Throughout the world, the news of Adowa created a surge of racial pride among people of African descent. In places as diverse as Haiti, the Gold Coast, South Africa and the United States, black people hailed Menelik’s victory, and Ethiopia became a place of pilgrimage for black intellectuals and religious leaders.

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Four decades later, as Benito Mussolini’s legions overran Ethiopia, fascist propaganda justified the aggression as an opportunity to erase the lingering humiliation of Italy’s defeat at Menelik’s hands. The rout of General Baratieri’s army did indeed have far-reaching consequences.

Adowa saved Ethiopia from Italian colonization and raised its status from that of an isolated nation whose institutions, heritage and people where held in contempt to that of an equal partner in the world community of nations. March 1 is a national day of celebration in Ethiopia, and the events of 1896 are remembered with pride.

Greg Blake teaches history in Darwin, Australia. Further reading: The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik, by Sir George F.H. Berkeley; The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 18441913, by Harold G. Marcus; Conquest and Resistance to Colonialism in Africa, by G. Maddox; and One House: The Battle of Adwa 1896–100 Years, edited by Pamela S. Brown and Fassil Yirgu.

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