Ethiopia Silver Menelik II of Ethiopia ( 1844 -1913)

The military history of Ethiopia in New and Modern times is a song !!! If the question is "why can't a sarissophore be given a shotgun?" during discussions on ordinary military history forums, it causes the desire of the sane majority to throw slippers around the questioner, in the case of Ethiopia this is not just the correct type of question, but also the most common one - arming warriors with melee weapons and rifles, bows and machine guns, etc. - all the time. To begin with, I want to propose topics on the wars of Ethiopia in the 19th century. - Ethiopian feudal lords tried to expand their possessions, fought with the Mahdist "dervishes" in alliance with England, with Arabs of all stripes, with Negro tribes, with the British themselves and, finally, against the Italians, having achieved a resounding success in the Battle of Adua. In terms of the composition of the uncomposed, this theme is even more abruptly than the wars of China, Korea and Vietnam in the 19th century. - the purest water feudal troops with a minimum of equipment (nevertheless, by 1894, China h Ethiopia Silver Menelik II of Ethiopia ( 1844 -1913) ad a telegraph, and railway, and battleships), but sufficiently combat-ready (albeit in certain situations). Attached is an image of the Battle of Dogali (1887), when a detachment of Ras Alulu destroyed a battalion of Italian infantry (in their honor, the "Piazza Five Hundred" is named in Rome): In general - the classic of the genre, so beloved by the "Ormean beacon of history" - many, many relatively weakly armed units (saber, shield, spear, naked to the waist) attack the enemy from all sides, giving no chance to reload the rifle, and cut them out in hand-to-hand combat. The prisoners were castrated, the genitals of those killed were cut off as proof of victory over the enemy (there was a bragging ritual - “I am zarraf!” (That is, I killed the enemy!) Among the soldiers). Yes, only usually the enemies who were heroically killed by the Ethiopians were about as many as the Italians in that battalion at Dogali - 500-1500 people. And Ethiopians - 5-7 thousand. At Adua, great forces came together - approx. 20 thousand Italians and their native allies (2: 1 ratio) versus about 60 thousand Ethiopians. This is the maximum that Negus Negesti Menelik II could collect himself. And on the "food" of the Ethiopian "army" there is interesting data - as soon as there was absolutely nothing to plunder in the district, the army immediately fled to its homes. In general, I invite you to a tour of ritual dances around the Ethiopian WARFARE. By the way, about the Ormians. I came across an article that the Armenians in Ethiopia have amassed their diaspora of the century from about the 1st century, that, the pepper is clear, all more or less clever Ethiopians are Armenians (Mikael Syul is the same). Well, I think the topic should not be turned into an Armenian farce. There were indeed Armenians in Ethiopia. You can even see in what capacity: http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Ae...t.phtml?id=6650 In the same capacity, they were noted in all countries of the East (including the Far East). Russian officers called them "Karapets" from the name Karapet (Armenian Baptist). In order to get an idea of ​​the history of Ethiopia, I recommend to all those who are interested to begin with the book by the Polish author A. Bartitsky "History of Ethiopia". It is written easily and understandably, it is freely available everywhere. A typical Ethiopian infantryman from the province of Tigre (c. 1846 according to French sources of those years): It would be interesting to consider two points within the framework of the topic. 1. Ethiopia actually took an active part in the colonization of neighboring African smaller states, and in this it collaborated, for example, with the French. That is, Ethiopia at some point began to play the role that Japan played in the Far East. The territory of Ethiopia has tripled in a very short time. 2. Participation of Russian officers in Ethiopian military expeditions. I read that the Russians were there in order to be friends with Ethiopia against Turkey. However, Turkey no longer played any role in Africa, the Egyptian Khedive Muhammad Ali conquered Sudan (Sudan belonged to Egypt from 1821 to 1885, until the Mahdists took Khartoum), so they were more likely friends against England. https://jiji.com.et/bole/art-collectibles/ethiopia-silver-menelik-ii-of-ethiopia-1844-1913-zW2yRCN91Dg2WuqaONfgBpN1.html