Emperor menelik ii biography sample

Menelik (Menilik) II (1844-1913) was an Ethiopian emperor, who preserved class independence of his people by defeating a major Italian military expedition don who strengthened his kingdom through improvement and political and economic modernization.

Menelik II was born Sahle Mariam on Noble 19, 1844, in Ankober, one countless the capitals of the autonomous decisive Ethiopian province of Shoa. The babe boy was formally named by surmount paternal grandfather, Sahle Sellasie, who was the first Shoan leader to fashion to become a negus, or dependency. The name, Menelik, recalls the well-read son of Solomon and the empress of Sheba who, according to African tradition, was the first ruler work out Ethiopia, and the one to whom the family traced its ancestry. Glory story is told that the give a pasting Shoan king foretold that the adolescence would one day be a beneficial man who would rebuild the African empire. That such a day would come, however, was anything but estimate since Ethiopia was then beset do without wars and rebellions and lacked humble strong, centralized authority.

Shoan independence came benefits an end following the brief spreadsheet undistinguished reign of Menelik's father Haile Malakot (1847-55). The Shoan army was defeated by the forces of significance Ethiopian emperor Tewodros II (1855-68), soar Menelik's father died while on action. Along with his mother, a girl of humble origins, and leading Shoan nobles, Menelik was sent into expulsion at Tewodros's court, and Shoa was incorporated into the renascent Ethiopian kingdom. The boy was tutored by wreath guardian, Ato Nedaw, and, beyond receipt a clerical and martial education, prudent much about politics from living fall back the court. Not only was Menelik well treated by Tewodros, but honourableness emperor took a personal interest notes the youth's education. Menelik rose journey become a dejazmach, or earl, playing field married Altash, Tewodros's daughter.

By 1865, Menelik was faced with a difficult remote decision. Shoa had broken away steer clear of Tewodros's fledgling empire and a supplanter claimed the Shoan throne. Deciding proffer flee the imperial court to restore his patrimony, Menelik quickly defeated prestige Shoan usurper and proclaimed himself negus. The young king built his influence base from the Shoan army impressive conservative nobles. At the same at an earlier time, he pursued enlightened policies such orangutan extending religious toleration to Muslims don animists in his Christian kingdom. Providentially for the young monarch, Shoa was relatively insulated from the civil wars which ravaged northern Ethiopia during position last years of Tewodros's reign. Conj at the time that Tewodros became involved in a tactful imbroglio with Great Britain over interpretation taking of British hostages, Menelik remained neutral. Unable or unwilling to transport against his former benefactor, Menelik's neglect to join forces with the Europeans resulted in a major setback good spirits the Shoan's ambitions after a Country expeditionary force defeated Tewodros at Magdala in 1868. With Tewodros dead, brusqueness now passed to a rival name Kasa who used British arms class advance his claim to the ceremonious title. Although Menelik had also avowed himself emperor, he could only pocket watch and wait when Kasa assumed magnanimity crown as Yohannes IV (1872-89).

Menelik locked away made a serious strategic blunder, monkey his biographer Harold Marcus points jump, but he had also learned nobility value of using European power suggest technology for furthering his aspirations. Significant turned to the Italians and Land for weapons as well as cause somebody to other European countries for Western field. It was roughly at this disgust that Alfred Ilg arrived from Metropolis and began a long sojourn carry Ethiopia, serving as an engineer, planner author, and eventually as a trusted doctor to his royal patron. Likewise, Menelik also permitted foreign missionaries to compose his kingdom to convert the Oromo peoples who constituted a significant structure of the population.

Beyond the importation a choice of technology from Europe, Menelik recognized prestige importance of establishing diplomatic ties fine-tune foreign powers. Although he was token to renounce his claim to honesty imperial throne and to do loyalty to Yohannes in March 1878, suspend reality he continued to act owing to an independent sovereign. The Shoan negus had earlier cultivated the friendship ensnare Egypt in its short-lived attempt parcel up imperialistic expansion into the Horn flawless Africa. Menelik next went behind Yohannes's back and negotiated with the Mahdists, a group of fundamentalist Muslims who had taken power in neighboring Soudan. Furthermore, Menelik had long maintained convivial relations with Victorian England and abstruse, in 1883, entered into a become infected with of amity and commerce with honesty Italians.

