Where to start if you want to write about Ethiopian history?

HISTORY
500BC - 1857
Where to start if you want to write about Ethiopian history?
Near Lake Turkana and the Awashriver fossils of bones were found dating back 4 million years. With the many findings slowly but certain a line becomes clear about men's evolution. 'Lucy' the oldest complete skeleton; Ethiopians prefer to call her Dinquinesh (Thou art Wonderfull), can be seen in the National Museum in Addis Ababa.
In Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, near Yeha a temple is located which shows great resembles with comparable buildings in Yemen. They estimate this building being from the 5th century BC.
In the 14th century Ethiopian history became written down for the first time in the 'Kebra Naghast' (The Glory of the Kings). It's about the Solomonic dynasty that starts with the birth of Melenik 1st, child of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Sheba travelled to Palestine to meet Solomon , famous for his wisdom, and out of there short affair the first King of Ethiopia, Menelik 1st was born. According to this legend the last Emperor Haile Selassie was a straight descendant from Menelik 1st.
Or shall we start with the 19th century founding fathers of the modern Ethiopia, the Emperors Tewrodos, Yohannes and Menelik 2th, who strove to unity of the by violent conflicts torn country.
The founding of the Empire of Axum in the 5th century BC is often taken as the starting point of the Ethiopian civilisation. The Kingdom maintained trading relations both with the Greec-Roman world and with India and China during it's most prosperous times. During the Axumite times the old Ge-ez became the official language and it is still used in the Ethiopian church. The origin of this language can be found with the South-Arabic that groups of people spoke, who came from Yemen long before Axumite times. Axum had a rich architecture as appears from the big obelisks, still to be seen, and still a inspiration for modern builders. Axum continued to be the crowning place for the Royals up until Ras Tafari, Emperor Haile Selassie. The church St Mary of Zion is the place where, according to tradition, and later researched by the journalist Graham Hancock in the book 'The Sign and the Seal', the Ark of the Covenant resides. The decline of the Axum started with the rising of Islam in Arabia and the growth of it in Africa and Asia. Axum got shut off from her trading partners and populations in the region revolted against a weakening centre.
About the history between the 8th and the 12th century barely anything is known. They call it the dark ages of Ethiopia. 'This tells more about the ignorance then about the significance. The growing apart of the Semitic peoples apparently appeared during this period and the existence of two interchanging dominate ethnic groups in the Abessinic politics, the Amharinya and Tigriniya speaking groups, goes back to this period. '(Nahru Zewde, director Institute for Ethiopian Studies, University of Addis Ababa).
In the 12th century the Zagwe dynasty developed in the highlands. A remaining of it are the monolithic churches of Lalibela, a city named Roha but later on was renamed after the Zagwe King Lalibela. With there six Kings and one Queen this dynasty only ruled for 150 years but left us these imposing monuments. Lalibela is considered to be a new Jerusalem. Because a pilgrimage to the real Jerusalem wasn't possible they build a replica with the eleven out of rock hewn churches. It's sometimes called the 8th world wonder.
This dynasty is overthrown by a Amharic chief Yekunno-Amlak. He claimed to be a direct descendant of Menelik 1st, the child of Queen Sheba and King Solomon. This legend appeared at the end of the Axumite period but was written down in the Kebra Naghast in the 14th century. The period between 1270 and the 16th century is considered as the Ethiopian middle ages, this to distinguish it from the old periods of Axum and Zagwe. The from 1314 until 1344 governing King Amda Tseyson 1st fought varies battles and not only succeeded in calling his own aristocracy to order but also defeated numerous Moslimleaders of Kingdoms whom in the east of the country were formed. Its in this period that Court literature appeared and mend the start of an endless sequence of chronicles. The second half of the 14th century Abuna (patriarch) Salama 2nd commissioned the translation of a lot of Christian scripts from Egypt which were written in Arabic, to Ge-ez. These scripts belong to the religious heritage of the country.
It's typical for Ethiopia that ( later on declared Holy) missionaries in the first instance were monks who lived like hermits. There emanation of holiness because of there intense live of praying drew the attention of the people who converted out of admiration. The founder of the famous Dabra Libanos, Takla Haymanot is usually portrayed praying standing on one leg, while the other leg lays on the ground. The legend tells that he stood on one leg for such a long time that the other fell off, which didn't withhold him to keep on praying.
