On this date in 1896, an Ethiopian army under the command of Emperor Menelik II decisively defeated an Italian army at the Battle of Adwa.
On this date in 1896, an Ethiopian army under the command of Emperor Menelik II decisively defeated an Italian army at the Battle of Adwa. The battle, which helped secure Ethiopian independence, marked the first time an African nation had defeated a European colonial power, and contributed to the rise of African nationalism. In 1889, shortly after Menelik took power and declared himself Emperor of Ethiopia (then called Abyssinia by Europeans), he signed a treaty with Italy, recognizing the Italians’ claim to Eritrea, which bordered Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa. But conflicts soon arose over whether the treaty subjected Ethiopia itself to Italian authority, a position supported by the Italian language version of the treaty but not the Amharic version. In 1893 Menelik repudiated the treaty. The Italians began to push into Ethiopia and skirmishes and border conflicts followed. In the fall of 1895, with the fighting intensifying, Menelik mobilized and gathered a massive army from ac...