much of the time on Entoto, Menelik and Queen Taitu used to ride down to the Plain of Filwoha - Amharic for "hot springs." Thermal springs, literally bubbled from the ground.
They paid their first visit there in 1885.
Queen Taitu asked her husband to give land on which to build her house. Taitu decided the place should be known as Addis Ababa, meaning New Flower.
Work on Menelik's palace began early in 1889, some months before his coronation as Emperor at Entoto, and the first stone buildings were erected in 1891. Menelik's original palace at Addis Ababa,however, was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1892, but was soon rebuilt. No fewer than 50 structures in the palace compound were erected within three months, and by 1894 the entire palace complex was virtually restored.

8. The Monarch Watchers

THE NEW emperor was a remarkable man, according to I.G. Edmonds in his informative book, Ethiopia -- Land of the Conquering Lion of Judah.

EDMONDS: He was described as being very dark of skin but tall and regally imposing. As a child he had been imprisoned on Amba Magdala by Emperor Theodore because he was of Solomonic blood and a possible candidate for the throne. Theodore was fond of the young man and treated him well, but Menelik -- conscious of his own destiny -- managed to escape from Magdala two years before Napier stormed the citadel. He had made his way to Shoa where he was sheltered by the Gallas, who hated Theodore. Through the influence of Galla friends, Menelik conquered Kaffa, a Galla province adjoining Uganda and Sudan. Other independent provinces and principalities along his borders also fell to the Ethiopia monarch.

After Emperor John was killed at Metema, Edmonds claimed that Ras Mangasha, whose army had been battered from the war with Sudanese rebels, didn't have a chance to challenge the fresh armies of Menelik or his right-hand man and cousin, Ras Makonnen. Also the position of the Ethiopia Orthodox Church was important. They would Menelik against an illegitimate son. So Ras Mangasha swallowed his disappointment and was content to remain as King of Tigre province.

Another monarch watcher, George Berkeley, who wrote a book, The Campaign of Adowa and The Rise of Menelik, in 1902, had his own views on Menelik.

BERKELEY: The most remarkable fact about Menelik's career is that although he has dominated a fighting nation like Ethiopia, he is himself by no means a warrior. Some Italian writers have even called him a coward, but his own description of himself is probably more accurate -- namely, that he is a man of peace who has several times been compelled to fight. It is in organizational and in diplomatic arts that he excels; he is careful, crafty, and perservering, the type of man to succeed in this world; and he is said to believe in his destiny.

The Menelik-era writer also related a story, told to him by an Italian army officer.

BERKELEY: He told me about Menelik's christening. His father, Ailu, came from the old royal stock that traced its descent to Menelik I, son of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Ailu was the oldest on of a great chief named Sahle Selassie, under whom Shoa attained its highest pitch of power. Now, Sahle Selassie's own name had been Menelik, but had he been warned by a monk to change it, or he would suffer great misfortune; he should,however, said the monk, call the son of his first-born by the name of Menelik, and the child so christened would one day be the conqueror of all Ethiopia and the greatest of all rulers since the days of Menelik I, son of Solomon. As soon as the slave girl gave birth to a boy, he was named Menelik. Throughout his life, Menelik had been attended by good fortune, so it seems as if this prophecy has been completely fulfilled. But if you're interested in his character, no description will have a better idea of it than the events that surround the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli).

9. A 'Lady MacBeth'

BIOGRAPHER LEONARD MOSLEY called Queen Taitu, Menelik's consort, a "Lady MacBeth."
The daughter of the ancient ruling house of Gondar, Taitu, in her youth was said to have had very light skin and to have been surprisingly beautiful.
On her 13th birthday, she was married to one of Theodore's generals, but Taitu deserted him after the fall of Magdala and married another general before she was 14.
He wasn't quite romantic enough for her and she deserted him to marry the governor of a northern province. At this time she came to the attention of Yohannes (John), who had her husband thrown in a dungeon, but Taitu -- who preferred to pick her lovers -- fled from the emperor to turn ip later married again to an officer in Menelik's army.
When Menelik saw her he got rid of his third wife, arranged a quick divorce for Taitu, and she became Queen of Shoa.
In Taitu, Menelik not only found a lover and a wife, but also a counsellor as adept at intrigue as he was.
It was said in later years that a lot of Menelik's success was due to his consort's shrewd advice.

Although Taitu had named her husband's new capital, Addis Ababa, it really was Menelik who picked the site, according to his chronicler, because his grandfather, King Sahle Selassie, had once predicted his gradson would some day return to build a city on the spot. Sahle apparently made the prediction after a local resident had given the king a horn of tej, the honey mead favored by the Ethiopians.

10. A Ras Named Makonnen

IF RAS ALULA was Mangasha of Tigre's "mind and arm," then Ras Makonnen's "pillar of strength." He was also the Emperor's special companion since he was a youngster and his first cousin.
Makonnen was born at Darafo Maryam in the Gola district on Saturday, May 8, 1852 to Princess Tenagne Worq, the daughter of Negus Sahle Selassie of Shoa and Dejazmatch Walda Mikael of the Doba and Manz nobility.
He stayed with his father for about 14 years during the time, Menelik, the son of Makonnen's uncle, Negus Haile Melakot, was still only the king of Shoa.
His father, Walda Mikael, then took him to Menelik and said: "Let this my son, your aunt's offspring. grow up with you in your place."
Menelik made Makonnen his special companion, quite apart from the obvious family ties.
He restored the ancient province of Harar to Ethiopia in 1886 and rose to the rank of ras in April 1890, after he returned from a celebrated Rome visit.