During the reign of Emperor Zar'a Ya'cob from 1434 until 1468 the first contacts between Ethiopia and Western Europe started. This Emperor was very interested in theology. He tried to resolve a theological conflict that let to a schism (Should the Jewish Sabbath be equal to the Sunday of the Christians), and wrote a number of theological books. He send Ethiopian monks to the Conciliate of Firenze (1439-1443), where the interest for Ethiopia awoke. The Europeans called it 'the land of Prester John' assuming that the Emperor was a priest.
Perhaps it were not only theological motives why the Emperor approached Rome. The country was surrounded by Islamic states and peoples, and all the reason to fear that on a certain day they would create an alliance against him.
It was with the help of Portuguese under the leadership of Christovao da Gama ( the son of Vasco Da Gama, the famous seaman ) that the raid of the Islamic Imam Ahmed Gurey was brought to a standstill and withdrawal. The Imam invaded the country with firearms which he got from Ottomanian Turks. Up until that time firearms were unknown to the Ethiopians. That's why Gragn or 'the left handed', as he was called by the Ethiopians, could leave a trail of destruction in the churches and there treasuries, and drove the Emperor back to Eritrea, and converted the people to the Islam.
With the Portuguese army, missionary's appeared and for a while it looked like that with the conversion of Emperor Susenyos (1607-1632) ,Catholicism could be imposed to the population, but it let to a revolt among the people. The Emperor had to decline in favour of his son Fasilidas, who's first concern it was get rid of the Portuguese and Jesuits. 'Ethiopia would keep on remembering this terrible experience, and kept an instinctive distrust to westerners and specially to Catholic missionary's ' (Ugo Zanetti, Professor language and Literature of the Christian East, University of Leuven, Belgium. )
A consequence of the rivalry between the missionary's and the Ethiopian priest was that whereas the Jesuits publicised there catechism and propaganda in Amharinya, the local church was forced to take over the language of the court and the people. The first religious works in Amharinya appeared.
Up until then the Emperors and there court lived in tents of military camps, which if necessary were replaced from one place to another. Fasilidas broke with that tradition and established himself in Gondar. Still the European style castles and the churches are architectonic and artistic wonders. Also he was the founder of a new foreign policy aimed at friendly relations with Moslem neighbours on both sides of the Red Sea.
Gondar remained a centre for Culture and trade for two centuries. Around the shore and on the islands of lake Tana, new monasteries flourished, with their own theological schools, which still exists. Many foreigners came to Gondar. While Gondar came to a unknown cultural richness the political power of the Emperors declined.
From the south a new population invaded the country, they called themselves Oromo. The depopulation of the south because of slave raids, made a gradual growth possible of the Oromo to the north . So in the beginning of the 19th century five Oromo trade states appeared. Momentarily the Oromo is the biggest language group in Ethiopia. Nevertheless in historiography they have a marginal place because almost always the Amharic and Tigray ras (royals) dominated politics.
Above all Oromo Chiefs founded a dynasty that would later on be known as the Yajju dynasty. The Emperors of Gondar were merely marionettes. The power of these chiefs who gave themselves the title of Bitwaddad (the most privileged ) was challenged by the Tigray Ras (prince) Mikael, who assumed an increasing backstage importance. He was responsible for two assassinations of Emperors and replacing them with others of his choice. This era knows many wars and is known as Zamana Masafent, the era of the princes. In the middle of the 19th century Ethiopia was a hotchpotch of fighting fiefdoms of local dynasties, with a powerless Emperor.
The unity of the country was not only threatened by those internal battles. Egypt strove to complete control of the Nile, up until her source, Lake Tana.
