Menilek II (August 17, 1845- December 12/13, 1913), Negusa-Nagast (King of Kings), was one of the three great sovereigns who rebuilt the Ethiopian empire in the second half of the 19th century. (The other two were Tewodros II, who reigned from 1855-1868, and Yohannes IV, who reigned from 1872-1889). Menilek, who reigned as emperor from 1889-1913, was energetic, wise, and generally progressive, qualities which gained him fame both home and abroad.
Born at Ankober, one of the capitals of Shawa, in August 1845, he was the son of King Hayla Malakot of Shawa (ruled 1847-1855), and of Wayzaro Ejegayahu. He was brought up at his father’s court. His father was killed in a campaign defending Shawa from Emperor Tewodros, after which Shawa was incorporated into the Ethiopian empire.
Tewodros, having captured Menilek, took him to his court in 1886, treated him well, educated him, and gave him his daughter, Aletash, in marriage when he came of age. Because of rebellions against imperial authority among nobles in various regions, Tewodros confined many nobles, including Menilek, in the stronghold of Maqdala in 1864. Escaping from Maqdala on July 1, 1865, he re-entered Shawa, deposed Bezzabbeh (Shawa’s ruler), and meeting with little local opposition, became the negus (king).
Between 1865, when he became king of Shawa, and 1889, when he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia, Menilek pursued enlightened internal and external policies. He systematically incorporated, through military and peaceful means, all the principalities of Shawa in his kingdom, and expanded it still further to include regions to the west, south, and east, which were inhabited by the Galla and other peoples.
He led many of the military expeditions himself, and entrusted others to his generals. He confirmed several local governors in their posts, and appointed his own officers as governors in certain areas. He was careful in his relations with the central government, and in his dealings with the powerful members of the nobility. He readily recognised the suzerainty of both Emperor Takla Giyorgis [reigned 1868-1871] in 1869, and Emperor Yohannes in 1878.
In order to please Yohannes and to perverse peace and unity, he was even willing to give up his title of King of Kings and his religious tenets. In this way he was able to maintain his power and prestige without military conflicts. Only once did he fight against the central authority. This was when he won a decisive battle against Takla Haymanot, of Gojam at Embabo in 1882.
In his foreign policy he pursued a policy of friendship with foreign powers, and also showed himself well disposed towards foreigners in general. He was interested in innovations, commerce, and in the acquisition of firearms. He corresponded with the major European powers, and welcomed to his court their ambassadors, technicians, military experts, traders, and missionaries. One such foreigner was Alfred Ilg, a Swiss engineer, who was his advisor for more than 20 years.
Menilek also signed a treaty of commerce and friendship- the treaty of Wechale- with Italy in 1889, a development that unfortunately resulted in war in 1895-1896. After Emperor Yohannes died in March 1889, as a result of wounds received at the battle of Matamma, fought against the Mahdists (partisans of a messianic Islamic movement) in what is now Sudan, Menilek proclaimed himself emperor in Ethiopia.
All the regional nobility, except those of Tegre, immediately swore allegiance to him. He crowned himself Negusa-Nagast on November 2, 1889, at Entonto, 3 mi (5 km) north of the site of Addis Ababa. After the coronation, he led a military expedition against Tegre, to the north, and subdued the rebellious nobles.
The Italians, however, were encroaching on his territory from that direction. They had gained a foothold at the port of Massawa on the Red Sea coast in February 1885, and had gradually annexed the adjacent areas. By January 1890 they occupied all the area north of the Marab and the Balasa-Muna rivers, and declared it the colony of Eritrea. Menilek, however, was opposed to Italian ambitions, and in 1889 had sent a delegation carrying letters to Europe seeking recognition from other major European powers, and proposing official diplomatic relations with them.
The delegation, led by Ras Makonnen, signed an additional convention at Naples, supplementing the Wechale treaty, in which it was agreed, on October 1, 1889, that the Italians would stop at a boundary line drawn a little to the south of Asmara. When the delegation returned, the Italians colonial officials had already gone beyond the agreed boundaries, and Italy was claiming a protectorate over Ethiopia, basing their claim on a dubious interpretation of the Treaty of Wechale of 1889.
Menilek, in 1891, thereupon unilaterally abrogate all the agreements concluded with Italy, and refused to recognise its territorial possessions. The Italians resorted to force, and invaded much of Tegre in 1895. Menilek opposed them with a strong army, and defeated them successfully at Alage, Maqale, and finally, on March 1, 1896, at Adwa.
With the help of the United Kingdom, a treaty was signed in 1896, ending hostilities between Ethiopia and Italy. By the terms of the treaty, Italy renounced its claim to a protectorate over Ethiopia, while Menilek recognised the Marab and Basa-Muna line as the permanent boundary of the Italian colony of Eritrea.
By 1899, Menilek’s empire extended as far as the boundaries of the Sudan in the west, Kenya in the south, and the Italian, the British, and French Somali-lands in the east. He failed to acquire a port, however, and Ethiopia remained landlocked until 1952. He depended for communication with the outside world upon the railroad line constructed between Jibuti and Addis Ababa between 1894 and 1917 by the Franco-Ethiopian Railway Company.
The last part of his reign was devoted mainly to peaceful activities, such as the construction of buildings and churches, and the founding of a modern school, a hospital, a printing press, and the establishment of a few industries.
He organised the empire into a number of administrative regions of varying sizes, each with its own governor. He also stationed troops in several regions to check ambitious and powerful nobles. In 1907 he reorganised the administration of the central government by setting up ministries on the European model.
Between 1908 and 1909 his health declined, and he suffered a series of strokes which eventually led to his death. In these final years, power passed into the hands of his wife. Empress Taytu Betul, whom he married in 1883, to Ras Tassamma Nadaw, who was regent from 1909 until his death in 1911, and to his grandson, Lej Iyasu Mikael, whom he had declared to be his heir presumptive in 1909. Although the exact date of Menilek’s death is in dispute, it is generally accepted as having occurred on the night of December 12th-13th, 1913.
BAIRU TAFLA