Before Yohannes' death, he suspected the Ottoman hold on Egypt was slipping. He was right. Sudan revolted under the guidance of the Mahdi -- the Guided One. As the government of Egypt collapsed, Britain moved in to keep order and became involved in fighting the Mahdi in Sufan. British troops were tied up in Egypt and also in sections of South Africa, so the British didn't try to hold Harar province in Ethiopia but evacuated Egyptian forces there in 1884.
The Emir Abdullah, son of the Arabic ruler of Harar before the Egyptians took control, was left in charge of the province.
Menelik, whose province of Shoa adjoined Harar, sent the Emir a message. He pointed out that Harar had always been considered an Ethiopian province. He was agreeable for the Abdullah to administer the provincial government, but the former land tax must be reinstated and paid to the king of Shoa.
The Emir sent Menelik a turban and a prayer rug along with an insulting letter suggesting the king of Shoa convert to Islam, "for only then will I consider you my master," he added. Menelik removed Abdullad without difficulty and then place Makonnen in charge of Harar in 1888.
In July 1892, a son was born to Makonnen near Harar. His name was Tafari and he would become the most famous emperor in Ethiopian history -- Haile Selassie I, the great-grandfather of Prince Stephen Mengesha.

11. Roman In The Emperor's Court

THE ITALIANS were opportunists.
In fact, they had their own man inside Menelik's Court.
His name was Count Antonelli.
A real charmer, with connections, for his uncle was the celebrated Cardinal Antonelli.
He had seen from the moment he arrived in Shoa, the future possibilities of the little kingdom.
With a keen grasp of the situation, he had become a good friend of Menelik's Queen Taitu and when he brought the monarch more tangible products of European civilization, he didn't forget Taitu, providing her with Parisian shoes and stockings.
The ambitious Antonelli was a firm believer in an alliance with Shoa. He had negotiated the first treaty in which Menelik was given rifles and ammunition and urged to defy Emperor John.
Now the prince of Tigre was dead and within a week in March 1889, Count Antonelli told Menelik he couldn't ask Rome to assist him without some kind of a "treaty of trade and friendship."
That document, to be known as the Treaty of Wuchale, named after a hamlet north of Dessie, and its disputed terms would be a lynchpin for future Ethiopian history.
It would ultimately become the immediate cause for the war that ended in the Battle of Adowa.
The bickering was just about to begin.

12. The Offending Article

ALL THE ITALIANS weren't with Count Antonelli's policy towards Menelik and Shoa, particularly General Baldiserra, who had been in charge of recking havoc along the Northern frontiers.
Baldiserra believed Italy should go it alone in their land grab, for they considered Menelik, now that John was dead, as the most dangerous Ethiopian chief and that Shoa was a possible enemy of Italy. He didn't want to provide any further assistance to Menelik.
The scenario prior to Menelik's reluctant signing of the Treaty of Wuchale was that Ras Mangasha and Ras Alula were defending their territory against the Italian field force of the North and against Menelik's Shoans of the South.
With the signing on Thursday, May 2, 1889, Menelik agreed to send his "pillar of strength," Makkonen, and an entourage to Rome to have the Italian ministers ratify it.
On the terms of the Treaty depends the whole histor of the period.
Its cheif provisions are roughly summarized as follows:
* Menelik was referred to as King of Kings of Ethiopia and a perpetual peace and friendship was established between him and Italy;
* By Article 3, the line of the high plateau (barely inside Ethiopia's ancient territories) was to mark the Italian-Ethiopian boundary: starting from the region of Arafali, the villages of Halai, Saganetti and Alula's stronghold of Asmara, were considered to be within the Italian boundary; in the province of Bogos, Adi Nefas and Adi Johannes were to be under Italian rule; from Adi Johannes a straight line east and West was to mark the Italian-Ethiopian boundary.
* By Article 17, that afterwards led to innumerable disputes, it was agreed that "His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia consents to emply the government of His Majesty the King of Italy in treating of all matters that may arise with the Powers and Governments."

Italy in the coming days would regret the limited boundaries since General Baklissera wouk occupy the three areas of Hamacen. Okula-Kusai and Serae by autumn 1889. They would seek to change the frontiers with a new clause.
However, Article 17 was an attempt of the Italian government to obtain the suzerainty over all Ethiopia. The bottom line was Rome considered the Horn of African nation as their protectorate.
The use of of the word, consents, was unfortunate, as in all the other clauses it's stipulated that a thing "shall be" or "shall not be done," but owing to the less absolute term, Menelik apparently didn't consider himself irrevocably bound by the clause.

There were two versions of the Treaty, one in Italian and the other in Amharic and they certainly differed in their interpretations.
In short the Italian version established a protectorate status on Ethiopia by stating that Ethiopia will always conduct her relations with the European powers by using Italy as an intermediary. On the other hand, the Amharic version simply stated that Ethiopia may avail herself of the good offices of Italy in conducting her relations with Europe, with no implication of being reduced to a protectorate status that impinged on her sovereignity.

13. The Treaty Paper Chase

ON WEDNEDAY, August 28, 1889, Makkonen and his guide and philosopher, Count Antonelli. arrived in Rome to have the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli) ratified by the Italian ministers.
The Italians, who had always reveled in pomp and circumstance, tried to dazzle the young Dejatch and made every effort to impress him with the power of Italy.
He had never strayed beyond the Ethiopian highlands before and now he was brought into one of the great town centers of civilization.
It made a lasting impression on him.
Makkonen realized the power of the white men, but didn't altogether trust them.
During his four-and-a-half month stay in Italy, he learned enough to exhaust the brain of any ordinary man.
From one site to another he was led by his hosts, taking quiet observation of all his surroundings, but especially of any details connected with the Italian army, many of which he doubtless afterwards suggested to his cousin and monarch.
Since Rome was unhappy with the frontiers of the original treaty which Antonelli and Menelik had signed on May 2, 1889, and additional document was signed by Makkonen and Signor Crispi on Tuesday, October 1, which altered the borders, but it didn't deal with the festering protectorate issue.
Under the new supplementary treaty, the Italians were to lend Menelik four million lire from an Italian bank, with the government agreeing to guarantee the loan.
If Ethiopia defaulted in paying the five per cent interest, the cusoms of the southern province of Harar would be seized. It was stipulated that two million lire should be paid in silver; the other two million to lie in the Italian treasury and be used for the various purchases that Menelik hoped to make in Europe. After some heated discussions, it was learned that Menelik wanted these two millions in the form of rifle cartridges.
When the Makkonen entourage left Rome on Wednesday, December 4, 1889, King Umberto presented him with 28 cannon and 38,000 rifles -- the weapons which were later to win the Battle of Adowa.

