Why wasn't Ethiopia colonized by Europeans?

[SeveroDrgnfli]

My friend is from Ethiopia. Today he told me about haile selassie and the history of Ethiopia. It made me quite proud to be black.

He talked about how during the 19th century most of Africa was colonized, but Ethiopia resisted.


I want to know why Ethiopia was able to defend itself and if there were any other African nations or groups that successfully fought off European and Arab colonialism.

 

[satam55]

My friend is from Ethiopia. Today he told me about haile selassie and the history of Ethiopia. It made me quite proud to be black.

He talked about how during the 19th century most of Africa was colonized, but Ethiopia resisted.


I want to know why Ethiopia was able to defend itself and if there were any other African nations or groups that successfully fought off European and Arab colonialism.

Long Story short: The Ethiopians got on code together when the Italians tried to colonize them. Look up Emperor Menelik II of Ethopia.

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

Long Story short: The Ethiopians got on code together when the Italians tried to colonize them. Look up Emperor Menelik II of Ethopia.

Pretty much. Ethiopia had: - Politically unified beginning in the middle of the 19th century
-Gotten access to thousands of guns and cannon via France and Russia
- The geography of the Ethiopian highlands makes it hard to conquer compared to say the littoral of West Africa (post anti-malarial medication) or the Nile Valley.

 

[Poitier]

Ethiopia was a Christian state and had alliances with multiple European countries
Italy was one of the weaker European militaries

Anyone telling you anything different is a liar.

 

[SeveroDrgnfli]

Ethiopia was a Christian state and had alliances with multiple European countries
Italy was one of the weaker European militaries

Anyone telling you anything different is a liar.

Thank you. I did research last night and my friend wasn't completely honest.

I feel bad for Ethiopia, they asked the world for help during the second Italian War and got no help.

 

[satam55]

Thank you. I did research last night and my friend wasn't completely honest.

I feel bad for Ethiopia, they asked the world for help during the second Italian War and got no help.

What's the 2nd italian War?

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

What's the 2nd italian War?

Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s.

 

[JahFocus CS]

Battle of Adwa

 

[satam55]

What's the 2nd italian War?

Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s.

What was the end result of that?

 

[JahFocus CS]

What was the end result of that?

Italy occupied Ethiopia for a few years in the mid-to-late 1930s before WWII caused the liberal democracies to fight Italian forces in East Africa

 

[Apollo Creed]

Thank you. I did research last night and my friend wasn't completely honest.

I feel bad for Ethiopia, they asked the world for help during the second Italian War and got no help.

didn't they lose, but nobody recognized Italys victory and Ethiopia being a Italian colony for that short period? I could be wrong I briefly read about it years back

 

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

didn't they lose, but nobody recognized Italys victory and Ethiopia being a Italian colony for that short period? I could be wrong I briefly read about it years back

Largely correct. Though I'm unsure if 'colony' is the right word to use here. Occupied, like how France was occuped from 1940-1944 may be more appropriate.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Largely correct. Though I'm unsure if 'colony' is the right word to use here. Occupied, like how France was occuped from 1940-1944 may be more appropriate.

yeah Colony may have been the wrong word. I think I read Hitler actually supplied Ethiopia with weapons at one point too. Like I said I read this stuff a while back so I could be mixing stuff up.

 

[SeveroDrgnfli]

didn't they lose, but nobody recognized Italys victory and Ethiopia being a Italian colony for that short period? I could be wrong I briefly read about it years back

Ethiopia lost. They didn't have the technology to compete with Italy. Selassie went into exil somewhere in Europe and Italy occupied Ethiopia for two years.

Ethiopian rebels eventually chased the Italians out and Selassie returned to power.

I don't think Italy's "victory" was recognized internationally, though the war was heavily covered by international news out-lets.

What puzzles me is that Ethiopia was left high and dry by the League of Nations. Selassie traveled to over 100 countries and none helped him defend Ethiopia. He was supposedly "embraced" by world leaders.

He said to the LON, "it's we today and you tomorrow." He was correct, Hitler ran through Europe.

What Italy did was disgusting. Selassie built schools, farms, and modernized rural towns. The Italians attacked non military targets and killed people to scare them.

Selassie at the time of the second war between Italy and Ethiopia had invested six years into educating Ethiopian children and a lot of them were murdered or their schools were destroyed.

 

[SeveroDrgnfli]

What's the 2nd italian War?

From Wikipedia: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a colonial war that started in October 1935, after a battle on 5 December 1934, and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia.