Menelik II

Menelik was born on 17 August 1844 as Sahle Maryam, son of Haile Melekot, heir to the kingdom of Shewa in the centre of present-day Ethiopia. The Shewan dynasty claimed descent from the old Solomonic emperors and thereby, according to tradition, from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

In 1855 Emperor Tewodros II, who sought to bring a fragmented Ethiopia back under one authority, conquered Shewa. The young Menelik was taken to Tewodros's court at Magdala, where he received a good upbringing and married a daughter of the emperor. In 1865 he escaped to Shewa and proclaimed himself king.

As king of Shewa and later as emperor, Menelik greatly expanded his territory to the south, east and west, including the lands of the Oromo, Gurage, Sidama, Harar (1887) and Kaffa (1897). His armies were well equipped with firearms acquired through traders and European powers. The conquered territories came under Shewan governors and landholders.

After the death of Emperor Yohannes IV in 1889, Menelik became emperor. That same year he concluded the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy. According to the Amharic text, Ethiopia could communicate with other states through Italy; according to the Italian text it had to, and Italy interpreted the treaty as a protectorate. Menelik renounced the treaty in 1893.

When Italy invaded Ethiopia from Eritrea, Menelik raised a large army. On 1 March 1896 Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian army of General Baratieri at Adwa; thousands died on the Italian side. In the Peace of Addis Ababa of October 1896 Italy recognised Ethiopia's independence. Menelik then worked on modernisation: telegraph, post, schools, a bank and the construction of a railway to Djibouti.

In the late 19th century European powers divided almost all of Africa among themselves, a process given a diplomatic framework at the Berlin Conference (1884–1885). Italy, a young nation-state, sought colonies on the Red Sea and in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, together with Liberia, became the only African state to preserve its independence.

Ethiopia itself was a Christian empire with an Orthodox state church, a powerful nobility and great regional differences. In the same period a devastating famine (1888–1892), worsened by a rinderpest epidemic that killed most of the cattle, struck large parts of the country.

The victory at Adwa prevented the colonisation of Ethiopia until the Italian invasion of 1935–1936. Ethiopia gained international recognition, concluded treaties with European powers and later joined the League of Nations. For Africans and people of African descent worldwide, Adwa became a symbol of resistance to colonialism.

The southward expansion gave Ethiopia roughly its present borders, but it was accompanied by violence, the expropriation of land and forced labour for the subjugated population. Ethiopian and international historians and political movements still disagree about the nature of this expansion, whether as reunification, internal colonisation or something in between.

From 1906 Menelik suffered a series of strokes and became increasingly unable to rule; Empress Taytu and later his grandson Iyasu V took on a greater role. His death in December 1913 was kept secret for some time. He is buried in a mausoleum in Addis Ababa.

The victory at Adwa is commemorated every year in early March as a national holiday, and an equestrian statue of Menelik stands in Addis Ababa. At the same time his figure is contested in Ethiopia, especially among Oromo and other southern communities who emphasise the consequences of his conquests.