Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael

Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot (8 May 1852 – 21 March 1906), or simply Ras Makonnen, also known as Abba Qagnew, was an Ethiopian royal from Shewa, a military leader, the governor of Harar, and the father of future Emperor Haile Selassie. Described by Nikolai Gumilev as “one of the greatest leaders of Abyssinia”, he served in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, playing a key role at the Battle of Adwa. According to Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Ras Makonnen was "among the most progressive Ethiopians during a critically important era. As the mastermind of Ethiopia's strategy at Adwa and as a top diplomat, he played central roles in defining Ethiopia's modern boundaries, negotiating its international relations and guaranteeing his country's freedom from imperialism." Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot was born at Derefo Maryam near Ankober, in what was then in the province of Menz to his mother Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie and his father Dejazmach Wolde Mikael Wolde Melekot, who was the governor of the provinces Menz and Doba (located in Semien Shewa) Makonnen Wolde Mikael was born into a family of Shewan Amhara nobility with a maternal Solomonic genealogy, his mother was the daughter of King Sahle Selassie of Shewa. In 1865, at the age of 14 his father took him to the court of Negus Menelik, then ruler of Shewa, where he engaged in military training and imbibed the skills of statecraft. Around July 1873, Makonnen married Yeshimebet Ali, the Oromo daughter of Dejazmach Ali 

and Woizero Wolete Giyorgis. In 1875, Yilma Makonnen was born to Makonnen and a woman who was not Yeshimebet Ali. In 1892, Tafari Makonnen, the son of Makonnen and Yeshimebet Ali, was born. In 1901, following the death of Yeshimebet Ali, Makonnen was briefly married to a niece of Empress Taytu Betul, Woizero Mentewab Wale. Makonnen's marriage to Mentewab Wale was never consummated and, in 1902, it was annulled. In 1876, Makonnen was awarded the rank of Balambaras and by 1881 commanded 1,000 well armed troops. In the same year he served in a campaign against the Arsi Oromo who were disrupting trade caravans from Tadjoura. He served in the battle of Battle of Embabo, and fought against the Arsi for a second time. Makonnen lead the troops that captured the Amir's field cannons during the Battle of Chelenqo. In 1887, Makonnen was given the governorship of Harar after it was incorporated into the Ethiopian Empire by his cousin, Emperor Menelik following the Battle of Chelenqo. According to Jules Borelli, Harar was pillaged by Abyssinian soldiers with half its population fleeing, despite pleas from the despoiled locals to Makonnen. The Harari people soon revolted which followed Makonnen storming the town with his troops razing and plundering residences as well as massacring the population. According to Hararis, the oppression of Harari people began with the invasion of Harar by Ras Makonnen which followed mosques changed into churches and Abyssinian Christians arriving from the north to settle in the town. Makonnen had ordered the primary mosque of Harar to be replaced by an Orthodox Church. Immediately after obtaining governance of Harar, Makonnen set about undermining Harari wealth by expropriating their land and offering it to his soldiers. At Harar, Makonnen enjoyed good relations with expatriates, including Capuchin missionaries and a growing number of Europeans enroute to the capital. From there he learned as much as possible about the outside world. He especially appreciated Russians due to their shared Orthodox faith, and unlike other western Europeans, did not have colonial pretensions. Makonnen also had a passion for firearms, he imported weapons, some of whom he shipped to Shewa, others he used to subdue or extract tribute from the nearby Somalis. Makonnen pushed the expansion of the empire to the east and south of Harar, conquering the territories of the Issa and the Gadabuursi by 1889. In 1890, more reinforcements from Addis Ababa allowed Makonnen to occupy all of the Ogaden by 1891. In 1896 Ras Makonnen appointed Abdullah Tahir, governor of Jigjiga. Conditions in the city rapidly improved once the soldiers left for service in the Ogaden. The Harari nobility was allowed some participation in the city's government, as running of the city was entrusted to the Amir's nephew, Ali. However, Makonnen later had Ali arrested, and successively replaced him with two other Harari viceroys, Yusuf Berhali and Haji Abdullahi Sadiq. In early 1895, tensions with Italy dramatically increased into the outbreak of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. Despite the security problems in Hararghe, Ras Makonnen and his well equipped troops eagerly took part in the war against the Italians. Ras Makonnen's Harar army took spearheaded Menelik's forces in their northern march to confront the occupying Italians in Tigray province. The first clash occurred on 7 December 1895 during Battle of Amba Alagi when Pietro Toselli came under attack by the troops of Ras Makonnen, had occupied the road leading back to Eritrea, and launched a surprise attack on the flanks of Toselli's men, completely devastating the Italian force. Ras Makonnen followed up this victory by reaching the Italian fort at Mekelle, surrounding it with his men and launching a series of abortive attacks on the Italian fort. Makonnen had hinted girmly that he might not come out alive during this attack, which resulted in Menelik II to order Ras Alula to prevent him from getting killed and keep watch on his cousin. As a result, Alula and Ras Mengesha Yohannes had Makonnen under arrest at Tatyu Betul's orders until the rest of Menelik's army could join the battle. Once Menelik arrived at Mekelle, he called off the attack and had established contact with the Italian commander, giving him the opportunity to leave peacefully in exchange for surrender. On January 21, with permission from the Italian high command, the Italian commander agreed to surrender, allowing them to peacefully leave Mekelle with their weapons. Ras Mekonnen was sent to "escort" them back to Italian lines – a convenient way to bring a major part of the Ethiopian army to scout deep into Italian-held territory. Ras Makonnen's troops played an important role at the Battle of Adwa, his men spent much of the battle mauling Matteo Albertone's Brigade on the slopes of Enda Keret, then occupying Mount Gusoso between Albertone's and Dabormida's position. His forces then turn on Dabormida Brigade, allowing the Oromo calvary to decimate it while attempting to withdraw.

