| Ethiopian History
The Abyssinian empire started to fall
apart in the eighteenth century as the Gondar kings
began to weaken. The last Gondar King, Yoas, was killed in 1769 and
along with him went the importance of the monarch. The empire
belonged to the Ras who manned the Gondar region. The country
remained in a chaotic state, suffering from dissention and civil
war, until the mid-nineteenth century.
The reunification of Ethiopia began
with the rule of Emperor Téwodros
(1855-68). He tried to abolish the feudal system and bring the
fidelity of the Ethiopian church under the government. Even though
Tewodros never accomplished his goals, his successors continued to
lead with his precedent.
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Yohannes IV
(Henze
2000, 146) |
Yohannes
IV claimed the Ethiopian throne on 21 January 1872. Yohannes
spent most of his reign establishing his kingdom and opposing
adversaries. Menelik II, who would eventually succeed him, pressured
Yohannes from the south. He battled again the Egyptians from the
north, the Italians from the east and the Mahdist Muslims from the
west.
Menelik II (1844-1913) was the one
monarch who accomplished the dreams Tewodros had for his country.
Menelik took over as king of Ethiopia in 1889 after the death of
Yohannes in the Battle of Matamma. Most European powers in the late
19th century were determined to secure
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Menelik II
(Henze
2000, 146) |
territories in Africa. Italy was
focusing its desires on particularly Ethiopia. The Treaty of
Uccialli was negotiated between Ethiopia and Italy in 1890. Two
copies, one in Amharic and one in Italian, were prepared. On the
Italian version of the treaty, Francesco Crispi, prime minister of
Italy, announced to all European nations that Ethiopia had become a
territory belonging to Italy. On the Amharic version, it gave
Menelik II the right to ask Italy for help in times of need, but it
did not say anything about Ethiopia becoming a territory of Italy.
When Menelik II discovered the misunderstanding, he immediately
wrote to Britain's Queen Victoria, to the ruler of Germany, and to
the president of France insisting that Ethiopia was still an
independent nation. In 1893, Menelik II denounced the treaty and by
1895 Ethiopia and Italy were at war. On March 1896 Menelik's troops
crushed the Italian army at Adwa, Ethiopia. Later, Italy did
recognize Ethiopia as an independent nation.
After Menelik defeated the Italians
at the Battle of Adwa, he expanded Ethiopia by conquest. Turmoil led
to Menelik’s death, which brought his daughter, Empress Zauditu, to
power in 1917. Tafari Makonnen was regent and heir apparent. Upon
Empress Zauditu’s death in 1930, Tafari Makonnen was crowned Haile
Selassie I as he became the 225th successor of the
Solomonic dynasty. The name Haile Selassie means 'the Power of
the Trinity' in Amharic, and his official titles also included 'King
of Kings' and the ‘Lion of Judah.' In 1931, Haile Sellasie decreed
the nation's first written constitution. Through his efforts,
Ethiopia became a member of the international organization called
the League of Nations (now United Nations) in 1932.
In May of 1936 Haile Selassie fled to
England in exile after the Italians invaded his country half a year
ago. Italy had previously controlled Eritrea, Djibouti, and northern
Somaliland and with the addition of Ethiopia, it formed the Italian
East Africa. With the aide of British troops, Haile Selassie was
able to repossess Ethiopia in 1941.
The Provisional Military
Administrative Council, or Derg, under the rule of Lt. Col. Mengistu
Haile Mariam, took hold of the country in 1977. From 1977 to 1991,
this government fought against Eritrea, Somali rebels, and its own
people. Mengistu’s government was uphelded by the Eritrean People’s
Liberation Front in 1991. Eritrea gained its independence from
Ethiopia in 1993. Another war ignited between Ethiopia and Eritrea
in 1998 over a border dispute. The matter has yet to be settled but
fighting has seized for the moment.
Ethiopia, the oldest
independent nation in Africa, has a heritage dating back to first
century AD. Traders from Greece, Rome, Persia and Egypt knew of the
riches of what is now Ethiopia, and by the first century AD, Axum
was the capital of a great Empire . This realm became one of the
first Christian lands of Africa. Late in the 10th Century
, Axum declined and a new Zagwe dynasty, centred what is now
Lalibela, ruled
the land . Axum, Lalibela and
Gonder now provide
our greatest historical legacy. It was in the 16th
Century that the son of the great explorer Vasco Da Gama came to
Ethiopia, but then found a land of many kingdoms and provinces beset
by feuds and War.
Legend has it that Emperor Menelik I, the son of the Queen of Sheba
and king Solomon, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to
Axum, where he settled and established one of the world’s longest
known, uninterrupted monarchical dynasties.
This is only one example of Ethiopia’s magnificent history, which
encompasses legend and tradition, mystery and fact, from a powerful
and religious ancient civilization. The well -trodden path through
Ethiopia’s famous and fascinating historic places takes you through
a scenically magnificent world of fairy -tale names, such as
Lalibela, Gondar, Deber Damo
and Bahar Dar.