1857 - 1973
The founder of modern Ethiopia, Emperor Tewodros 2th, started as a noble man named Kassa Hayla. The divided Ethiopia had many small rulers, squabbling princes. Kassa Hayla was one of them. After the dead of his father he was denied the fiefdom he expected to rule and instead became a shifta (bandit). It seems he had a bit of a Robin Hood image and in 1850, after he also led a few campaigns against Egyptian intruders, he got his land. He then started to fight against other princes. He defeated among others Ras Ali in Ayshal (1853),the prince of Simien ,Tigray and Dedjach Webe in Darasje (1855). Afterwards he crowned himself Emperor. Then he conquered the southern regions of Wollo and Shoa and from the last one he brought back a hostage: the young prince Menelik who grew up at his court.
Tewrodos was not a popular Emperor because of his brutality and ruthlessness. The strict discipline he imposed on his army led to a high rate of desertion. The Emperors efforts to abolish slave trade and the expropriation of church owned land for peasant farmers, got him in conflict with local leaders of the old fiefdoms . Tewrodos wanted to conquer the Eritrean capital Masawa from Egypt, to restore the entrance to the sea which got lost 3 centuries earlier. He requested the English for support but the English interest was with the Turkish-Egyptian alliance because of the Sues canal yet to be opened. In his frustration he took several British prisoners.
The British formed an army led by Sir Robert Napier. Napier got support from the Oromo leaders and made a treaty of neutrality with the princes of Tigray, Lasta and Shoa and in 1869 they encircled Makdela, Tewrodos capital. The embittered Emperor realised he was changeless, ordered his troops to leave Makdela and committed suicide.
In exchange for his neutrality Kasa Mercha of Tigray got arms from the British. With this superior weaponry he was able to defeat his brother in law Takla Giorgis the incumbent Emperor and crowned himself Emperor Yohannis 2nd . With the opening of the Sues canal the westerner imperials started there battles for control over the shores of the Red Sea. The Britain occupied Yemen, the France took Obock (Djibouti)and the Italians Eritrea. Also the Egypt's still had ambition to concur the source of the Nile and had invaded Sudan.
While Yohannis was fighting to regain land from the Italians; in 1887 the Ethiopians defeated a small contingent of Italians near Dogali , Menelik, who was allowed to return to Shoa had several contacts with the enemy on a diplomatic level which Yohannis was unaware of.
After Yohannis forced the Italians to retreat he had to fight the Egypt's who occupied Gondar. He had made a bargain with the English, the treaty of Adwa. The English who had occupied Egypt wanted support from the Emperor in exchange for the Ethiopian part that was occupied by the Egypt and free trade of arms and ammunition through the English controlled harbour of Masawa. In the battle of Matema on march 1889 he defeated the Egypt's but lost last his live. Yohannis kept his part of the deal and paid with his live but Britain broke theirs by handing over the control of Masawa to the Italians.
During the reign of Yohannis, Menelik had done much to unite Ethiopia and his own power. Harer, Arsi, the fiefdoms of the southwest, and great parts of Oromo country were captured. In 1886 Menelik moved his capital to the Intoto valley, nowadays Addis Ababa.
Menelik 2nd was crowned the new Emperor and in 1889 he made a treaty with Italy, in which Italy recognised the Ethiopian sovereignty in exchange for Eritrea, 28 canons and 38.000 rifles and the lending of large sums of money. The treaty didn't work out the way Menelik expected. There were two versions. In the Italian version Ethiopia became a Italian protectorate and in the Amharic version not. The diplomatic efforts to unsure the independence had failed and like his predecessor Menelik had to fight an imperialistic European country. In 1896 near Adwa, a small Tigrayen city, the final battle took place . The Ethiopian troops defeated the Italian colonial army and killed 12.000 men.
It was the first time that an European army was defeated by an African one. European countries were impressed and Menelik was no longer seen as a Negro-chief but as a respected Emperor. Ethiopia has never been colonised by them and the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia was settled in a new treaty.
It was at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th ,after the external treats were restrained, Ethiopia could invest in modern infrastructure; the Djibouti-Addis Ababa railroad, post and telephone services. The first ministers were appointed, a bank was founded, a hotel was opened and the first hospital. First initiatives for a modern educational system were taken. Ethiopia wanted to become a member of the Leaque of Nations but the existents of slavery gave Europe a pretext to block this.
