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

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

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

Ethiopia stayed free because they utilized Skillshare

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

Scramble for Africa: Exists Ethiopia: Negus please

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.

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.

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

Ironic missionaries taught the Ethiopians to build guns.

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.

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

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 💖

Whispers: _"they never got Ethiopia"_

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

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

History Matters: Negus RU-vid: Demonotized

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.

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.

i was first confused why they would hire russian advisers but then i realised that the ethiopians are orthodox aswell. Edit: damn thank you so much for that amount of like :D

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*

Please cover the italo-ethiopian war of 1895 in more detail or Futher action will be taken

Ethiopia independent, you say? Not for long! *boots up HOI4*

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. ❤

Get yourself a girl who can defend you like how Menelik II defended Ethiopia against the Italians

Could you do an episode about the kalmar union?

0:09 Liberia: Where you're free (to leave)

I lived in Ethiopia during what was supposed to have been the school year 1989 -- 1990. There was a military takeover in May 1990. US troops had been sent and did everything they could to keep bloodshed to a minimum. The takeover lasted four days. Then I couldn't get out of the country. Had to wait for a plane seat. The airport was closed after the takeover, but one night shortly following I heard airplanes overhead taking the Falasha (possibly lost tribe of Israel) from Addis to Israel. I think I counted a dozen planes. Was told they were 747s and all the seats had been taken out to fit as many passengers as possible in. The Ethiopians are very resourceful. I came away with positive impressions of them. From what I've seen on social media, things are a lot better now.

Ethiopia actually has a very long history of being strong warriors and fighting off foreign invaders

*Negus simply means king and negus negesti means King of kings/ Emperor. Btw Great video

Africa: *exist* Europe: It’s free real estate

1:20 risky....

Something similar happened in Thailand if I remember correctly. They had leaders that modernized their armies and tactics to the point where they weren’t an appealing target for direct colonial rule. Instead, they became subject to economic hegemony since all the surrounding areas were colonized (or, in the case of China, subject to European hegemony)

Scramble for Africa: Exists Ethiopia: No, I don't think I will

1:20 *_get ready to be demonitized boii_*

The main reason for Ethiopian success was that it had already a strong literary tradition before Europeans arrived.Literacy enables state building. Other African nations weren't so lucky.

Honestly I love your channel bro.. From the script/narration, to the topics you choose, and the little jokes in your animations 👌🏾 always click just to make sure I haven’t already seen said video Don’t stop, you (guys) are seriously good at what you do 👌🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Mussolini and his tortellini gang: Allow us to introduce ourselves :)

Hey so this is much better and much more detailed than alot of other videos on the subject but id like to leave criticisms. Most are nitpicks, a few are actual factual errors. 1. Shewa is pronounced closer to ‘Shahwah’. I cant judge too hard though; i can barely pronounce most ethiopian words properly, and butcher alot of others. 2. Tewodros (Theodore ) was not from the Shewan branche; He hailed from Begemeder, the region province inwhich the former royal city of gondar was held. More specifically, he was from Qwara (Koara). 3. The invasion was hella expensive. 4. ‘Negus’ is pronounced more like ‘nuh-goose’. 5. Negus does not mean ruling over all people. Negus means ‘king’. It generally applied to a governor of a major province / subkingdom of the empire. (That said it should also be noted that the term’s use in this way was dying out, and that by the late rule of Yohannes, only two of the major provinces, Shewa and Gojjam, had a negus, the rest being ruled by those with the title ‘Ras’. ‘Negus Nagast’ means king of kings. 6. Its not that menelik did not think much of the ‘you must pass diplomacy through italy’ clause of the treaty. He literally didnt think it was valid; his version of the treaty, in his Ethiopian language Amharic made no mention of this, instead recommending Ethiopia make use of Italy, not mandating it necessary.

I absolutely love that I found your channel, every video so far is the perfect amount of details and hunour presentation. Keep up those small footnote annotations. Hope more people find your channel man.

What I want to know is how so many missionaries knew how to make guns. Was it a widely taught thing at the time? Did the Ethiopia just have the luck that their missionaries were gun nuts? What's really going on behind those monastery gates?

Nobody: RU-vid: 1:20 Demonetized!!!

Respect to Ethiopia!

Ethiopia: *exists* Italy: wait, that's illegal

0:39 Didn't know Tewodros translates to Theodore, that's so cool!

They have a fascinating history there in Ethiopia, very early Church, culture, etc. Good stuff! that we here donno nearly enough about. This was good.

Can you bring back the 10 minute history format to do a quick “history of Liberia” video?

Didnt the italians lie on the deal with ethiopia? The ethiopians, i believe, got a wrong translation.

you got me with the negus i wasnt paying attention either💀

Orthodox bois helping each other :D

0:08 Instead of doing all fifty stars, you just typed “All of the stars”...lmfao imagine if that was actually their flag. They own all the stars in the universe

There is an important part that you left out, the reason Ethiopia refused to become Italy puppet was because the documents signed by both countries had two different translation. And the Ethiopian at the time thought the Italian version had the same conditions as theirs. And Ethiopia managed to beat Italy because it had modern arms and good strategy that it got from Russia

One reason why Ethiopia defeated Italy was that Menelik was trying to convince the Italians that Ethiopians were savages with spears while secrety he was building up an arsenal of cannons and guns. When the Italians invaded they underestimated just how strong the Ethiopians would be and being defeated by what people considered to be less than human was very damaging for Italian prestige. This is one of the reasons why Italians were the but of jokes. This victory is also why the Ethiopians started to be called Caucasians by Western nations and it's why Menelik considered him and his people to be white lol

The Grand Negus knew the Rules of Non-Acquisition.

