Menelik II's conquests

Menelik II's conquests

The cover of French magazine Le Petit Journal, depicting attacks on Harar region
Date1878–1904
Location
Present-day Ethiopia
Result Shewan-Ethiopian victory
Belligerents

Armed by:

Commanders and leaders
Ethiopian Empire Menelik II
Ethiopian Empire Ras Gobana Dacche
Ethiopian Empire Habte Giyorgis Dinagde
Ethiopian Empire Darge Sahle Selassie
Ethiopian EmpireTessema Nadew
Ethiopian Empire Welde Giyorgis Aboye
Ethiopian Empire Ras Makonnen		 Amir Abdullahi II
Gaki Sherocho
Kawo Tona Gaga
Hassan Enjamo
Mohammed Hassan and others...
Casualties and losses
est. 6 million deaths[3]

Menelik II's conquests, also known as the Agar Maqnat (Amharic: አገር ማቅናት, romanized: ʾägär maqnat, lit. 'Colonization, Cultivation and Christianization of Land'),[4] were a series of expansionist wars and conquests carried out by Emperor Menelik II of Shewa to expand the Ethiopian Empire.[5]

In 1866 Menelik II became the king of Shewa, and in 1878 began a series of wars to conquer land for the Ethiopian Empire and to increase Shewan supremacy within Ethiopia.[6] This was carried out predominantly with soldiers from the Amhara people of Shewa.[7] Menelik is viewed as the founder of modern Ethiopia as a result of the expansion,[8][9] although it is viewed by many historians as constituting genocide due to the massive loss of life and extreme violence involved.[10][11][12][13]

  1. ^ Penrose, Ernest (12 November 2012). European Imperialism and the Partition of Africa. Taylor & Francis. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-136-27676-7.
  2. ^ Sheik-Abdi, Abdi (1977). "Somali Nationalism: Its Origins and Future". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 15 (4): 657–665. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00002299. ISSN 1469-7777.
  3. ^ Gemeda, Eshete (2012). African Egalitarian Values and Indigenous Genres: A Comparative Approach to the Functional and Contextual Studies of Oromo National Literature in a Contemporary Perspective. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 186. ISBN 978-3-643-90233-7.
  4. ^ Tibebu, Teshale (1995). The Making of Modern Ethiopia 1896–1974. Red Sea Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-56902-001-2.
  5. ^ Bereketeab, Redie (28 March 2023). Historical Sociology of State Formation in the Horn of Africa. Springer International Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 9783031241628.
  6. ^ The Making of Modern Ethiopia: 1896-1974. The Red Sea Press. 1995. ISBN 9781569020012.
  7. ^ Lewis 1983, pp. 15–16.
  8. ^ Selassie, Tsehai Brhane (1975). "The question of Damot and Wälamo". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 13 (1): 37–46. JSTOR 41965880.
  9. ^ Richard Pankhurst The Ethiopian Borderlands: Essays in Regional History from Ancient Times to the End of the 18th Century – Google Books", 1997. p. 284.
  10. ^ Mekuria Bulcha (2004-04-02). "Genocidal Violence in the Making of Nation and State in Ethiopia". African Sociological Review. 9 (2): 1–54. doi:10.4314/asr.v9i2.23257. ISSN 1027-4332.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Hassen, Mohammed (2022-01-02). "Genocidal Conquest, Plunder of Resources and Dehumanization of the Oromo in Ethiopia". Journal of Genocide Research. 24 (1): 109–118. doi:10.1080/14623528.2021.1992925. ISSN 1462-3528.
  13. ^ Bearak, Max. "'A place of ghosts:' Ethiopia opens controversial palace to a divided public". The Washington Post.