How did Ethiopia survive the Scramble for Africa? (Short Animated Documentary)

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In this episode we'll find out about how Ethiopia/Abyssinia survived the Scramble for Africa.

[MrLanguageFanatic]

Having 3 competent Emperors rule in a row would do be extremely lucky for any nation

[zoombini]

“And he became Negus”
*me not paying attention* what

[SageofIrrelevance]

My understanding of the treaty of wuchale was that the whole "Ethiopia will conduct diplomacy only through Italy" section was only in the Italian language version of the treaty, and was completely absent from the Ethiopian version.

[richardthrust]

Part of the reason is simply that Ethiopia was Christian majority. When the Portuguese "discovered" Ethiopia, they thought that they had found the legendary Christian lands of "Prester John". So the "we need to colonize these people to save their souls" argument didn't work in Ethiopia.

[samuelrosenberg]

One correction: the treaty of Wuchale had two versions: the one in Aramaic and one in Italian. Due to the mistranslation of a single word, the Aramaic treaty said Ethiopia COULD conduct their foreign affairs through Italy, while the Italian treaty said they MUST. Menalik II had only signed the Aramaic treaty, and so was not aware that the Italian treaty had a different meaning due to mistranslation. When the mistake was found out, Menilik II wanted to renegotiate the treaty to fix the mistranslation, but the leader of Italy, Francisco Crispi, refused to negotiate, falsely claiming that Menelik II was aware of the Italian version when signing. In 1893, when Meneli II felt his power was secure, denounced the treaty of Wuchale and refused to follow any of its requirements, due to a treaty he never actually agreed to negatively affecting his nation. The Italians, in response, declared war.

TLDR: Correction, Menelik II wasn’t actually aware of most of article 17 of the treaty of Wuchale, not ignoring it.

Edit: Amharic, not Aramaic.

[AaronTheGreat________]

Scramble for Africa: Exists
Ethiopia: Negus please

[bryceirwin]

Italy: You’re my colony
Ethiopia: no
Italy: I SAID-
Ethiopia: AND I SAID NO

[ANTICENA]

1:35 "I'm off to see God" I mean... that's one way of putting it.

[thegreatders]

Fun fact: the color scheme of most African flags (red, yellow, green) is an homage and tribute to Ethiopia's flag.

[gabriellemeerkat]

Hi I was born in Ethiopia but I was adopted by a French family at a very young age so I'm really grateful that people like you give me the opportunity to learn more about my culture.
Thanks a lot 💖

[tedros]

Correction: Negus merely means king, usually for feudal lords who have acquired enough power to be independent of the emperor during the Ras Mesafent (Ethiopia's equivalent of the Japanese Sengoku era). Negusa Negast means king of kings, it's the title for emperors.

[jaredcedricconsul]

Ethiopia: *defeats Italy*
Europeans: wait that's illegal

[jackluck]

Ironic missionaries taught the Ethiopians to build guns.

[RICO_SUAVE__]

Ethiopia stayed free because they utilized Skillshare

[sulaimaanahmad]

this is why some african nations in honor of ethiopia have flags of red, yellow and green. 🇪🇹

[mjr_schneider]

The Italians lost because they made the mistake of making their guns out of pasta, which was boiled by the hot Ethiopian sun and became soft.

[trekkienzl]

History Matters: Negus

YouTube: Demonotized

[fergonzaleznavarro]

Whispers: _"they never got Ethiopia"_

[HerrXenon_]

2:13
That's a bit of a gentle understatement. The Italians willingly wrote the Ethiopian translation of the treaty so that it was ambiguous and lured Menelik into signing it. It said that the negus _could_ rely on Italy for foreign affairs while in the Italian version it said that he *must*

[rj]

The funny thing is that Tewodros II comitted suicide, thinking that Abbysinian Independence/Freedom was over, but little did he know, his kingdom would remain independent and free during the colonial period due to a smart successor named Menelik II to take care of it for him. ❤