QuoteReplyTopic: The Battle of Adowa Posted: 20-Oct-2012 at 23:33
I just finished reading a book about the Battle of Adowa. On March 1st of 1896,
an Italian army commanded by Major-General Oreste Baratieri was defeated and
mostly destroyed in Ethiopia, by a force commanded by the Negus Negasti Menelik
II.
Though not as one-sided as some other colonial campaigns in Africa -
most of the Ethiopians had some manner of firearms, and the Ethiopians also
fielded artillery - this was still a spectacular under-dog victory considering
the loosely-organized and impetuous nature of Menelik's wariors, most of whom
felt greatly loyalty to their various ras than to the Emperor
himself.
I'm surprised this battle hasn't received more attention in
popular culture - it would make a good movie! Apparently at the time it led many
to reappraise their views of black Africans, and some members of the
trans-Atlantic African Diaspora took heart from the continuing liberty of the
Ethiopians.
Is it true that a lot of the Ethiopians were armed only with spears? I can imagine a movie similar to the 300 Spartans, Lion of the Desert and Zulu Dawn
Can you tell us how many soldiers each side fielded? It's funny but I feel like this must go back to the history of bad tacticians their Roman ancestors had.
The Italian forces were heavily outnumbered at Adowa: 17,000 men against 100000 Africans, 80000 of whom were armed with rifles. The Ethiopians also had 40 cannons
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