14. Troubles, troubles, troubles

WHEN MAKKONEN returned from Rome, there was a dramatic turn of events in the Italian camp, for on Saturday, December 14, 1889, General Baldiserra quit.
No longer could he tolerate Antonelli's support of Menelik.
He believed Italy's only course of possessing Ethiopia was Divide et Impera -- Divide and Conquer.
The general wanted to play off the Tigrean chiefs of the North against the Shoan chief of the South.
By Wednesday, January 1, 1890, the Italian possessions on the Red Sea were united by royal decree into one province and a new governor, who would be General Orero. The new dependency was called Eritrea.
However, Italian politics were secondary now.
Menelik had immediately renounced the Treaty of Wuchale when he learned about the protectorate issue, but his thoughts were really centered on the great famine, which had swept his country.
An epidemic killed off a great proportion of the cattle and people, by the score, were dying from dysentry.
While dealing with the country's natural disaster, he chose the path of protracted negotiations with Italy, which dragged on for four years.
During this time, he consolidated and strengthened his military position considerably by procuring arms from wherever he could get them in preparation with the impending showdown with Italy.
However, internal problems needed to be eased before such a conflict.
Menelik began to treat the Treaty of Wuchale as so much wastepaper.

15. The quarrelling eagles

WHEN MENELIK ascended the throne, he intended to be King of Kings, in fact, as well as in name.
The Emperor quickly noted that Ras Mangasha had succeeded in establishing himself as an entirely independent ruler in Tigre, at least in those provinces in which the Italians didn't have occupying troops.
In reality, Tigre lay like a carcass between two eagles, namely, Menelik on the South, and the Italians on the North.
The influence of Count Antonelli and the ministers of Rome overruled the Italian generals, Baldiserra and his successor, Orero, in believing that Menelik was under the Italian protectorate and Italy had an obligation to support him until the whole country was under the monarch's rule.
In January 1890, in the middle of the muddle caused by the Treaty of Wuchale and the gut-wrenching famine, Menelik headed north to obtain Mangasha's submission, while General Orero, under orders from Rome, headed south to support him.
Orero reached Adowa, then capital of Tigre, while Menelik penetrated as far as Makale, the former capital of Ethiopia during John's reign. Then the eagles, as is usually the case, began to quarrel over Tigre's carcass.
Menelik ws, supposely, miffed at Orero's advance, and Rome ordered the general out of Adowa, leaving his ally, Ras Sebath, in charge. The Emperor was stalled in Makale. Then he moved on to Hausien.

16. Menelik's hidden agenda

EMPEROR MENELIK may well have wanted to obtain Mangasha's submission, but he had a hidden agenda.
He wanted to have himself crowned after the custom of Ethiopian emperors, in the holy city of Aksum. It, supposedly, was where his namesake, Menelik I, the son of King Solomon of Israel and Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, had brought the awesome and terrible container holding the Ten Commandments, known as the Ark of the Covenant.
However, everywhere his Shoans went they were treated with hatred and contempt by the Tigreans, who believed they were the rightful rulers of all of Ethiopia.
When the Tigrean chiefs heard that Menelik intended to be crowned in Aksum, they swore that if he dared enter their sacred place, he would never go back to Shoa alive.
The Emperor decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left the area.

17. A surprise for Antonelli

WITH MENELIK unable to enter Akusm's sacred area, he travelled east and reached Hausien, and waited.
It was here Count Antonelli and Ras Sebath met with him, along with Italian and Shoan commissioners, appointed under the Treaty of Wuchale.
It was a meeting to settle once and for all, two questions:
1. Defining the frontiers and;
2. Disposal of Tigre.

However, a peculiar surprise was in store for Antonelli.
The Emperor, Menelik, had met secretly with Ras Mangasha and divided up Tigre with Mangasha taking the west, Seyum, Menelik's Shoan follower, the eastern portion, including Sebath's province of Agame, and another Menelik supporter, Meshasha Workie, the third part, including a large chunk of Italian territory.
The Emperor wanted two of his people to keep Mangasha in check and also put a dent in Italy's territorial schemes.
Sebath was fuming that his little empire had been given away and the ambitious Antonelli lost his smile.

There is a story that Menelik, in the presence of his chiefs, stretched out both arms, and laying his right hand on Seyum, said: "This my son shall have the East," then laying his hand on Mangasha, said: This my son shall have the West," after which, addressing Meshasha Workie, he said: "You shall stand between them and the Italians." If this story is true, it was indeed a patriarchal way of dividing up another man's territory.

In days to come, however, Sebath would take back his lands from Seyum, leaving only the poor, paralytic old man, Meshasha Workie, to defend Menelik's cause.
Meanwhile, General Orero, the governor of Eritrea, showing his continuing disgust for Antonelli's schemes, quit.
He was replaced by General Gandolfi.
Strangely, Ras Mangasha, with the faithful Ras Alula at his side, gained in prestige in Tigre.