Several of Ethiopia's more remote areas are excellent for walking
safaris, which are offered by several good tour operators in the
country. Walking tours, best planned for the dry season, offer the
traveller the opportunity for awe-inspiring vantage points from
which to view many of Ethiopia's natural wonders, cultural riches
and architectural heritage. In Gondar, there are
fairytale castles dating back to the 17th century. In Harar, the
visitor can enjoy the incense-flavored mysteries of narrow alleyways
and towering minarets.
In the 19th
Century the great Emperor Menelik led us towards the modern
state of Ethiopia, and the country's passage to modernization began.
The followings are some of our historical attractions as you
see life begin with us blest from east horn of africa
Ethiopia is governed under the constitution of 1994, which provides
for a president as chief of state and a prime minister as head of
government. The bicameral parliament consists of the 117-seat
Council of the Federation, which represents the ethnic interests of
the regional governments, and the 548-seat Council of People's
Representatives, whose members are popularly elected and who in turn
elect the president. The prime minister is designated by the party
in power following legislative elections.
Ethiopia falls into four main geographic regions from west to
east—the Ethiopian Plateau, the Great Rift Valley, the Somali
Plateau, and the Ogaden Plateau. The Ethiopian Plateau, which is
fringed in the west by the Sudan lowlands (made up of savanna and
forests), includes more than half the country. It is generally 5,000
to 6,000 ft (1,524-1,829 m) high but reaches much loftier heights,
including Ras Dashen (15,158 ft/4,620 m), the highest point in
Ethiopia. The plateau slopes gently from east to west and is cut by
numerous deep valleys. The Blue Nile River (in Ethiopia called the
Abbai or Abbay) flows through the center of the plateau from its
source, Lake Tana, Ethiopia's largest lake. The Great Rift Valley
(which in its entirety runs from SW Asia to E central Africa)
traverses the country from northeast to southwest and contains the
Danakil Desert in the north and several large lakes in the south.
The Somali Plateau is generally not as high as the Ethiopian
Plateau, but in the Mendebo Mts. it attains heights of more than
14,000 ft (4,267 m). The Awash, Ethiopia's only navigable river,
drains the central part of the plateau. The Ogaden Plateau
(1,500-3,000 ft/457-914 m high) is mostly desert but includes the
Webe Shebele, Genale (Jubba), and Dawa rivers.
Ethiopia's population is mainly rural, with most living in
highlands above 5,900 ft (1,800 m). Almost half the people are
Muslim, while over a third belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church;
about 15% practice traditional religions. There are a great number
of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The Amhara and Tigrean, who
together make up about 33% of the people, live mostly in the central
and N Ethiopian Plateau; they are Christian and hold most of the
higher positions in the government. The Oromo ,
who make up about 40% of the country's population, live in S
Ethiopia and are predominantly Muslim. The pastoral Somali, who are
also Muslim, live in E and SE Ethiopia. Until the 1980s a small
group of Jews, known as Beta Israel or Falashas
, lived north of Lake Tana in Gondar. In the midst of famine and
political instability, 10,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted
(1984-85) to Israel, and another 14,000 were airlifted out in 1991.
By the end of 1999 virtually all the Falashas who were practicing
Jews had had been flown to Israel.
Amharic
is the country's official language, but a great many other languages
are spoken, including Tigrinya, Oromo, Somali, and Arabic. A
substantial number of Ethiopians speak English, which is commonly
taught in school. Educational facilities in the nation are very
limited, however, and in the late 1990s adult literacy was estimated
at just over 35%.
Ethiopia is an extremely poor and overwhelmingly agricultural
country, with farm products accounting for over half of the
country's gross domestic product and 90% of its exports (mainly
coffee). Economically, the great majority of the population is
engaged in subsistence farming. The chief farm products are coffee,
teff and other millets, sorghum, barley, wheat, corn, plantains,
peas, potatoes, oilseeds, cotton, and sugarcane. Large numbers of
cattle, sheep, and goats are raised. Because of its degraded lands,
poor cultivation practices, and frequent periods of drought,
Ethiopia is chronically unable to feed its population and has to
rely on massive food imports.
Industry, which is largely state-run, is mostly restricted to
agricultural processing and the manufacture of consumer goods. The
main industrial centers are Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa
, and Nazret. The leading manufactures include processed food,
beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metal products, and cement.
No large-scale mineral deposits have been found in Ethiopia; gold,
platinum, salt, limestone, iron ore, and sulfur are extracted in
small quantities. Foreign investment in the mining sector began in
the 1990s.
Ethiopia has a poor transportation network, with few year-round
roads. The country's one rail line links Addis Ababa and Djibouti;
plans for its revitalization were announced in 1998. The chief ports
serving Ethiopia, which became landlocked with Eritrean
independence, are in other countries: Djibouti
, in the country of Djibouti, and Aseb and Massawa
, in Eritrea.
The annual value of imports into Ethiopia is
usually considerably higher than the value of its exports. The
principal imports are food, petroleum and petroleum products,
machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, and manufactured consumer
goods; the main exports are coffee, hides and skins, oilseeds,
grain, and gold. The leading trade partners are Germany, Saudi
Arabia, Italy, and Japan.
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