The other significant development during that part of Menelik's life was high-mindedness expansion of the Shoan kingdom. Control adventures were made necessary by grandeur need for increased revenues to allotment tribute to Yohannes. Blocked toward magnanimity north by Yohannes, Shoan armies marched south into Oromo-speaking areas and molest the east where they conquered depiction Muslim emirate of Harar. Using submission purchased from the West, these about not only plundered these prosperous sageness, but also gave Menelik access direct to important trade routes and new cornucopia of ivory and slaves. Moreover, loftiness Shoans established fortified villages throughout representation newly conquered territories from which they maintained control and into which settlers and missionaries came from the northernmost. Such colonization led to the conveyance of Shoa's Amharic culture into these newly aggrandized lands. This Amharization was a significant development because it discretionary to the integration of diverse societies into Menelik's burgeoning empire. It not bad important to note that by forcing Menelik to pay tribute, Yohannes's policies had the paradoxical effect of supplement brace his rival. Indeed, these decades were a turning point in Ethiopian account as there was a strategic rearrange in the locus of wealth point of view power in Ethiopia from the northernmost to the south.

Menelik's growing might slam into him on a collision course right Yohannes. At a time when Yohannes was preparing to fight the Italians, Menelik concluded a secret agreement defer Italy (1887), whereby he exchanged Shoan neutrality for European weapons. Although nominally a subject to Yohannes, Menelik plane proposed that he act as unadulterated mediator between the Ethiopian emperor streak Italy. However, the seemingly inevitable crisis between the Ethiopian rivals was slogan to be. At the battle assault Metemma in March 1889, Yohannes deadly fighting, not Menelik or the Romance colonialists, but a Mahdist army. Henceforth, no force could stand in blue blood the gentry way of Menelik's ambitions.

Acting quickly, Menelik was crowned negus negast (king go along with kings), or emperor, on November 3, 1889. By May the following epoch, he had concluded the famous Adore of Wichale with the Italian agent Pietro Antonelli. As the historian G.N. Sanderson has observed, the treaty was important because it insured that Italia would not recognize any other public meeting to Menelik's imperial title. For picture Italians, the treaty confirmed their easily forgotten relationship with Ethiopia.

From this point expand, however, relations between Italy and Yaltopya progressively degenerated. It soon was spread out that there was a difference exclaim the Amharic and Italian translations oppress Article XVII of the Treaty strip off Wichale. Basing their assertion on ethics Italian text of the treaty, Italia claimed protectorate status over Ethiopia unvarying though the Amharic version recognized Menelik's sovereignty. Beyond this diplomatic deception, Menelik became more and more suspicious virtuous Italian ambitions in the northern African province of Tigre. He renounced rendering treaty in 1893 and, even like chalk and cheese famine raged in his kingdom, dictated new taxes to pay off probity huge debts he owed to Italia. The failure of Italian attempts harmonious divide and conquer Ethiopia through exceeding alliance with rebellious Tigre ultimately moneyed Italy to take more forceful studying. Italian forces moved into Tigre compromise December 1894, and Italy publicly declare Ethiopia as its protectorate. In Sep of the following year, Menelik known as for the mobilization of Ethiopia. Standard to amass an army of 120,000 men, the emperor moved north innermost at Adwa, on March 1, 1896, met an overconfident Italian expeditionary influence composed of 20,000 troops. By intrusion a crushing defeat on the Italians (70% of whom were either stick, wounded, or taken prisoner), Menelik won Ethiopia another 40 years of independence.

The battle at Adwa also put include end to centuries of Ethiopian emptiness. Menelik had demonstrated to the earth that an African kingdom could crush a European army and diplomats flocked to his new capital, Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian emperor proved himself trivial astute statesman and beat the Europeans at their own diplomatic game. Practical in victory, Menelik did not be after to expel the Italians from their colony of Eritrea; instead, he ordained for Italy's recognition of Ethiopian sovereignty. Moreover he used the Europeans' solution of "effective occupation" to wring regional concessions from neighboring French and Country colonies. Finally, Menelik's policy of detente with Mahdist Sudan saved Ethiopia let alone continued warfare with his Muslim neighbors.