18. The Emperor's letter

ON SATURDAY, September 27, 1890. Emperor Menelik wrote to Italy's King Umberto about the protectorate issue. Again.
The subject had been dormant for a short time, but during the Conference of Brussels on March 4, 1890, he had allowed Italy to represent his interests,
Immediately, Britain and Germany informed him that any communication they had with Ethiopia should go through Italy. Aflter all, Rome had been telling all her European friends that Ethiopia was their protectorate.
Menelik was mad.
He again denounced the contentious wording in Article 17 of the Treaty of Wuchale.
The letter to King Imberto read, in part:

While talking to Count Antonelli at the time when the treaty was being brought to a conclusion, I questioned him with great seriousness, and he answered me in the following manner: 'If it suits your convenience, you can emply us as your intermediaries; if not, you are free not to do so.' I said to him: 'Of it merely a question of friendship why should I employ anyone but you in my external negotiations?' I accepted at that time no obligatory agreement, and I am not the man to accept it, nor could you advise me to do so.
Menelik, Negus Nagasti.
September 27, 1890

Italy wouldn't take no for an answer.
The next month -- October 1890 -- Antonelli returned to Shoa with orders to settle the protectorate issue forever.
The frontiers didn't matter, but Article 17 of the treaty did.
Menlik refused to listen to the Count's bleatings.
Finally, after about a month of haggling, the Emperor said he, and he only, would decide the frontiers, and in return, he would acknowledge the protectorate as it stood according to Article 17, but for five years only.
Antonelli couldn't believe his luck.
On Friday, February 6, 1891, two treaties were signed. The first in two separate versions -- Italian and Amharic -- settling the frontier issue and the second in Amharic only, maintaining the protectorate according to Article 17.
The Count and the Emperor shook hands.
The Italians left the Imperial Court.

TGOTK: The Battle Of Adowa (Book Two)

PART ONE:
1. Before Adowa

BEFORE THEODORE'S dramatic suicide on Easter Monday, April 13, 1868, the most important of the minor kings was Menelik of Shoa, the area around present-day Addis Ababa.
Menelik had been captured by Theodore in 1855 when the emperor overran Shoa. The teenager had escaped several years later from the fortress at Magdala, and with the aid of the Gallas, who hated the emperor, he had regained the Shoa throne that belonged to his father.
Now Menelik had a very strong army, but was too prudent to attack Theodore himself; he stood back and waited for the British to defeat the emperor.
Following Theodore's death, Ethiopia had no emperor for three years and Menelik's ambition to gain the throne was impeded by other challengers -- Wagshum Gobaza, of Zagwe blood, who had proclaimed himself emperor under the throne name of Takle Giorgis II and Tigre's Prince Kassa.
Kassa had aided British commander Sir Robert Napier during his rescuing expedition of a number of Theodore-held prisoners from Magdala. When Napier left Ethiopia in May 1868, he gave the Tigrean prince guns, ammunitions and military supplies. These arms strengthened Kassa's 12,000 troops and they were easily able to defeat Gobaze's 60,000-man army in an 1871 battle.
Menelik, who had shown his sense of destiny by taking the throne name of the son of Solomon and Sheba, decided against challenging Prince Kassa, who declared himself King of Kings of Ethiopia and was crowned at Aksum, taking the throne name of Yohannes IV (John). While Emperor John had fought his way to the emperorship, Menelik ignored the struggles in the North and, acting on French advice, methodically set about conquering the rich Gallas country to the south and west of his kingdom. He bought modern equipment for his troops, and French adventurers, including the famed poet Rimbaud, did a furious business in outdated arms, which they bought in Europe for five-six francs and sold in Shoa for 40.
Although the new Negus was as brave as Theodore, possessing his virtues, but none of his vices, he never was given an opportunity to show his ability to develop the country.
The travellers of his generation were no longer freelancers like Bruce and Plowden, but bagmen with machines and western devices made in Birmingham and Leipzig and Lille and Brussels, and with a supply of blank treaty forms in their luggage. Through the whole of his reign he was almost ceaselessly distracted by the aspirations, military and commercial, of outside powers.
Egypt's ambitious and crafty Khedive Ismail, who harbored plans of conquerng Ethiopia, seized the whole of the Red Sea shore from under the shadowy suzerainty of Turkey, and by 1875 he had encircled John's territory on the east and south, and had occupied Berbera and Harar. He decided to attack John from the north, but the Ethiopians, fighting in the mountain country which suited them best, routed his two expeditions in 1875 and 1876.
The 1882 revolt of Arabi Pasha led to the bombardment of Alexandria and the British occupation. The Mahdist rebellion followed and by 1883 all the Sudan south of Khartoum was in hands of the Dervishes.
These disturbing neighbors didn't worry John at first; indeed, their victory might well prove an advantage, for on the strength of it in the British -- on whom the death of Gordon at Khartoum in 1884 seemed to make a disheartening impression -- advised the Egyptians to abandon all their southern conquests. When they evacuated Harar and the coast, it looked as if the obstacles to Ethiopian aggrandizment were melting unaided.
But they were only to be replaced by another menace. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had turned the Red Sea from a cul-de-sac into a highway and had given a new importance to the coast.
The scramble for Africa was beginning, and the powers were becoming practised at unfurling flags.
The unwitting Emperor John was launched into the middle of an eternal triangle: Britain, France and Italy.

