Menelik II

Early life

Menelik was born Sahle Mariam on 17 August 1844 at Ankober in Shewa (Shoa), the son of the Shewan ruler Haile Malakot. When Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) took Shewa in 1856, the boy was held as Tewodros's ward at the mountain fortress of Magdala. In 1865, as Shewan nobles rose against imperial control, he escaped at night and returned to Ankober. He was soon firmly in control as king of Shewa.

Road to the throne

As king of Shewa, Menelik built up his own power. When Emperor Yohannes IV died of wounds from battle in 1889, the throne passed to Menelik. He was crowned King of Kings on 3 November 1889 at Entoto Mariam Church. In 1887 he had founded Addis Ababa as a military garrison. It became the permanent capital and ended the old practice of moving royal camps.

Wuchale and Adwa

In May 1889 Menelik signed the Treaty of Wuchale (Wichale, or Uccialli) with Italy. Article 17 differed between the two texts. Italy read its Italian version as making Ethiopia a protectorate. The Amharic text, which had equal standing, did not. The historian Sven Rubenson argued that the Italian negotiator Antonelli produced the gap, and that the protectorate claim therefore had no validity. Menelik rejected Italian "protection," diplomacy failed, and Italy invaded.

On 1 March 1896 Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian army at Adwa. The Library of Congress notes the strategic role of Empress Taytu, Menelik's wife. She warned him about Italian intentions and helped control water sources during the campaign. Italian prisoners were released in stages from November 1896, and Italy recognised Ethiopia's independence. Adwa is still celebrated every March in Ethiopia.

Expansion and reform

Menelik pushed the empire's frontiers far to the south, west and east, roughly tripling its territory by the end of his reign. The new lands included Oromo country and kingdoms such as Kaffa, Sidama and Wolayta. At home he introduced the telegraph and planted eucalyptus around the capital. Work also began on a railway linking Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti.

Final years

Menelik grew frail in his last years. In 1909 government passed to a regency in the name of his grandson, Lij Iyasu. He died in Addis Ababa on 12 December 1913.

A contested legacy

Menelik's legacy is read in sharply different ways. For many Ethiopians and Africans, Adwa makes him a hero of African independence, the ruler who kept a European power from conquering his country. Mebratu Kelecha, writing for the LSE's Africa blog, notes, however, that the southern expansion involved the brutal conquest of other communities, including the Oromo. Ethiopian nationalists see Menelik's statue as a symbol of unification and anticolonial struggle. Ethno-nationalist movements see it instead as a reminder of crimes against their peoples.