The African Army That Defeated an Empire at Adwa

On March 1, 1896, an Italian army advancing near Adwa encountered a force it had badly underestimated. Ethiopian troops under Emperor Menelik II defeated the invaders and forced Italy to confront a result that colonial ambition had not anticipated. Ethiopia would not become an Italian protectorate. In an era when European powers were dividing much of Africa among themselves, an African state had defended its sovereignty on the battlefield.

The confrontation grew out of diplomacy as well as military expansion. Italy had established itself in Eritrea and sought a larger position in the region. The disputed Treaty of Wuchale became a focal point: the Italian and Amharic versions differed over Ethiopia’s relationship with Italy in foreign affairs. What Italy interpreted as a basis for a protectorate, Menelik rejected. A disagreement over treaty language was therefore also a struggle over whether Ethiopia could speak for itself internationally.