|
|
Ethiopia |
This country is unique in Africa due to it's history of fending off multiple foreign invasions. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in the early 1500s in where the Somalians and their Ottoman allies attempted to invade Ethiopia, which was known as Abyssinia at the time. The Somalians/Ottomans made large gains but were ultimately defeated when the Ethiopians received assistance from the Portuguese. Another important war took place in the 1870s. The Pasha of Egypt wanted to expand his kingdom and sent an army of 30,000 soldiers to invade Abyssinia. However the Ethiopians were able to put together an army with some 60,000 soldiers and destroyed the Egyptians. This defeat was kept a secret from the Egyptian public and the Pasha sent another army to conquer Ethiopia but suffered another crushing loss. Another enemy Ethiopia faced was the Mahdist state which had just defeated British and Egyptian colonial forces. The Mahdist state was strictly Islamic and viewed Ethiopia as an enemy and invaded parts of it, burning Ethiopian churches in the process. The Ethiopian ruler put together an army of 150,000 soldiers. The Ethiopians invaded the Mahdist state and destroyed much of the Mahdist army until the Ethiopian ruler was killed in battle. This ruined the moral of the Ethiopian soldiers and they retreated but the Mahdist military was seriously damaged and would go into decline. This is one of the few cases in the colonial era in where an African country had enough military power to invade another sovereign nation. However Ethiopia's most lethal enemy was Italy. In the 1800s the European colonial powers were carving up all of Africa in what became known as the Scramble for Africa. Belgium, France, Germany, Britain, Spain and Portugal were the main colonizers in this continental invasion but Italy was a relative new comer and wanted a piece of the pie. Italy ended up conquering Somalia in the 1880s but wanted more. Italy had tried to get Ethiopia to sign a treaty that would basically place Ethiopia under Italian control. Ethiopia rejected the treaty and a war broke out. Italy had just took Somalia and thought that it could take Ethiopia easily. This arrogance proved to be Italy's downfall. In 1896, without really preparing properly, Italy just sent an army of 17,000 troops to invade Ethiopia. Meanwhile Ethiopia had unified itself and put together an army of 100,000 troops armed with better guns and artillery than the Italians. In the end 6,394 Italian soldiers were slain, 1,428 wounded and 3,000 captured. Ethiopia had defeated Italy and secured its independence.
Ethiopia's history however goes back much farther than this. There was a time when Ethiopia became a superpower known as the empire of Aksum. It was formed in 100 AD and would prosper until 940 AD. During the height of its power it had conquered parts of Arabia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti. An Iranian prophet named Mani described it as one of the four great powers of the world at the time next to China, Rome and Persia. It was well respected across the planet and traded with countries as far away as India. It had some of the most beautiful if not most beautiful architecture on the African continent and it is estimated that 95% of Aksum remains unexplored. The stone obelisk of Aksum stands 79 feet tall and weighs an estimated 160 tons while the Great Stele stood some 108 feet tall before it collapsed. The military consisted of donkeys, camels, elephants and up to 100,000 soldiers that used iron spears. The navy protected the Red Sea and sailed to India and perhaps as far away as China. Another significant fact is that Axum was the only African civilization to develop it's own written language. Axum would however start to decline due to the rise of Islam and droughts. One significant fact that many people don't know is that the Prophet Muhammad sent his followers to Ethiopia for protection while the turmoil in Mecca calmed down.
Ethiopia's history however goes back much farther than this. There was a time when Ethiopia became a superpower known as the empire of Aksum. It was formed in 100 AD and would prosper until 940 AD. During the height of its power it had conquered parts of Arabia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti. An Iranian prophet named Mani described it as one of the four great powers of the world at the time next to China, Rome and Persia. It was well respected across the planet and traded with countries as far away as India. It had some of the most beautiful if not most beautiful architecture on the African continent and it is estimated that 95% of Aksum remains unexplored. The stone obelisk of Aksum stands 79 feet tall and weighs an estimated 160 tons while the Great Stele stood some 108 feet tall before it collapsed. The military consisted of donkeys, camels, elephants and up to 100,000 soldiers that used iron spears. The navy protected the Red Sea and sailed to India and perhaps as far away as China. Another significant fact is that Axum was the only African civilization to develop it's own written language. Axum would however start to decline due to the rise of Islam and droughts. One significant fact that many people don't know is that the Prophet Muhammad sent his followers to Ethiopia for protection while the turmoil in Mecca calmed down.
