ADWA: Empress Taytu And Emperor Menelik In Love and War
is the love story between Ethiopia’s 19th century Empress Taytu Betul and Emperor Menelik II and their victory—fighting together on the frontlines—against an invading Imperial Italian army seeking to colonize their country. The couple, leading a large army, routed the Italians at the Great Battle of Adwa, on March 1, 1896, killing nearly 3,000 Italian soldiers and capturing almost an equal number in a mere six hours.
The victory ensured Ethiopia’s independence; it was the only African country not colonized during the “Scramble for Africa” in the 19th century when European countries divided up the whole continent at the 1884 Berlin Conference presided over by Otto von Bismarck. Prior to Adwa, the Italian commander in chief, Gen. Oreste Baratieri, promised Italy’s King Umberto that he would return to Rome with Menelik II in a cage. To fulfill his promise, a 17,000-strong Italian army commanded by five generals and several senior officers invaded Ethiopia. The Italians were accompanied by thousands of Askaris—African soldiers from the Italian colony of Eritrea, Ethiopia’s neighbor.
The battle was over by noon. In the end, 2,918 Italian non-commissioned officers and men lay dead; 2,000 Askaris were killed; 261 Italian officers perished; 958 Askaris and 470 Italians were wounded; 954 Italians went permanently missing; and 56 canons and 11,000 guns were captured by the victorious Ethiopians.
The dead Italians included two generals, Giuseppe Arimondi and Vittorio Dabormida. General Matteo Albertone was captured. Commander in chief Baratieri never did return to Rome with Menelik in a cage; he fled the battlefield for his life. He was later court-martialed by the Italians for cowardice although he was acquitted.
The victorious Ethiopian soldiers marched the Italian prisoners of war into Addis Ababa—“little flower”—the capital city named by Empress Taytu. Ethiopian women jeered and spat on the vanquished Europeans. The tables had been turned; the European captives were put to labor on public works projects like enslaved men, under the supervision of Africans. Ethiopia forced Italy to pay a huge sum of money as reparations before releasing the captives the following year.
The Battle of Adwa was a great victory for Ethiopia, for the entire continent and for the Global African Diaspora. It was defeat for European imperialism and the ideology of white supremacy.