The Army of the Ethiopian Empire was the principal land warfare force of the Ethiopian Empire and had naval and air force branches in the 20th century. During the latter half of the 19th century the size of the Ethiopian field army rose dramatically. The largest army raised by Tewodros II during his reign was 15,000. In 1873, Emperor Yohannes IV raised an army of 32,000 soldiers, by 1876, he raised an army of 64,000 soldiers, and by 1880, he raised an army of 140,000 soldiers with 40,000 armed with rifles. While serving as the King of Shewa, Menelik II raised 80,000 soldiers in 1878, although only 4,000 had rifles, but by the time of the first war with the Italians he raised an army of 150,000 soldiers with the majority being equipped with modern weapons. In 1879, Alfred Ilg arrived in the court of Menelik, seeking employment similar to Werner Munzinger who had helped Khedive Isma'il Pasha with the modernization of the Khedivate of Egypt, and aided in the modernization of Ethiopia's infrastructure and military. In 1887, the Ethiopian army was estimated to consist of over 145,000 soldiers with 88,000 infantry and 57,000 cavalry. The soldiers were armed with 71,000 firearms and 28,000 breechloaders. On 3 June 1884, the Hewett Treaty was signed between Britain, Egypt and Ethiopia that allowed the Ethiopians to occupy parts of Eritrea and allowed the Ethiopian goods to pass in and out of Massawa duty-free. From the British viewpoint, it was highly undesirable for the French to replace the Egyptians in Eritrea as that 

would increase the amount of French naval bases on the Red Sea that could interfere with British shipping heading through the Suez Canal, but the British did not want the financial burden of ruling Eritrea so they looked for another country to replace the Egyptians. The Hewett treaty seemed to suggest that the land in Eritrea would be given to the Ethiopians as the Egyptians pulled out. After initially encouraging the Emperor Yohannes IV to move into Eritrea to replace the Egyptians, London decided to have the Italians move into Eritrea. In his history of Ethiopia, Augustus Wylde wrote: "England made use of King John Emperor Yohannes as long as he was of any service and then threw him over to the tender mercies of Italy...It is one of our worst bits of business out of the many we have been guilty of in Africa...one of the vilest bites of treachery". In 1885, the Italians took over Massawa and Beilul and despite protests made by Menelik to Queen Victoria the Italians remained in the area. On 20 October 1887, the Italians and Ethiopians signed a treaty of friendship and alliance where both nations declared themselves allies, and the Italians promised to give weapons to the Ethiopians and to not annex more of their territory. The Treaty of Wuchale was signed on 2 May 1889, and another convention was held on 1 October 1889. The Treaty of Wuchale further expanded diplomatic relations between the countries, but despite the Italians recognizing Menelik as the Emperor of Ethiopia in the treaty the Foreign Affairs ministry sent telegrams to thirteen other countries describing Ethiopia as an Italian protectorate on 11 October 1889. The Ethiopians criticized the Italians as the Amharic and Italian versions of the treaty were not proper translations. The Kingdom of Italy attempted to enforce their version of treaty onto the Ethiopians during the First Italo-Ethiopian War, but were defeated due to military support given by the Russian and French through modern weaponry and supplies. In 1895, Nikolay Leontiev organized the delivery of 5,000,000 cartridges, 30,000 rifles, 5,000 sabers, and a few cannons from the Russians to the Ethiopian army. Leontiev later served as a military adviser at the Battle of Adwa and later organized the first modernized army battalion of the Ethiopian army in February 1899.