Foreign Drinks – and Drunkenness We saw last week that foreign alcoholic drinks gained increasing popularity in Menilek’s day. This impression, based on the reports of foreign travellers, is fully confirmed in the subsequent writings of Alaqa Lamma Haylu’s son, Maaza Lamma. Discussing this development as a temperance advocate, he recalls that this was a …
A Conservative Period in Ethiopian History Despite the very significant reforms, and innovations, of the reign of Yohannes discussed last week, his years were on the whole a conservative period. This, as we have seen, was at least partially due to the series of invasions, by Egyptians, Italians, and Dervishes. These made it impossible for …
We saw last week how Emperors Tewodros and Yohannes were both, in identical or different ways, concerned with the question of modernisation. Now read on:”Do Not Wear Shoes!” Emperor Yohannes’s dislike of European-sponsored innovation, the subject of last week’s article, was further manifested when two young Ethiopians, Mika’el Aragawi and Ageje Sachlu, who had been …
We saw last week that Tewodros, anxious to obtain foreign craftsmen from the British Government, succeeded in getting some employed, and sent as far as the port of Massawa. The Emperor’s continued imprisonment of the British however, led to a break-down of friendly relations. Now read on: The Craftsmen Return to Britain Because of this …
We saw last week that Tewodros was not only a cannonmaker, but also a road-builder. Now read on: Strategic Importance The strategic significance of Tewodros’s roads is apparent from the chronicle of Alaqa Walda Maryam, which contains several revealing passages. It records that when the Emperor’s big locally-made cannon was carried to Chachaho, some 60 …
In recent issues we have been examining various innovations of Menilek’s time. Other innovations of this period, in the cultural field, included the founding of the first Amharic newspaper Aimro in 1902 and the establishment of a Government printing press in 1911. The Russian Red Cross Hospital There were also innovations to chronicle on the …
We saw last week that Ethiopian imports, in the 1920s and 1930s, were both growing and becoming more diversified. Railway Statistics This development may be further illustrated by a comparison between the statistics compiled by the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway company for 1916, the year of Lej Iyasu’s overthrow, and 1930, the year of Ras Tafari …
We saw last week that the first decades of the twentieth century witnessed many innovations in Ethiopia. Such developments, we may now observe, were particularly noticeable around 1930, the year which witnessed Emperor Haile Sellassie’s highly publicised coronation. Addis Ababa Addis Ababa, ever the site of change, underwent several important developments at this time, when, …
We saw last week that the 1920s and 1930 witnessed many innovations. For others, now please read on: Radio Telegraphy The foundations of radio telegraphy, in Ethiopia, were laidin the early 1930’s. Though some of the foreign legations had earlier imported radio equipment for their own use, the Ethiopian Government did not enter the field …
We saw last week that the innovative policies inaugurated by Emperor Menilek were continued, to some extent, during the brief reign of his grandson, Lej Iyasu. Progress suffered, however, from the many power struggles of this period. These were only partially resolved when the prince was deposed, in 1916, and replaced by a system of …