MC_A Concise History of Africa

A Concise History of Africa

In 1896, under Emperor Menelik II, the Ethiopians were able to resist the Italians at the Battle of Adwa, thus preventing their attempts at conquest. Ethiopia was brutally occupied by Mussolini’s Italy from 1936 to 1941, a period which ended with its liberation by British Empire and Ethiopian patriot forces. By 1914, Ethiopia and Liberia were the only independent states still existing in Africa. In 1952 Haile Selassie orchestrated Ethiopia’s federation with Eritrea, which he dissolved in 1962, Eritrea’s annexation sparking the Eritrean War of Independence. Although Haile Selassie was seen as a national and African hero, opinion within Ethiopia turned against him due to the worldwide oil crisis of 1973, food shortages, uncertainty regarding the succession, border wars, and discontent among the middle classes. Haile Selassie’s reign came to an end in 1974, when a Soviet- backed Marxist-Leninist military junta, the “Derg,” led by Mengistu

The Kingdom of Axum ruled from the 1st century AD, and at its height controlled northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, northern Sudan, southern Egypt, Djibouti, Yemen, and southern Saudi Arabia. Axum was converted to Christianity in the 4th century, and its people carved churches in rocks and wrote and interpreted religious texts. It was and is the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the home of the Queen of Sheba. Axum was an important marketplace for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world; it controlled two harbors on the Red Sea: Adulis, near Massawa, and Avalites (Assab). Between 1855 and 1889, Ethiopia (Axum having adopted the name in the 4th century) began to make its presence felt. It was different from other African states in that it had a

central institution in the ancient Coptic Church which, being an educator, provided an elite of like- minded people able to deal with Europeans. A succession of rulers was able to control and extend the state and, more importantly, were skillful enough to avoid the financial and diplomatic problems that might lead to European intervention.

Haile Mariam, deposed him and established a one-party Communist state.

Text-Dependent Questions 1. Explain the meaning of Maghreb and the countries it consists of?

2. How many Barbary wars were there?

3. What permanent rivers run through the Sahara Desert?

4. What year was the Suez Canal opened?

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