Ethiopia defeats Italy at Adwa (1896)

Late Modern Era / 19th Century · ~1800 – 1914

On 1 March 1896 an Ethiopian army commanded by Emperor Menelik II decisively defeated an Italian force near the town of Adwa, in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. The battle was the turning point of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, which had begun over a dispute about a treaty signed in 1889, and it secured Ethiopia's independence at the height of the European partition of Africa.

Italy had been building a colony on the Red Sea coast, in what became Eritrea, and sought a protectorate over Ethiopia itself. Menelik had spent years gathering modern rifles and artillery and uniting the nobles of his empire behind him. The Treaty of Addis Ababa, signed in October 1896, ended the war, cancelled the disputed treaty and recognised Ethiopian independence. Adwa became a symbol for Africans and for people under colonial rule elsewhere, and Ethiopia was one of very few African states to avoid colonisation during the partition. Italy returned to invade in 1935 and occupied the country from 1936 to 1941.

Things happened, and the rest is history

Menelik II builds a central state and an arsenal
Event
What happened
Menelik becomes king of Shewa in 1865 and emperor of Ethiopia in 1889. From the 1870s he buys large quantities of modern rifles from European traders and governments, including France, Russia and Italy itself. He expands his realm south and east, and founds Addis Ababa in the late 1880s.
The rest is history
The conquests brought revenue and resources, and the imported arms equipped a large army. Historians generally see these arms as important to the victory at Adwa, though their quantity, quality and exact weight among the causes are debated. The expansion also brought many peoples under Ethiopian rule, a legacy that remains debated. By 1896 Menelik could field a very large army, well supplied with firearms by the standards of the region.
Sources
1. BookMarcus, Harold G. The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Italy settles on the Red Sea coast
Event
What happened
In 1869 an Italian shipping company buys the bay of Assab, and the Italian state takes it over in 1882. In 1885 Italian troops occupy Massawa, after Egyptian forces withdraw. Italy then pushes inland onto the highlands, and in 1887 Ethiopian forces under Ras Alula destroy an Italian column at Dogali.
The rest is history
These moves created the colony that Italy declared as Eritrea in 1890. Italy wanted a larger share in the partition of Africa, and Ethiopia was the obvious target. Dogali left Italian public opinion eager for revenge. The coastal base also gave Italy the means to launch the invasion of 1895.
Sources
1. BookDel Boca, Angelo. The Ethiopian War 1935-1941. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
The Treaty of Wuchale (1889)
Event
What happened
On 2 May 1889 Menelik and Count Pietro Antonelli sign the Treaty of Wuchale, with Amharic and Italian texts. Article 17 in the Amharic version says Menelik may use Italy for dealings with other powers. The Italian version says he must. Italy then tells European governments that Ethiopia is its protectorate.
The rest is history
Menelik rejected the Italian reading when he learned of it. In 1893 he formally denounced the treaty. The dispute over Article 17 is the best known cause of the war, though Italian ambitions in the region would probably have led to conflict anyway. The treaty's cancellation became Ethiopia's central demand in 1896.
Sources
1. BookMarcus, Harold G. The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
2. BookBerkeley, G. F.-H. The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik. London: Constable, 1902.
The Italian invasion and the Ethiopian mobilisation (1895)
Event
What happened
In early 1895 Italian forces under General Oreste Baratieri cross into Tigray and occupy Adigrat and Adwa. In September Menelik orders a general mobilisation and sets out north with a very large army. In December 1895 at Amba Alagi, Ethiopian forces destroy an Italian detachment, and in January 1896 they besiege the fort at Mekelle.
The rest is history
The early victories showed that the Italians were weaker than they appeared. Mekelle's garrison was allowed to withdraw under terms in January 1896. By February the two armies faced each other near Adwa, both short of supplies. The war now depended on a single large battle.
Sources
1. BookBerkeley, G. F.-H. The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik. London: Constable, 1902.
2. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
Crispi presses Baratieri to attack
Event
What happened
In February 1896 Prime Minister Francesco Crispi sends telegrams urging General Baratieri to act decisively. Baratieri's army is short of food, and he fears that the Ethiopians are about to retreat for the same reason. On the evening of 29 February he orders a night advance in four columns over difficult, poorly mapped ground.
The rest is history
The columns lost contact with one another in the dark. One brigade under General Albertone moved ahead of the others and was exposed to Ethiopian attack. Historians stress both political pressure and poor maps and intelligence in explaining the plan's failure. Baratieri was later tried and acquitted, but his career was over.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookRubenson, Sven. The Survival of Ethiopian Independence. London: Heinemann, 1976.
The Battle of Adwa (1 March 1896)
Event
What happened
On the morning of 1 March the separated Italian brigades meet Ethiopian forces of Menelik, Empress Taytu, Ras Makonnen, Ras Mikael and others. Albertone's brigade is overwhelmed first. The other brigades are then defeated in turn and forced to retreat across the mountains. Thousands of Italian and Eritrean askari soldiers are killed or captured, and Ethiopian losses are also heavy.
The rest is history
It was one of the most complete defeats of a European army by an African one in the colonial era. Italy lost most of its artillery and a large share of its field force. The captured askari were treated harshly by the Ethiopians, and many Italian prisoners were held until a settlement. The government of Crispi fell within days.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