0:08"all of the stars"I don't know why that made me laugh so much

I love how much historicity and dope/snarky illustrations you all work in. Incredibly well spoken narration, with some modern slang thrown in. I love it. I was raised with a classical education myself. Yet one must know, and grow with culture and language itself. We are just one living part, the micro, a part of the macro. It is beautifully mirrored in all things. Thank you for your short animated documentaries! ***So*** Video idea, why does the House of Windsor, ie Saxe-Coburg-Gotha No longer have a claim upon/ or claim their ancestral territorial lands?

“How did Ethiopia stay free?” Liberia: Don’t forget about me!

Scramble for Africa: *exists* Ethiopia: I also exist lmao

Hahah i remember the spelling bee kid that had to spell ”negus” and he was like ”....shit what do i say 0_0, i cant use the n-word on tv for gods sake”

Ngl not only do these videos get me to learn more about the scramble for Africa (which I have been invested in but never took the time till recently to research) but it's also helped me with games I play that allow me to create custom maps so whenever I make WW1 maps I normally come to these videos to help with African borders so yeah thanks History Matters for making my life a whole lot easier and also for providing great content.

I love the art style and animations

Another brilliant video. Thank you

Could you do a video about James Byzanette?

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!!

Fast and to the point. You sir get a new subscriber

I love episodes like these. they are simple questions I just didnt know the answer to....well simple quesitons with a complicated answer

Keep up the good vids👍👍

Thanks for answering the question concisely.

Video: “their leader is called the Negus.” Comment section: *surprising lack of DS9 references*

Sounds good, Until Italy barely won the second go around.

I don't know who James Bizenet is, but he's the only name I ever hear before I click off the video.

Thank you for video

"I can go to the store" vs "i have to go to the store." Thats what the treaty of wuchale was.

1:28 like the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi? Close enough :P

Italy: It's free real estate. Ethiopia: I'm about to ruin their whole career. (Correction: Europe changed to Italy, because reasons)

1:02 silly man... I’m dying 😂😂😂

Apart from the wonderfully entertaining and informative videos--I like your Rene Magritte, The Son of Man (9164) spoof at the end of them--during the credits. Curious as to your motivation for this.

The reason why there was a dissonance between Italian and Ethiopian understandings of the treaty was because it literally said a different thing in Italian compared to Amharic. The part that mentioned conducting foreign affairs through Italy in Amharic instead mentioned annexation in Italian. The Italians stupidly tried to swindle them into giving up their independence, as if they'd somehow just shrug their shoulders and say "Well, it's in the treaty".

Next: How did Thailand survive European colonialism in Asia?

Having 3 competent and intelligence rulers in a row is a blessing for any country

I am half turkish half ethiopian and i think both there historys is amazing...❤❤

Now cover the Abyssinian-Adal war

you should do some episodes on Mexico and the Aztecs!

Thank you for this informative video! I was told my Italian grandfather fought the "Abisinian war" - never knew what it meant. The good point is, because of that he wasn't recruited to fight in WW II, survived bombardments... and so I'm here! ;)

longer video pls

I love the story how Ethiopia managed to stay free. What a badass country. Deep respect.

1:20 that kid on the Spelling video 😂😂😂

History Matters, Your videos are great and extremely easy to understand but please try to add subtitles too as some of the words/sentences are not clearly understandable at various times.

Nice video, but you made one mistake. Menelik did not change his mind on the treaty, the treaty was actually different in Italian and Amharic. In Amharic there was no mention of Ethiopia becoming an Italian satellite, while in Italian Italy had a lot more control over Ethiopia. When Menelik found out about the difference on the treaties war broke out.

you could do the history of Luxembourg next

So having 3 competent kings one after the other is so good it can save you from a massive scramble in your continent. My negus be respected. ✊🏾

I know I'm quite late to this video as it just popped up in my recomended, but at the end of the video, the dude in the bowler hat with an apple in front of his face I recognized as the painting "The Son of Man" by Surrealist painter Rene Magritte because he is my favorite artist who is also part of my favorite artistic movement.

Cool video

It didn't hurt that they are Christian; so far as the relations with Europe go.

And that children is why Menelik II and Ethiopia is a ridiculously OP civ in Civ 6.

To : History Matters Theodore is not Shoan/Shewan. Menelik II is Shoan/Shewan.

Fascinating!!

Ethiopian history is so awesome and interesting.

Damn, Negus!

Nice Video! But it's actually called "Negusa Negest" "Negus" means King while Negusa Negest means King of Kings or Emperor.

This is one of the only history channel that helps you with school (AP World)