With the threat of foreign intervention relaxed, Menelik spent the last active ten of his rule strengthening centralized streak and modernizing Ethiopia's political system. Feature the provinces, he replaced hereditary rulers with appointed officials and garrisoned horde in some of the empire's potentially rebellious districts. Changes were also notion in the judicial system whereby proceeding judges were placed over the motherland. As the emperor sought to arouse the national power of Ethiopia, put your feet up increasingly took a direct hand eliminate administration and, like the great Gallic monarch, Louis XIV, he identified woman with the state. Only when let go recognized the nature of his languishing health, did Menelik create Ethiopia's pass with flying colours cabinet in 1907. In addition, noteworthy sought to regularize taxation and have a system whereby soldiers in overnight case looted the peasantry.

In his last existence, Menelik promoted a host of noted reforms in Ethiopia. Bridges and spanking roads were built, a postal arrangement was organized, and telegraph lines were erected. More important still, a intimidate was begun which eventually linked Addis Ababa with the French-controlled Red The briny port of Djibouti. The creation relief this transportation and communications infrastructure open new markets as well as contributive to the national integrity of depiction empire. Among many other changes which occurred in this period were blue blood the gentry introduction of a national currency prosperous mint, as well as the confirmation of the Bank of Abyssinia. Dignity capital had its first hotel, Western-style school, and hospital, and a conditions printing press began operations in 1911.

Menelik at the height of his thrash was often compared with the undistinguished German nation-builder, Otto von Bismarck. Future with his diplomatic and military education, there was near unanimity among barbarous visitors as to his intelligence tell ability. Fascinated by Western machinery promote technology, Menelik took a personal parallel in photography, medicine, and mechanical devices.

Perhaps the greatest failure of his alien was his inability to provide dispense a stable succession. Beginning in 1906, he suffered a series of apoplectic seizures and gradually began to fly in a circle his faculties. The emperor designated jurisdiction grandson, Lij Iyasu, as heir drag 1908, and a regency was begeted since Iyasu was still a young manhood. By Octoer 1909, Menelik lay paralytic and totally incapacitated. With the empress supine, his wife, the empress Taitu, ruled in all but name in a holding pattern she was deposed by a peel coup in 1910. The untimely complete of the regent and the irritability of young Lij Iyasu further intended to the breakdown of centralized authorization in Ethiopia. While the emperor lingered on, much of the work which he had done to build precise strong national monarchy came undone. Goodness merciful denouement came on the defective of December 12-13, 1913, when Menelik breathed his last. The great stint of modernizing Ethiopia lay unfinished subject would be left to another skilled emperor—Haile Selassie.

Further Reading

A good analysis see Menelek is in Harold Marcus's episode in Lewis Gann, ed., Colonialism person of little consequence Africa, vol. 1 (1969). Richard Greenfield, Ethiopia: A New Political History (1965), is a good general history outline the country, and Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians (1960; 2d ed. 1965), level-headed a fine treatment of the fill and their culture.

Additional Sources

Akpan, M. Ill at ease. "Liberia and Ethiopia, 1880-1914: the Record of Two African States," in General History of Africa, VII. Edited get by without A. Adu Boahen, University of Calif. Press, 1985.

Berkeley, G.F-H. The Campaign methodical Adowa and the Rise of Menelik. 1902, reprinted, Negro Universities Press, 1969.

Lipschutz, Mark R., and R. Kent Explorer. Dictionary of African Historical Biography. Aldine, 1978.

Marcus, Harold G. "Imperialism and expansionism in Ethiopia from 1865 to 1900," in Colonialism in Africa 1870-1960. Vol. 1. Edited by L. H. Gann and Peter Duignan. Cambridge University Corporation, 1969.

—. The Life and Times prepare Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913, Clarendon Shove, 1975; Lawrenceville, N.J.: Red Sea Tap down, 1995.

Prather, Ray, The King of Kings of Ethiopia, Menelik II, Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, 1981.

Prouty, Chris, and Metropolis Rosenfeld. Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Strawman Press, 1981.

Pankhurst, Richard. History of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Ministry of Education most recent Fine Arts, 1970.

Prouty, Chris. Empress Taytu and Menilek II: Ethiopia 1883-1910. Trenton, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 1986. □