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124th
Anniversary of the Ethiopian Victory at Adwa: some
misconceptions that should be rectified
Ghelawdewos
Araia, PhD
February 28, 2020
Adwa
is a constant reminder of the resounding victory
of Ethiopians over the invading forces of Italy,
but it is not only a remarkable milestone in
Ethiopian history and an historic dignity and
pride of Ethiopians, but also a great inspiration
and an awakening spirit to all African colonized
nations and the Black Diaspora as well. In just
four years after the victory of Adwa, the
pan-African movement had begun in earnest. In
point of fact, Henry Sylvester Williams, a
Trinidadian barrister, called upon the first
pan-African conference in 1900 in London. He was
assisted by two other brilliant pan-Africanists,
George Padmore and CLR James, who were very
influential in the pan-African agenda that was
aimed at liberating the whole African continent.
Soon
after the first pan-African conference, the trio
Trinidadian pan-Africanists were joined by other
giant pan-Africanists such as WEB Dubois (USA) and
Marcus Garvey (Jamaica), who also in their own way
organized respective and successive pan-African
congresses, on top of their individual
organizations, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, Dubois) and
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA,
Garvey).
The
above mentioned pan-Africanists, in turn, produced
young pan-African politicians such as Kwame
Nkrumah (Ghana), Ladipo Solanke (Nigeria), Duse
Mohammed (Sudan), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and many
other Africans who valiantly fought for African
independence. Incidentally, George Padmore and WEB
Dubois became close associates and advisors to
Kwame Nkrumah, and Dubois lived to witness the
independence of Ghana and as per his wish he ended
up in Ghana and when he died he was buried in
Ghana.
On
the cultural front or the cultural dimension of
pan-Africanism, two poets and politicians who
contributed immensely to the independence of
Africa, and more so to the liberation of the
African mind from the yoke of colonial
indoctrination, are Aime Cesaire (Martinique) and
Leopold Sedar Senghor (Senegal); these political
personas elevated the political consciousness of
Africans in the continent and the Diaspora via
Negritude, that is, African personality and pride.
Ultimately
the spirit of Adwa culminated in the first
all-Africa conference of independent African
nations (only eight at the time) that was held in
Accra, Ghana in 1958 and presided over by Nkrumah;
the pan-African movement further culminated in the
establishment of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU), whose charter was signed by 31 African
nations (minus Togo, because Sylvanus Olympio, who
could have represented Togo, was assassinated) in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was hosted by Emperor
Haile Selassie.
For
six and half solid decades, thus, the African
leaders in Africa and the Diaspora waged
relentless struggle against colonial subjugation
and European imperial domination, but the one
great victory at Adwa was shrouded in mystery due
to lack of knowledge of Adwa both by Ethiopians
and foreigners, and hence I offer rectification to
the misconceptions as explained below
Misconceptions
regarding the Battle of Adwa and the Victory of
Ethiopians:
1.
Some historians and observers think that
Adwa was the first victory of Ethiopians over a
foreign enemy. To begin with, Adwa was the
culmination of two other victories over the
Italians, one at the Battle of Amba Alage and the
other during the siege of Mekelle over Italian
forces; and most importantly, before Adwa,
Ethiopians had scored two victories over the
Italians at Sahati and Dogali (near Massawa), led
by Ras Alula and Emperor Yohannes in 1885 and 1887
respectively, not to mention the defeat of Ottoman
Egyptian forces at Gura’e and Gundet in 1875 and
1876 respectively by Emperor Yohannes.
2.
Some historians thought that Ethiopians
defeated the Italians by their sheer number
because the 120 thousand Ethiopian troops
overwhelmed the 17,700 Italian ground forces, but
this rational is untenable because it is firearms
and not the number of fighting forces that decide
the outcome in conventional wars.
3.
Some Ethiopians and foreign nationals
thought that Ethiopians won the day at the Battle
of Adwa miraculously because they fought with
spears and shields. This misconception reflects a
tragic historical error and is contrary to the
historical fact embedded in Adwa itself;
Ethiopians, on the contrary, fought with guns and
advanced artillery and canons. Three years before
Adwa, Emperor Menelik had purchased thousands of
guns, including Remington and Winchester guns made
in the US; he also acquired Hotchkiss guns that
had longer range than the Italian artillery, and
due to this distinct military advantage, the
Ethiopians managed to route the Italians and
capture 11,000 of their guns and artillery.
Moreover, Menelik possessed close to one million
cartridges in his magazine, and all other
commanders, the Rases and Dejazmachs (see below
for definition) were well armed too.
4.
Some observers believed that Ethiopian
fighting forces were not trained in military
academies and they were ill-organized; there is
some truth to this: Ethiopia had no military
academy during the Battle of Adwa, but its
fighting forces were well-organized under the
aristocratic-feudal military hierarchy, ranging
from the commander-in-chief of the armies (Negus
or king) to the Ras (just below the king), and the
Dejazmach (commander of the Gate), Kegnazmach
(commander of the right flank), Grazmach
(commander of the left flank), Fitewarari
(commander of the vanguard), and at the very
bottom is the Balambaras, coordinating the
movements of the rank-and-file.
For
further reading on the Ethiopian victory at Adwa,
please make reference to the following title and
read it by opening the link: The
Ethiopian Victory at Adwa: Meanings for Africans
and People of African Descent in the Diaspora: www.africanidea.org/ethiopian_victory.html
All Rights Reserved. copyright © IDEA, 2020 www.africanidea.org/ethiopian_victory.html
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