Menelik died on December 13th 1913 and was succeeded by his grandson Lej Isayu. This Emperor only ruled for 4 years mainly because he wanted to abandon slavery, supported the often neglected Muslim minority and became a threat for the nobility and the powerful clergy. During the 1st worldwar Iyasu had sympathy for the Germans and Turks. It made possible that with the help of British, French and Italian diplomats, Iyasu was overtrown and his ant Zauditu, daughter of Menelik 2de, became Empress. In the settlement was agreed that Ras Tafari Makonen would be the official heir to the throne. Tafari was the son of Ras Makonen, the hero of the Battle of Adwa. The position of Zauditu wasn't a very strong one. It seems that she was supported by the Shoan nobility mainly because of her naiveté.
As a young prince Tafari Makonen got in touch with progressive intellectuals who wrote about slavery, the poor farmers and the necessity for fundamental reforms. He gave them a weekly magazine: the Berhanena Salam (Light and Peace) in which they could proclaim the need for education for all and the introduction of a constitutional government.
During the period between 1917 and 1930 Zauditu and Tafari Makonen had two palaces, two courts and two politics. The better educated, ambitious and more worldly Tafari immediately started with the elimination of his rivals.
He visited Palestine, Egypt, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, Switzerland and Greece. He got the help of Belgian officers to train his bodyguards and loaned Swiss money to establish an army of 40.000 men. In 1923 he made Ethiopia a member of the League of Nations. He sent students to foreign Universities and decreed that slavery should be abolished.
In 1930 the husband of the Empress died in a civil battle and two days later she herself expired of heartbreak. Ras Tafari Mekonen was crowned the new Emperor Haile Selasie.
In the meantime fascism in Europe started to grow and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, after several diplomatic attempts to get economic control over Ethiopia, invaded the country in 1935. The reaction of the West European countries was weak; They didn't want to frustrate Italy and by that reinforce the alliance between Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. In other words Ethiopia was sacrified. Some of the Tigray nobility didn't really resist and some others even took the side of the occupiers. Despite that the Italian forces didn't make a walk over. Eventually the stronger air power and the use of mustard gas proved decisive and in 1936 after the battle at Maychew the Italians could occupy Addis Ababa.
Haile Selasie went to Great Britain and afterwards to Sudan. In Ethiopia a resistance movement started a guerrilla and the Italians responded brutally. During ran riots in 1937 many people were murdered. Italian blackshirts haunted intellectuals and few survived. The Ethiopian nobility negotiated with the occupiers but merely to buy time than in acceptance. The ongoing resistance laid the foundation for the victory of the British army in the Allied liberation campaign in 1941. During 1936 and 1941 infrastructure improved tremendously and can be seen as a positive legacy. In some cities and villages the Italian influence is still evident today.
Haile Selasie returned to Addis Ababa and proceeded with modernisation of the country. The after war negotiations about the future of Somalia and Eritrea resulted in 1952 in the Eritrean-Ethiopian federation and the annexation in 1962 followed by 30 years of war between the two countries. The role of the nobility decreased and was replaced by governors and ministers but feudal landowners remained and considered there people as slaves. The modernisation of the country didn't change there fate. People revolted. In 1943 in Tigray, Sidamo 1960, Gojam 1968, Bale 1963-1970 and Wolo 1970.
In foreign policy Haile Selasie was successful. In 1958 Addis Abeba became the registered office for the Economic Commission for Africa and in 1963 the Organisation for African Unity was founded in the Ethiopian capital.
It was in 1973 that Jonathan Dimbleby, a British journalist made a film in which the world became aware of what was behind the grandeur of Ras Tafari. Famine wasn't new in Ethiopia. Between 1888 and 1892 as a result of ongoing wars, the greed of the Nobility and rinderpest brought in by Italian imported cattle, many people died and this period is known as Kefu Qan (The Evil Days). New was that the Ethiopian Emperor suddenly lost all his prestige that was so carefully build up. The pictures of hundred thousands starving people shocked the world.
There were several attempts to overthrow the Emperor. In 1946 Takala Walda-Hawaryat, who opposed the return of the exiled Emperor, was detained after the discovery of a anti imperial plot. A coup of 1960 by General Mengistu Naway and his brother Garwane Naway failed, but made clear that officers, students and intellectuals weren't buying the divide and rule games of the Emperor anymore. Starting in 1965 many student demonstrations were seen in the streets of Addis Ababa. The resistance of the ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) and the EPLF (Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front) became a complete war for independence. In year 1974 was full of uproar, strikes and demonstrations, and not only in the capital. Local peasants revolted against their feudal exploiters.