2. The Italians

IN 1869, a private Italian company had bought a trading station called Asab and a few years later it was taken over by the Rubbatino Shipping Company.
In 1882, the Italian government bought the port from the Company and sent a mission to Menelik in Shoa to conclude a trade treaty and to obtain his help in improving their colony.
As a late comer to the game, Italy was hungry for a piece of African territory, and Ethiopia, known to the Europeans as Abyssinia, with its interminable problems and occasional power vacuums, seemed to be ready for the picking.
In 1884, the British, for a short time, occupied the coast to be known as Eritrea, in order to evacuate certain Egyptian garrisons marooned by the Madhi in Sudan.
They sought Ethiopian help by promising Emperor John the ex-Egyptian territories behind Massawa.
The next year -- 1885 -- the British left, and at the same time encouraged and approved of Italy's occupation of further coastal towns, including Massawa, a move which brought them dangerously near to the newly-promised boundaries of Tigre.
John didn't object when the Italian staked a claim on the hot, humidly miserable lowlands along the Red Sea, but the situation changed abruptly when the Italians began trying to edge into the Ethiopian highlands.
Menelik had accepted guns and aid from the Italians in Somali, but he stood aloof as John challenged the encroachment from Massawa.
Skirmishes with the Ethiopians began to take place on the northern border and guerilla tactics, led by the mighty Ras Alula, wiped out the Italians at Dogli on Wednesday, January 26, 1887.
The defeat resulted in the evacuation of all up-country outposts.
The news trouble Rome.
Reinforcements were sent to Massawa.
Meanwhile, the British, disturbed at the prospect to war, sent Sir Gerald Portal to Shoa to try to preserve the peace, but to no avail.
The Italians marched inland, but before any battle took place they seemed to decide on new tactics.
They would bargain with Menelik against John.

3. A Ras Named Alula

ALTHOUGH THE BRITISH seemingly were willing to give away land, which didn't belong to them, to the Italians, a Tigrean ras, named Alula, stood his ground.
Alula was John's right-hand man, who sarcastically told the British emissary, Sir Gerald Portal: "The Italians can take Ethiopian land, but only after I become governor of Rome."
The son of a farmer, Alula, didn't have the advantages of the wealthy or influential, but his hard work moved him into a position of power. He would become one of Ethiopia's greatest leaders.
In later years, Portal would remember him, admirably, despite the fact, Alula had once imprisoned the British envoy.

Gerald Portal: He (Alula) was dressed in a long dark robe of purple silk, with, I think, some gold embroidery work on it. His head was uncovered save for his own curly hair, which he wore rather longer than was usual with Abyssinians, and not plaited in rows. His complexion was darker than most men of the Tigre mountains, being of a rich chocolate color. But, whatever, the color, the owner of that powerful, cruel and intelligent face would be bound to make his name known in any country, whether as a leader or destroyer of men. There's another striking peculiarity -- a pair of gleaming tawny eyes of much lighter color than the skin of his face. To these flashing yellow orbs whose effect was aided by a brilliant row of white regular teeth. I had seen such eyes in the head of a tiger and of a leopard, but never in that of a human being. On one side of the ras, on the divan, lay his curved sword, and on the other was a Martini-Henry carbine.

In Wylde's Abyssinia, the writer describes Alula like "an English gentleman, adding "I knew him for 20 years ... he never persecuted any man for his religion, which is a remarkable record."

Emperor Johnwas also furious at the British intrusion into Ethiopian land rights while encouraging and approving Italy's real estate grab. He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, with these words: "How can you say that I shall hand over to the Italians the country which Jesus Christ gave to me? ... If your wish were to make peace between us, it should be when they are in their country and I in mine."
John was also extremely bitter at Menelik's refusal to help against the Italians.

In 1888, Emperor John from the northern province of Tigre had tried to gain a close relationship with the Shoan king, Menelik, by proposing a marriage between John's 12-year-old son, Araya, and Menelik's six-year-old daughter, Zawditu.
Menelik, at first, objected because he believed his daughter was too young.
On the wedding day, which was filled with pomp and splendor, Zawditu's gold cloth-covered tent was surrounded by some of the most beautiful women in Ethiopia. Cannons covered the area with thick smoke, and through the haze, came a procession of at least 500 slaves, 5,000 cattle and thousands of individual costly articles.
However, before the year was out, Araya died of poisoning, and a conciliation between the North and the South disintegrated because Menelik and the Italians were still gun dealing.
The real riff between Menelik and John festered into an open wound when the Emperor named his illegitimate son by his brother's wife, Mangasha, as his heir and successor, instead of Menelik.
The king of Shoa would have to wait for another day before ascending to the throne.

4. The Day John Died

ON THURSDAY, January 12, 1888, the Dervishes had come to Gondar, destroying all its Christian churches and killing both the clergy and people.
When Emperor John heard of the slaughter, he sent Negus Tekle Haimanot of Gojjam as his avenging angel, and his 100,000 men defeated them on the Field of Metema.
The ruler of Sudan sent out 80,000 men, under the leadership of Angah, and this time Tekle Haimanot was defeated and his daughter captured.

John wanted Ethiopia to have one religion and he decreed that all Moslems accept the Christian faith, and he even forced them to take communion. Those who refused were punished severely and sent away to the Sudan or regions around the Red Sea as refugees. As a result, these refugees wanted to attack the emperor at every opportune time.

After King Tekle Haimanot lost, he became dissatisfied and joined with Menelik and refused to cooperate with Emperor John, who proposed to go to Gojjam and Shoa to unite them through disciplinary action, or, if necessary, by force, but his advisers urged him against fighting with his own brothers while the country had outside enemies.
He listened to their advice and on Saturday, March 9, 1889, he went to Metema.
John had personally taken to the field along with Ras Mangasha, Ras Mikael and Ras Alula, who had been responsible for fighting the Italians above Massawa.
During the March battle, the Ethiopians smashed the Sudanese fortifications, but a stray Mahdist bullet struck John in the stomach.
At dawn on Monday, Match 11, 1889, he gathered all his chiefs around him and solemnly acknowledged Mangasha as his son and heir and put him in their care, particularly his trusted ras, Alula.
And then he died.

5. A Very Gross Act

JOHN's FAMILY, along with the bishops, placed the Emperor's body in a coffin.
However, the Dervishes seized it; took the body out of the coffin and beheaded it.
His head was taken to their leader in The Sudan, Anduruhman Calif Abdulahi, together with a gold watch, a gold-covered Bible, a letter that had been sent to him by Queen Victoria, and a pair of eyeglasses.
The Calif prepared a great feast and put the emperor's head on a stick and paraded it through his marketplace while the Calif rode on a camel, demonstrating his victory.

