Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The victory preserved Ethiopian independence for another 40 years, until Mussolini's war of revenge for Adowa in 1936." [1001 Days]
During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, Ethiopia was one of two nations to retain its sovereignty from long-term colonialism by a European colonial power. Many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colors. The country was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia (part of the Italian East Africa) until it was liberated during World War II. Ethiopia was also the first independent member from Africa of the 20th-century League of Nations and the United Nations. In 1974, the Ethiopian monarchy under Haile Selassie was overthrown by the Derg, a communist military government backed by the Soviet Union. In 1987, the Derg established the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, but it was overthrown in 1991 by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has been the ruling political coalition since. . . . Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups . . . In the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia experienced civil conflicts and communist purges, which hindered its economy. The country has since recovered and now has the largest economy (by GDP) in East Africa, having the largest population in the region." [Wikipedia]
"Adwa is a market town and separate woreda in northern Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the decisive Battle of Adowa fought in 1896 with Italian troops. Notably, Ethiopian soldiers won the battle, thus being the only African nation to thwart European colonialism." [Wikipedia]
"The only non-European state which successfully resisted formal colonial conquest when this was attempted was Ethiopia, which held Italy at bay, the weakest of the imperial states." [Hobsbawm: Empire, p. 57]
"In 1896, when the Italians, with 10,000 European troops, invaded Ethiopia from their coastal enclave at Massawa on the Red Sea, they were routed by the emperor, Menelik. The Italians were thus forced to confine themselves to occupying Eritrea. Forty years later, however, the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, took revenge." [The Fate of Africa (p. 4-5]
"Remarkably for a landlocked country with the lowest road density in Subsaharan Africa, Ethiopia has become a major exporter of shoes and clothing in addition to its traditional export base of livestock and coffee. Ethiopia relies extensively on Djibouti’s port complex since it fought an unsuccessful war to keep neighboring Eritrea from breaking away in 1993 (it has longstanding political tensions with its other neighbor, Somalia). Adis Abeba since 2105 has been connected to Djibouti by an upgraded rail link, financed and built by China. By rail, goods can now be transported from Adis to Djibouti in 10 hours versus two days via road. Both countries are benefiting from increased trade, and Djibouti has geopolitical ambitions to become the African Horn’s main trading hub. Ethiopia has experienced phenomenal economic growth (annualized near 10 percent for a decade). The economy is overseen by an authoritarian regime that restricts press freedom, but a generation of returnees and strong financial backing from China has produced greater economic diversification and the rise of a major shoe and garment export manufacturing sector. Ethiopia now is a state that combines economic development and authoritarianism as it emerges from its past communist ties of the 1960s and early 1970s. With the relocation of much of China’s footwear and apparel production to Adis Abeba, the country has become a leading exporter, particularly of women’s shoes. Granted that Ethiopian workers are not as productive as Chinese workers, but this country’s labor rates are among the lowest globally (U.S. $60 per month with no minimum wage laws versus $629 in China). Moreover, a reliable energy grid and the low price of electrical power are added incentives for manufacturers. And the Chinese work ethic is also being transferred into Ethiopian factories—including banners with slogans that exhort maximum labor output (see photo)." [Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, 17th Edition, p. 310]
"No other African leader during the independence era was revered so widely as Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. His defiant stand against Mussolini’s brutal invasion in the 1930s had won him worldwide fame. Restored to his throne in the 1940s, he stood as the symbol of an independent Africa that nationalist leaders living under colonial rule all aspired to achieve. His position as monarch of a state that traced its origins back to biblical times, that possessed a national Christian church with a tradition older than that of many European churches, as well as an ancient liturgical language and a sacred literature, all served to endow him with immense prestige. Adding to the awe in which he was held was a mystique about the monarchy that was carefully preserved. According to the Ethiopian constitution, the emperor was descended directly from the marriage of Solomon and Sheba, and among the titles with which he was graced was that of ‘Elect of God’. His divine right to rule was devoutly upheld by the Orthodox Church through its multitude of monasteries, churches and priests. . . . What helped to sustain his power was the considerable extent to which the emperor, together with the Coptic Church and influential aristocratic families in the provinces, owned and controlled land and thereby the livelihood of millions of peasants who worked it. About three-quarters of Ethiopia’s peasant farmers were tenants. . . . Tenants lived in perpetual fear of eviction. A diminutive figure, outwardly mild-mannered, Haile Selassie was ruthless not only in crushing opposition to his rule in the further reaches of the empire but in extending its boundaries. The inner core of the empire consisted of the mountains and plateaux of central Ethiopia populated by Amharas and Tigrayans bound together by ancient ties of history and religion. But the outer regions had been added by conquest during Emperor Menelik’s reign at the end of the nineteenth century. At the same time that European powers were engaged in their Scramble for Africa, Menelik extended Ethiopian rule over Oromo territory to the south and Somali territory to the south-east, notably the Ogaden plateau, doubling the size of the empire. In 1887 one of Menelik’s most able generals, Ras Makonnen, occupied the ancient Muslim city of Harar. It was there, five years later, that Makonnen’s son, Ras Tafari, was born. Ethiopia’s claims to the Ogaden and to Oromo territory were subsequently recognised in treaties with Britain and Italy. But this southern part of the empire, threatened by Oromo and Somali dissidents, was never fully secure. Haile Selassie’s authority there was maintained only with the help of the army. The opportunity for Haile Selassie to expand the empire further came during the 1950s when the future of Eritrea, given to the United Nations to decide, came under discussion. The opportunity for Haile Selassie to expand the empire further came during the 1950s when the future of Eritrea, given to the United Nations to decide, came under discussion. [The Fate of Africa, p. 206-8]