September 12th 1973 the Emperor was overthrown by a military coup. The Solomonic dynasty whom according to their own legend ruled over Ethiopia for 3000 years ended, and the last Emperor was driven away from his palace in a Volkwagen Beetle. He was killed in August 1975 and buried in one of his former palaces, deep under the office of Mengistu Haile Maryam.
17 years of military government followed.
1973 - 1996
According to Ryszard Kapuscinski, author of the book The Emperor, Haile Selassie and his government lost all sense for reality long before they were put aside by military and police officers. The pictures that the English journalist Jonathan Dimbleby brought to the world, hundred thousand people dying in Wollo and Tigray, were first denied by the court and the government. Months before the september 12th 1973 there were mutinies in the army specially in Eritrea. There were student demonstrations and taxidrivers went on strike because of increasing fuel prices. Local peasants revolted and demanded land reform.
After the coup a Military Co-ordination Committee was formed; the Dergue. Up until 1977 the Dergue fought out there internal struggle for power. In 1974 there leader Aman Andom was murdered among with 57 high officers and civil servants. He wanted to solve the Eritrean conflict peacefully. The Ethiopian Patriarch and with the Emperor many monarchists were taken prisoner and killed. Left wing groups like the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party and the Ethiopian Socialistic Meison Movement had given the Dergue their Marxism-Leninist ideology but also became victims. The military rulers didn't accept any opposition and the EPRP was against a military government and wanted to solve the Eritrean conflict peaceful.
During the Red Terror in 1977 and 1978, among many students ten thousand members were captured, tortured and killed. On the radio people were summoned to report and many did. In Addis Ababa a terrified city was shackled at the radio hoping not to be named either to report or families left behind to hear that there loved ones were executed. Young students were forced to work in rural parts of the country and make the peasants conscious. Many others fled to Europe and North America. A complete generation disappeared and still you won't find to many intellectuals between the age of 30 and 40 in Ethiopia.

In 1977 Somalia attacked Ethiopia and in a short time they occupied the Ogaden and reached up to Harar. As so many times before, international politics played a mayor role in Ethiopian destiny. Already before the fall of the Haile Selassie, the United States lost interest in Ethiopia. They dismantled there listening-posts en replaced them to the Indian Ocean. The Sovjet Union changed partner from Somalia to Ethiopia and provided them with military and logistic support. Somalia lost the Ogaden. 50. 000 Cubans came to the country and supported the Ethiopian army in there battle against the EPLF and the TPLF. As we know now in vain. The internal struggle for power in the Dergue resulted in one leader Mengistu Haile Maryam. Outbreaks of dissents not only gave him the alibi to kill thousand of citizens but also seven party leaders including his predecessor General Teferi. From then on Ethiopia would be in a constant state of civil war. The TPLF and the EPLF in the north, the Somalies in the east and the OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) organised a less spectacular but ongoing unrest in the south.

The famine in 1973 - 74 was followed by a more severe one in 1985. No rainfall for three years, was most certainly the cause but politics made it to a disaster. A million people died of starvation because the Mengistu regime refused the aid being transported to areas which were controlled by the opposition. The migration of 200.000 families from the north to the south failed because of the brusque way it was executed. 100.000 people died because they were transported to a swampy area without any tools or aid and where the malaria mugs were omnipresent. The migration program was promoted to give the starving population a new future in fertile areas. In reality people were deported to prevent them to join the growing rebellion movements.
Although the land of the nobility and the Ethiopian church was nationalised and given to local peasants the forming of co-operatives and model-villages didn't improve the productivity. Only the state-farms and so called production co-operatives got governmental support and most peasants preferred to be independent. From 1985 to 1987 1.3 million houses were build and 8 million people moved to this villages. Apart from getting the land more economically used, through the 'Kebele' (a quarter) system people could be controlled. Most of those who were forced to live in the model-villages returned to there own houses after 1991