STEPHEN MENGESHA: My great grandfather, Emperor Yohannes IV, went to battle against the Dervish. He ruled from 1872 to 1889. The Dervish were then in power, in what is present-day Sudan. Yohannes lost his life as the infidels tried to conquer his Christian kingdom. He was killed by the Dervishes of the Mahdi in 189 at the Great Battle of Metema. Remember the movie, Khartoum? Well, when the Muslims -- the Dervishes -- reached the city of Gondar, they pillaged it. They burned all the churches and tried to convert the priests to the religion of Islam. Emperor Yohannes was wounded and died. The Dervishes came and exhumed the Emperor's body and once it was identified, decapitated him and put his head on a stick and were dancing in Khartoum. It was a big celebration for Islam, in slaying the Christian king.

It had been a fitting end for the Emperor to die at the moment of victory; but it was a terrible misfortune for this country.
At the time, Ethiopia was surrounded by enemies: John had disposed of the Dervishes, but the Italians remained at Massawa on the northeast frontier while in the south, Menelik of Shoa had allied himself with the Italians.
Menelik sent his man, Seyum, into Tigre while General Baldissera, rushed down and occupied the northern towns of Asmera and Keren.
When the old warrior, Alula, returned from Metema, he hunted down Seyum.
Although Mangasha and Alula, considered to be his "mind and arm," realized that three of their northern territories were in the grip of the Italians, they began to gradually assert their authority in Tigre.

6. The Rise Of Menelik

NO SOONER did the news of John's death on the Field of Metema reach Shoa than both Menelik and the Italians took advantage of the anarchy which followed.
Proclaiming himself Emperor on Tuesday, March 26, 1889, Menelik had no serious rival. He was able to trace his descent to the daughter of King David (1508-40), meaning he belonged to the Solomonic line; he was also the most outstanding personality among the rases; and the best argument of all, he had the Shoan army at his back.
The other claimant, Ras Mangahsa in Tigre, had no material advantage to offer.
With customary prudence, however, he determined not to act alone, and once turned for support to his Italian allies; here, obviously, was an opportunity for negotiation.
However, the Italians and Menelik would eventually go to war over the interpretation of a clause in their "peace and trade" alliance -- the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli).
The war would be Ethiopia's greatest military triumph and be the first - and only time - an African nation defeated a European colonial power.
The Battle of Adowa of 1896 was fought less than 20 miles from Aksum, where the Ark of the Covenant, the Very Essence of God, supposedly lies in a chapel next to St. Mary of Zion Church.
Aksum in the province of Tigre was also the sacred place where Ethiopian emperors were anointed and crowned for generations. Menelik, who was from Shoa and therefore an "enemy" of Tigre, for they believed they had the absolute right to rule Ethiopia, had to wait for his coronation day in the holy city.

7. A Place Called New Flower

FROM THE late 1870s, Menelik began to show interest in the region in which Addis Ababa is located and headquartered the royal camp at several sites in the area.
His first major settlement was established on the slopes of Mount Wuchacha, west of the present settlement, but he soon moved northwards, and set up his camp near the summit of Entoto Mountain, a choice determined by strategic considerations. It was here he created a palace.
The next important building to be constructed at Entoto was the Church of Maryam, a circular structure, the foundations for which were laid in 1885.
It was in this Church of Maryam that Menelik was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in November 1889. Even today, there's an effigy of the old monarch on its walls.
Entoto, as Menelik's capital, rapidly acquired a considerable population.
At the turn of the century, the British game-hunter and ethnographer, P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, described it as a "populous city," while his compatriot, Herbert Vivian, believed that it "must have comprised 50,000 souls."
The site, which had initially been selected as a fortress, wasn't suitable as a capital for more peaceful times.
Because of inclement weather much of the time on Entoto, Menelik and Queen Taitu used to ride down to the Plain of Filwoha - Amharic for "hot springs." Thermal springs, literally bubbled from the ground.
They paid their first visit there in 1885.
Queen Taitu asked her husband to give land on which to build her house. Taitu decided the place should be known as Addis Ababa, meaning New Flower.
Work on Menelik's palace began early in 1889, some months before his coronation as Emperor at Entoto, and the first stone buildings were erected in 1891. Menelik's original palace at Addis Ababa,however, was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1892, but was soon rebuilt. No fewer than 50 structures in the palace compound were erected within three months, and by 1894 the entire palace complex was virtually restored.

8. The Monarch Watchers

THE NEW emperor was a remarkable man, according to I.G. Edmonds in his informative book, Ethiopia -- Land of the Conquering Lion of Judah.

EDMONDS: He was described as being very dark of skin but tall and regally imposing. As a child he had been imprisoned on Amba Magdala by Emperor Theodore because he was of Solomonic blood and a possible candidate for the throne. Theodore was fond of the young man and treated him well, but Menelik -- conscious of his own destiny -- managed to escape from Magdala two years before Napier stormed the citadel. He had made his way to Shoa where he was sheltered by the Gallas, who hated Theodore. Through the influence of Galla friends, Menelik conquered Kaffa, a Galla province adjoining Uganda and Sudan. Other independent provinces and principalities along his borders also fell to the Ethiopia monarch.

After Emperor John was killed at Metema, Edmonds claimed that Ras Mangasha, whose army had been battered from the war with Sudanese rebels, didn't have a chance to challenge the fresh armies of Menelik or his right-hand man and cousin, Ras Makonnen. Also the position of the Ethiopia Orthodox Church was important. They would Menelik against an illegitimate son. So Ras Mangasha swallowed his disappointment and was content to remain as King of Tigre province.

