ETHIOPIAN
HISTORY
* Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Sub Saharan Africa.
The earliest evidence
of Ethiopian history was in around 1000BC when the Queen of Sheba
visited King Solomon.
* The first recorded kingdom in Ethiopia grew around Axum during
the 3rd century BC. Axum was an offshoot of the Semitic Sabeam
kingdoms of southern Arabia, it became the greatest ivory market
in the north east.
* Ethiopia influenced the state of Meroe in Sudan. Over the next
few centuries, Axum encroached more and more on Meroe until,
when Christianity became the state religion in the 4th century
AD, Ethiopia conquered the kingdom.
* Christianity was adopted in the country by a Syrian youth named
Frumentius who grew up in Axum and converted the King; the
youth was later made the first Bishop in 330 AD.
* Axum conquered parts of Yemen and southern Arabia and remained
a great power until the death of the Prophet Mohammed.
* Islam was expanding which had the effect of cutting off Ethiopia
from its former Mediterranean trading partners and allies,
Muslims replaced the Egyptians in the Red Sea ports. Ethiopians
were allowed to consecrate their Bishops in Cairo and pilgrims
were allowed to travel to Jerusalem.
* Unfortunately, the Ethiopians did not have such a good relationship
with the pagan tribes in the south and pressure from these
tribes forced the Ethiopian emperors to adopt the life of nomadic
military commanders living in makeshift cities. The priests
were forced to become monks and hermits. After some time these
tribes were pacified and Ethiopia recovered enough to take
the provinces of Amhara, Lasta, Gojam and Damot. At a similar
time the capital was moved to the south to the Amhara province.
* In the 12th century Muslim expansion began. As independent
trading kingdoms grew up along the coast of the Red Sea they
expanded down to the Awash Valley. Their wealth was based mainly
upon a trade in slaves, gold and ivory.
* During the 13th and 14th centuries the Red Sea Kingdoms became
Ethiopian vassal states.
* During the 15th century with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire,
Ethiopian fortunes were reversed. The Turks who succeeded the
Mamelukes in Egypt supported the Muslim kingdoms providing
both firearms and artillery; the only thing that saved the
Christian empire from collapse was the Portuguese. In 1542
as a result of this, missionaries from Portugal attempted to
persuade the Ethiopians to accept the Pope in Rome as the leader
of the Church.
* In the 18th century the empire broke down into constituent
provinces, and a hundred years of constant warfare between
existing war lords and their successors followed.
* Ras Kassa had himself crowned as the emperor at Axum under
a different name, Tewodros. This happened in 1855 when he constructed
an army to reunite the provinces of Tigre, Amhara and Shoa.
* Tewodros shot himself because the British, in 1867, blockaded
his fortress. He was succeeded by John the 4th who took power
by using British arms and was forced to accept a powerful young
vassal King of Shoa as his heir, named Menelik. He built up
large stores of European arms which he used to defeat the Italians
in 1896 at Adowa.
* John the 4th enlarged his empire at the expense of the Afars,
the Somalis of Harrar and the Ogadam, and the Gallas.
* In 1916, Haile Selassie, born Prince Ras Tafari Makonnen, led
a revolution and became Prince Regent, heir to the throne.
He was proclaimed Emperor in 1930.
* Mussolini, from Italy overran the country in 1936. Haile Selassie
fled to England where he lived in exile. He appealed for help,
but none was offered although the western nations condemned
the action. The Italians remained present in
Ethiopia until 1941. Haile Selassie returned as Emperor.
* After World War 2 Ethiopia's course as an independent nation
continued although the province of Eritrea remained under British
control until 1952 when it was federated with Ethiopia, a result
of a plebiscite, organised by the UN. The Muslims were unhappy
about the federation and so in 1962 the federation was dissolved
and the province was annexed by Haile Selassie. The consequence
of this was the outbreak of guerrilla warfare, the Muslims
against the Christians.
* The Eritreans regarded the annexation as tantamount to being
colonised by another African nation and there were many years
of inconclusive fighting which also led to mutiny and made
more people aware of the revolutionary current which was sweeping
through Ethiopian society. This was one of the principle factors
leading to Haile Selassie's downfall.
* Haile Selassie was respected as an African statesman and as
a key person in the construction of the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU).
* Wealth went to nobility and the church. Many thousands of people
died due to famine and the war in Eritrea.
* In 1974 amid a wave of demonstrations, mutinies and uprisings,
Haile Selassie was deposed and held under armed guard in his
palace.
* Ethiopia was then plunged into a social revolution and a group
of junior army officers imposed a military dictatorship. The
leader was Mengistu Haile Miriam. He threw out Americans and
then instituted a number of radical reforms. He jailed the
opposition; many people were massacred by vigilante groups;
opposition arose everywhere; the Eritreans stepped up the guerrilla
campaign and the Somalis decided that the time was right to
press their claims over the Ogaden desert and invaded in force.
* By 1978 the Somalis had managed to overrun Jijiga which was
an important Ethiopian military base and were threatening to
take areas through which the vital railway ran.
* The military regime in Addis Ababa was at a point of collapse
but then the Russian and Cuban troops intervened with the help
from Moscow, Mengistu was able to turn the Somalis back across
the border.
* Mengistu's policies included creating 'people's committees'
called Kebeles which controlled the everyday lives of the people
in great detail. Large numbers of people were forcibly moved
around the country in an attempt to counter famine. Conscription
into the army eventually called on ever man from 18 to 70 years
old.
* Matters went from bad to worse. Mengistu found himself with
a discontented population, frequent famine, war in Eritrea,
Ogaden and Tigray. Finally, in 1991, when the rebel forces
were about to seize Addis, Mengistu hastily left the country
for Zimbabwe.
* A new government was led by Meles Zenawi who set out a policy
to pursue multi-party democracy. Eritrea became independent
led by Isaias Afwerki, a friend of Zenawi
