Africa on the Ground

History

Was all of Africa colonised? Ethiopia and the battle of Adwa

By 1914 only Ethiopia and Liberia were outside European control. Ethiopia won its place on the battlefield, in 1896.

1 minute read · every sentence below carries its source number

In the record

The idea

Many people learn that the whole continent fell under European rule. Almost all of it did, but not all.

Two exceptions

By 1914 the whole continent, apart from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Liberia, came under European control.[1]

1 March 1896

The Battle of Adwa was fought on 1 March 1896 near the town of Adwa in northern Ethiopia, between Italian forces and an army led by Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu.[2][3] The Italian commander was General Oreste Baratieri.[3]

The numbers differ by source. One puts the Ethiopian army at about 100,000 and the Italian at 20,000.[2] Another gives 73,000 to over 100,000 Ethiopians against roughly 14,500 to 17,800 Italian combat troops, with about 6,000 Italians killed and 3,865 captured.[3]

Ethiopia's victory was decisive.[2]

A treaty in two versions

The 1889 Treaty of Wuchale was written in two languages with different meaning. The Italian version of Article 17 said Ethiopia had to conduct its foreign affairs through Italy, making it a protectorate; the Amharic version said the emperor could use Italy's help if he wished.[2][3]

After the battle Italy signed the Treaty of Addis Ababa, which recognised Ethiopia's sovereignty, and that sovereignty held until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War forty years later.[3]

Why it mattered

The victory was quickly recognised as a victory for Black people everywhere and became a symbol of African resistance to European colonial pursuit.[2]

What we do not know
  • Army sizes and casualties differ between the two sources, and we give both rather than choose.
  • The two sources disagree on the year Menelik denounced the Wuchale treaty, so it is left out.
  • Liberia is named only as the other exception, with no account of its own history; that is a story for another page.
  • Neither source is a specialist history of Ethiopia, and the Italian side is told only through these two.
From people who know this

What readers add

No local voice on this story yet.Notes are added once the author has agreed to publication, and are read by people who know the subject afterwards.

Sources

  1. Encyclopedia · to verify[1] Berlin Conference 1884-5. World History Encyclopedia. www.worldhistory.org retrieved 8 Oct 2026
    A non-profit encyclopedia article. Used for the dates, attendance, the General Act's provisions and the statement that the conference did not itself divide the continent. Check against a historian's book on the Scramble for Africa.
  2. Press · to verify[2] Remembering the Battle of Adwa. South African History Online. sahistory.org.za retrieved 8 Oct 2026
    A public-history site. Used for the date, the two armies' rough sizes, the Wuchale treaty dispute and what the victory meant. Compare with a specialist history of Ethiopia.
  3. Encyclopedia · to verify[3] Battle of Adwa. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org retrieved 8 Oct 2026
    Used for commanders, army sizes as ranges, casualties and the treaty that followed. Only the first 100,000 characters of the article were read.

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