Another monarch watcher, George Berkeley, who wrote a book, The Campaign of Adowa and The Rise of Menelik, in 1902, had his own views on Menelik.

BERKELEY: The most remarkable fact about Menelik's career is that although he has dominated a fighting nation like Ethiopia, he is himself by no means a warrior. Some Italian writers have even called him a coward, but his own description of himself is probably more accurate -- namely, that he is a man of peace who has several times been compelled to fight. It is in organizational and in diplomatic arts that he excels; he is careful, crafty, and perservering, the type of man to succeed in this world; and he is said to believe in his destiny.

The Menelik-era writer also related a story, told to him by an Italian army officer.

BERKELEY: He told me about Menelik's christening. His father, Ailu, came from the old royal stock that traced its descent to Menelik I, son of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Ailu was the oldest on of a great chief named Sahle Selassie, under whom Shoa attained its highest pitch of power. Now, Sahle Selassie's own name had been Menelik, but had he been warned by a monk to change it, or he would suffer great misfortune; he should,however, said the monk, call the son of his first-born by the name of Menelik, and the child so christened would one day be the conqueror of all Ethiopia and the greatest of all rulers since the days of Menelik I, son of Solomon. As soon as the slave girl gave birth to a boy, he was named Menelik. Throughout his life, Menelik had been attended by good fortune, so it seems as if this prophecy has been completely fulfilled. But if you're interested in his character, no description will have a better idea of it than the events that surround the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli).

9. A 'Lady MacBeth'

BIOGRAPHER LEONARD MOSLEY called Queen Taitu, Menelik's consort, a "Lady MacBeth."
The daughter of the ancient ruling house of Gondar, Taitu, in her youth was said to have had very light skin and to have been surprisingly beautiful.
On her 13th birthday, she was married to one of Theodore's generals, but Taitu deserted him after the fall of Magdala and married another general before she was 14.
He wasn't quite romantic enough for her and she deserted him to marry the governor of a northern province. At this time she came to the attention of Yohannes (John), who had her husband thrown in a dungeon, but Taitu -- who preferred to pick her lovers -- fled from the emperor to turn ip later married again to an officer in Menelik's army.
When Menelik saw her he got rid of his third wife, arranged a quick divorce for Taitu, and she became Queen of Shoa.
In Taitu, Menelik not only found a lover and a wife, but also a counsellor as adept at intrigue as he was.
It was said in later years that a lot of Menelik's success was due to his consort's shrewd advice.

Although Taitu had named her husband's new capital, Addis Ababa, it really was Menelik who picked the site, according to his chronicler, because his grandfather, King Sahle Selassie, had once predicted his gradson would some day return to build a city on the spot. Sahle apparently made the prediction after a local resident had given the king a horn of tej, the honey mead favored by the Ethiopians.

10. A Ras Named Makonnen

IF RAS ALULA was Mangasha of Tigre's "mind and arm," then Ras Makonnen's "pillar of strength." He was also the Emperor's special companion since he was a youngster and his first cousin.
Makonnen was born at Darafo Maryam in the Gola district on Saturday, May 8, 1852 to Princess Tenagne Worq, the daughter of Negus Sahle Selassie of Shoa and Dejazmatch Walda Mikael of the Doba and Manz nobility.
He stayed with his father for about 14 years during the time, Menelik, the son of Makonnen's uncle, Negus Haile Melakot, was still only the king of Shoa.
His father, Walda Mikael, then took him to Menelik and said: "Let this my son, your aunt's offspring. grow up with you in your place."
Menelik made Makonnen his special companion, quite apart from the obvious family ties.
He restored the ancient province of Harar to Ethiopia in 1886 and rose to the rank of ras in April 1890, after he returned from a celebrated Rome visit.

Before Yohannes' death, he suspected the Ottoman hold on Egypt was slipping. He was right. Sudan revolted under the guidance of the Mahdi -- the Guided One. As the government of Egypt collapsed, Britain moved in to keep order and became involved in fighting the Mahdi in Sufan. British troops were tied up in Egypt and also in sections of South Africa, so the British didn't try to hold Harar province in Ethiopia but evacuated Egyptian forces there in 1884.
The Emir Abdullah, son of the Arabic ruler of Harar before the Egyptians took control, was left in charge of the province.
Menelik, whose province of Shoa adjoined Harar, sent the Emir a message. He pointed out that Harar had always been considered an Ethiopian province. He was agreeable for the Abdullah to administer the provincial government, but the former land tax must be reinstated and paid to the king of Shoa.
The Emir sent Menelik a turban and a prayer rug along with an insulting letter suggesting the king of Shoa convert to Islam, "for only then will I consider you my master," he added. Menelik removed Abdullad without difficulty and then place Makonnen in charge of Harar in 1888.
In July 1892, a son was born to Makonnen near Harar. His name was Tafari and he would become the most famous emperor in Ethiopian history -- Haile Selassie I, the great-grandfather of Prince Stephen Mengesha.

11. Roman In The Emperor's Court

THE ITALIANS were opportunists.
In fact, they had their own man inside Menelik's Court.
His name was Count Antonelli.
A real charmer, with connections, for his uncle was the celebrated Cardinal Antonelli.
He had seen from the moment he arrived in Shoa, the future possibilities of the little kingdom.
With a keen grasp of the situation, he had become a good friend of Menelik's Queen Taitu and when he brought the monarch more tangible products of European civilization, he didn't forget Taitu, providing her with Parisian shoes and stockings.
The ambitious Antonelli was a firm believer in an alliance with Shoa. He had negotiated the first treaty in which Menelik was given rifles and ammunition and urged to defy Emperor John.
Now the prince of Tigre was dead and within a week in March 1889, Count Antonelli told Menelik he couldn't ask Rome to assist him without some kind of a "treaty of trade and friendship."
That document, to be known as the Treaty of Wuchale, named after a hamlet north of Dessie, and its disputed terms would be a lynchpin for future Ethiopian history.
It would ultimately become the immediate cause for the war that ended in the Battle of Adowa.
The bickering was just about to begin.

