How Is Menelik Modernized Ethiopia

Menelik II Essay West Civ

Kiyan Tagi

Jan. 25, 2016

Block F

Grade 9 Yonkey

Menelik II, originally named Sahle Miriam was born Aug. 17, 1844 in Ankober, Shewa. He was the king of Shewa from 1865-1889 and became emperor of Ethiopia in 1889 until 1913. Crown name Menelik II was significant since Menelik I was the legendary son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. He was named Menelik because of all the great things he did for Ethiopia. Menelik II was beneficial to Ethiopia because he modernized the country, built up great and useful international relations, and expanded the land in Ethiopia which all overthrow the fact that he caused a war between Ethiopia and Italy which weakened the nation.

First off Menelik II modernized Ethiopia. He modernized

Around 1890 Menelik was trying to suppress slave trade in Ethiopia. He did this by destroying prominent slave market towns and also by inflicting penalties such as amputation on slavers. Previous rulers like Tewodros II also prohibited slavery but since not all tribes were against slavery and the fact that the country was surrounded on all sides by slave raiders and traders, it was not possible to entirely stop this practice even by the 20th century. Chris Prouty states that Menelik outlawed slavery even though it was beyond his power to change his people’s minds regarding slavery since it was extensively common throughout Ethiopia. This suppression of slavery meant a lot for Ethiopia and the society since many were affected by it and Menelik helped and attempted to stop to it to the best of his ability. Another way he modernized Ethiopia is that he improved transportation and communications

Effects of this were that Italian-Ethiopian relations reached a low point. Bad relations affected Ethiopia negatively since many weapons and technology were received from Europe which when the relations between these nations were good. This unnecessary battle emasculated the army in Ethiopia and caused many resources and lives. It had been estimated at around 4,000–5,000 killed and 8,000 wounded due to the battle. Causing Ethiopia valuable resources and money was a negative since it could’ve been saved if the mistake was avoided. Ethiopia also lost money due to the battle. It takes money to fight in a battle like the one in Adwa and this was lost because of a misinterpretation. The lost money could’ve been used to further benefit Ethiopia’s society and economy but was wasted at war. Although this war could’ve been avoided and weakened Ethiopia, Menelik still did plenty of things that benefitted