The Treaty of Addis Ababa (1896)
Event
What happened
On 26 October 1896 Italy and Ethiopia sign the Treaty of Addis Ababa. It annuls the Treaty of Wuchale and recognises Ethiopia as a fully independent state. Italy keeps Eritrea, with the border left for later settlement. Italian prisoners are returned.
The rest is history
The treaty itself committed Italy to recognising Ethiopian independence. Other European powers then gave their own recognition in the following years, sending missions to Menelik's court. Britain, France and Italy signed an agreement in 1906 about their interests in the region. The border questions left open in 1896 were not settled until later treaties. The independence won at Adwa lasted until Italy's invasion in 1935.
Sources
1. BookMarcus, Harold G. The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
2. BookRubenson, Sven. The Survival of Ethiopian Independence. London: Heinemann, 1976.
Adwa as a symbol for the colonised world
Event
What happened
News of the victory spreads quickly through the press of Europe, Africa and the Americas. Ethiopia is cited by African and Black diaspora writers and activists in the following decades. After Italy invades Ethiopia in 1935, Adwa is recalled again, and in 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie returns to his throne with British help.
The rest is history
Adwa became a reference point for Pan-Africanism and for later anticolonial movements. Ethiopia's flag colours influenced the flags of many independent African states. The Organisation of African Unity chose Addis Ababa as its seat in 1963. Ethiopians still mark Adwa Victory Day each year.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Empress Taytu as the strategist of Adwa
Popular belief
The legend
Empress Taytu Betul is often said to have been the real mastermind of the victory. In the tale she urges Menelik to fight, rallies the troops, and personally leads a large body of women and soldiers into the fray. Some tellings add that she brought the water supply that kept the army alive.
The rest is history
Taytu was real and influential. She opposed the Italians, and she rejected the Italian reading of Article 17. She was present with the army and led her own troops at Adwa, and she took part in the siege of Mekelle. Her exact military role is hard to establish, because contemporary accounts by Ethiopians and foreigners vary. Menelik remained the overall commander, and the decisions on strategy are recorded as shared among the nobles.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookMarcus, Harold G. The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
Menelik's alleged mutilation of captives as a reprisal
Popular belief
The legend
A story in some European retellings holds that Menelik ordered the right hands and left feet of Eritrean askari captives to be cut off as a punishment for fighting for Italy. It is sometimes repeated as proof of the cruelty of the Ethiopian army.
The rest is history
The punishment did happen. Ethiopian forces amputated the right hands and left feet of a number of askari prisoners after the battle, a penalty then used in Ethiopia for treason. Menelik's decision is reported in several contemporary accounts. The number affected is uncertain and was often inflated in Italian press. Italian prisoners, by contrast, were generally held and later returned. The episode is part of the full record of Adwa and is not usually separated from it by historians.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Adwa was a victory of Africans over a European power only by arms
Popular belief
The legend
A common modern belief is that Ethiopia won only because it was given modern weapons by Russia and France, and that it was therefore not a purely African victory.
The rest is history
Russia and France did supply rifles and some other equipment, and Menelik worked diplomatically to buy arms. But Italy had also sold arms to him in earlier years. Ethiopian success at Adwa came from large numbers, the discipline of its commanders, good local knowledge, and the Italian mistakes. A Russian Red Cross mission and a few advisers were in the country, but Ethiopian officers led the fighting. Historians see weapons, politics and generalship as working together.
Sources
1. BookJonas, Raymond. The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
2. BookRubenson, Sven. The Survival of Ethiopian Independence. London: Heinemann, 1976.
Ethiopia was never colonised
Popular belief
The legend
It is often said that Ethiopia was never colonised at all, and that it stayed free throughout the colonial era without interruption.
The rest is history
Ethiopia was one of only a few African states to keep its independence through the partition, and Adwa was central to that. But Italy invaded again in October 1935 and occupied Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941, merging it with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland into Italian East Africa. Ethiopians resisted throughout the occupation. In 1941 British and Ethiopian forces, with Haile Selassie, drove the Italians out. Many Ethiopians therefore speak of the 1936 to 1941 period as an occupation rather than a colonisation.
Sources
1. BookDel Boca, Angelo. The Ethiopian War 1935-1941. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.
2. BookPankhurst, Richard. The Ethiopians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.

← Back to the outline

Things happened, and the rest is history

Menelik II builds a central state and an arsenal

Italy settles on the Red Sea coast

The Treaty of Wuchale (1889)

The Italian invasion and the Ethiopian mobilisation (1895)

Crispi presses Baratieri to attack

The Battle of Adwa (1 March 1896)

The Treaty of Addis Ababa (1896)

Adwa as a symbol for the colonised world

Empress Taytu as the strategist of Adwa

Menelik's alleged mutilation of captives as a reprisal

Adwa was a victory of Africans over a European power only by arms

Ethiopia was never colonised