12. The Offending Article

ALL THE ITALIANS weren't with Count Antonelli's policy towards Menelik and Shoa, particularly General Baldiserra, who had been in charge of recking havoc along the Northern frontiers.
Baldiserra believed Italy should go it alone in their land grab, for they considered Menelik, now that John was dead, as the most dangerous Ethiopian chief and that Shoa was a possible enemy of Italy. He didn't want to provide any further assistance to Menelik.
The scenario prior to Menelik's reluctant signing of the Treaty of Wuchale was that Ras Mangasha and Ras Alula were defending their territory against the Italian field force of the North and against Menelik's Shoans of the South.
With the signing on Thursday, May 2, 1889, Menelik agreed to send his "pillar of strength," Makkonen, and an entourage to Rome to have the Italian ministers ratify it.
On the terms of the Treaty depends the whole histor of the period.
Its cheif provisions are roughly summarized as follows:
* Menelik was referred to as King of Kings of Ethiopia and a perpetual peace and friendship was established between him and Italy;
* By Article 3, the line of the high plateau (barely inside Ethiopia's ancient territories) was to mark the Italian-Ethiopian boundary: starting from the region of Arafali, the villages of Halai, Saganetti and Alula's stronghold of Asmara, were considered to be within the Italian boundary; in the province of Bogos, Adi Nefas and Adi Johannes were to be under Italian rule; from Adi Johannes a straight line east and West was to mark the Italian-Ethiopian boundary.
* By Article 17, that afterwards led to innumerable disputes, it was agreed that "His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia consents to emply the government of His Majesty the King of Italy in treating of all matters that may arise with the Powers and Governments."

Italy in the coming days would regret the limited boundaries since General Baklissera wouk occupy the three areas of Hamacen. Okula-Kusai and Serae by autumn 1889. They would seek to change the frontiers with a new clause.
However, Article 17 was an attempt of the Italian government to obtain the suzerainty over all Ethiopia. The bottom line was Rome considered the Horn of African nation as their protectorate.
The use of of the word, consents, was unfortunate, as in all the other clauses it's stipulated that a thing "shall be" or "shall not be done," but owing to the less absolute term, Menelik apparently didn't consider himself irrevocably bound by the clause.

There were two versions of the Treaty, one in Italian and the other in Amharic and they certainly differed in their interpretations.
In short the Italian version established a protectorate status on Ethiopia by stating that Ethiopia will always conduct her relations with the European powers by using Italy as an intermediary. On the other hand, the Amharic version simply stated that Ethiopia may avail herself of the good offices of Italy in conducting her relations with Europe, with no implication of being reduced to a protectorate status that impinged on her sovereignity.

13. The Treaty Paper Chase

ON WEDNEDAY, August 28, 1889, Makkonen and his guide and philosopher, Count Antonelli. arrived in Rome to have the Treaty of Wuchale (Uccialli) ratified by the Italian ministers.
The Italians, who had always reveled in pomp and circumstance, tried to dazzle the young Dejatch and made every effort to impress him with the power of Italy.
He had never strayed beyond the Ethiopian highlands before and now he was brought into one of the great town centers of civilization.
It made a lasting impression on him.
Makkonen realized the power of the white men, but didn't altogether trust them.
During his four-and-a-half month stay in Italy, he learned enough to exhaust the brain of any ordinary man.
From one site to another he was led by his hosts, taking quiet observation of all his surroundings, but especially of any details connected with the Italian army, many of which he doubtless afterwards suggested to his cousin and monarch.
Since Rome was unhappy with the frontiers of the original treaty which Antonelli and Menelik had signed on May 2, 1889, and additional document was signed by Makkonen and Signor Crispi on Tuesday, October 1, which altered the borders, but it didn't deal with the festering protectorate issue.
Under the new supplementary treaty, the Italians were to lend Menelik four million lire from an Italian bank, with the government agreeing to guarantee the loan.
If Ethiopia defaulted in paying the five per cent interest, the cusoms of the southern province of Harar would be seized. It was stipulated that two million lire should be paid in silver; the other two million to lie in the Italian treasury and be used for the various purchases that Menelik hoped to make in Europe. After some heated discussions, it was learned that Menelik wanted these two millions in the form of rifle cartridges.
When the Makkonen entourage left Rome on Wednesday, December 4, 1889, King Umberto presented him with 28 cannon and 38,000 rifles -- the weapons which were later to win the Battle of Adowa.

14. Troubles, troubles, troubles

WHEN MAKKONEN returned from Rome, there was a dramatic turn of events in the Italian camp, for on Saturday, December 14, 1889, General Baldiserra quit.
No longer could he tolerate Antonelli's support of Menelik.
He believed Italy's only course of possessing Ethiopia was Divide et Impera -- Divide and Conquer.
The general wanted to play off the Tigrean chiefs of the North against the Shoan chief of the South.
By Wednesday, January 1, 1890, the Italian possessions on the Red Sea were united by royal decree into one province and a new governor, who would be General Orero. The new dependency was called Eritrea.
However, Italian politics were secondary now.
Menelik had immediately renounced the Treaty of Wuchale when he learned about the protectorate issue, but his thoughts were really centered on the great famine, which had swept his country.
An epidemic killed off a great proportion of the cattle and people, by the score, were dying from dysentry.
While dealing with the country's natural disaster, he chose the path of protracted negotiations with Italy, which dragged on for four years.
During this time, he consolidated and strengthened his military position considerably by procuring arms from wherever he could get them in preparation with the impending showdown with Italy.
However, internal problems needed to be eased before such a conflict.
Menelik began to treat the Treaty of Wuchale as so much wastepaper.