Adwa 1896: the African victory that halted a colonial empire
Menelik II's defeat of an Italian invasion force preserved Ethiopian sovereignty and became a rallying symbol for anti-colonial movements across the continent.
Selam Tesfaye·Adwa·
Adwa — On the morning of 1 March 1896, an Ethiopian army of roughly 100,000 troops under Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taytu Betul routed the Italian expeditionary corps in the mountains north of Adwa. It was one of the most decisive defeats of a European army by an African force in the colonial era.
The immediate consequence was the Treaty of Addis Ababa, which annulled Italy's claim to a protectorate. The longer legacy was symbolic: Adwa became a reference point for Pan-Africanists from W. E. B. Du Bois to Kwame Nkrumah, and remains a national holiday in Ethiopia.
