6. Solución de problemas
6.1 Problemas comunes
The civilisation of Axumite is of immense significance in Ethiopian history. The Christian Axumite Empire of Ethiopia reached its zenith in 4A.D. (Paulos and Getachew 2005). At the end of the first millennium, ‘an amalgamated Christian state of Zagwe’, led by the Agews of the northern central region of Ethiopia, came to power (ibid, 15). Again in the late 13th century, the Zagwe gave way to the dynasty which claimed descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, ‘a genealogy providing the legitimacy and continuity so honoured in Ethiopia’s subsequent national saga’ (ibid.). By the 15th century, the Solomonic dynasty started decaying. This was followed by resistance from a Muslim vassal, the Adal sultanate of the Harar region, to pay tribute and a percentage of its trading profits to the then central government of Ethiopia. In 1527, the Adal leader, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, known in Ethiopian history as Ahmad Gragn (‘Ahmad the Left-handed’), equipped with fire-arms and aided by the Ottoman Turks, ravaged the Christian empire that still depended on outmoded weapons of war (Paulos and Getachew 2005). By 1535, Gragn led a vast Islamic empire stretching from Zeila (Seylac) to Massawa (Mistiwa) in present-day Eritrea. After this triumphant march, Gragn was defeated by Emperor Galawdewos in 1543 with the help of Portuguese soldiers.
The clash between the two paved the way for the Oromo population, who were neither Christians nor Muslims, to expand their territory from the Genale, Bale and Borena regions towards the Christian highlands through military force. This was followed by Zemene Mesafent (the period of princes), characterised by feudal
anarchy when kings were nominal and actual power was in the hands of landlords. The situation continued for almost 150 years, until the ascension to the throne of Kassa, from Amhara Gondar, who was crowned emperor under the throne name Tewodros II of Ethiopia in 1855.
Following the suicide of Tewodros II in 1868 at the battle of Maqdala, where he refused to surrender to General Napier who had been sent to free British and other European prisoners of the Emperor, Kassa Hailu adopted Yohannes IV as his throne name and became emperor of Ethiopia on January 21, 1872 (Bahru 2002). Yohannes IV, who was subsequently killed while fighting Mahdist forces, was succeeded by the king of Shoa, who became Emperor Menelik II in 1889. He named Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia in the same year. Menelik II was an ambitious king who created the present Ethiopia by expanding his terrain <towards all four corners of the continent>.
In 1896, the Italian forces were defeated by the Ethiopians at Adwa, and the treaty of Wichale was annulled. Italy recognised Ethiopia’s independence, but retained control over Eritrea.
Adwa was the greatest military operation between Africans and Europeans since the time of Hannibal. For the victors it was the most decisive, for the vanquished, the most catastrophic, given that the Italian colonialist soldiers were crushed totally and in every way. Indeed, their defeat was extraordinary in scale: their casualty figure was 70%; all their artillery pieces were captured; one out of four of their generals were taken prisoner and two of the remaining as well as almost half of their staff officers were killed on the battlefield. The Battle of Adwa — Reflections on the Historic Victory of Ethiopia against European Colonialism elucidates and scrutinizes this event with the hindsight of over one hundred years. (Paulos and Getachew 2005, 19)
In 1913, Menelik died and was succeeded by his grandson, Lij Iyasu. After an internal power struggle, Lij Iyasu was deposed and was succeeded by Menelik’s daughter, Zauditu, who ruled through a regent, Ras Tafari Makonnen. The internal power struggle continued between the queen and the regent, and finally Zauditu died in 1930 and her successor, Ras Tafari Makonnen, became Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Italy, intent on exacting revenge on Ethiopia following the Italian humiliation at the battle of Adwa, invaded Ethiopia again in 1935. In the following year, the Italians captured Addis Ababa, and Haile Selassie fled to Britain to try to exert diplomatic influence on the fascist Italian invaders. The king of Italy was made emperor of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and all regions in the so-called Italian East Africa. However, Ethiopian patriots who had put up fierce resistance against the Italians reclaimed their independence with the help of Britain in 1941, after five years of occupation. As a result, Emperor Selassie reclaimed his throne at home in Ethiopia.
In the course of Selassie’s reign, he encountered strong opposition from farmers, students, the military and other sectors of society, due to the slow pace of change
(Bahru 2002). Starvation and maladministration in the country triggered a new brand of opposition from farmers in Bale and Gojjam provinces, and university students at large. Slogans such as ‘land to tailor’ <what does this mean?> became popular among Ethiopian university students. The emperor having failed to control the then opposition, the military overthrew Selassie in 1974, secretly killing him while he was in their custody.
The military ruler, Teferi Benti, began steering the country towards a Marxist- economic orientation. However, due to internal conflict among the derg (committee of the military regime), Benti was assassinated for the good of the ‘revolution’. Mengistu Haile Mariam came to power in 1977 and the ongoing ‘revolution’ led to the killing of thousands, with ‘white and red terrors’ claiming the lives of many young Ethiopians. The Tigrean People’s Liberation Front started a war for regional autonomy. Finally, after 17 years of civil war, the military regime was deposed in 1991. The EPRDF captured Addis Ababa and came to power while Mengistu Haile Mariam fled the country. Eritrea, awaiting independence, established a provisional government that year, and gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.
Meanwhile, history repeated itself with border disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea leading to further violent clashes in 1998. War was declared the following year and it took the lives of more than 70 000 people until a ceasefire was signed between the two countries, with the help of the United Nations in June 2000. In December 2000, the two countries signed a peace agreement at Algeria that enabled prisoners to return to their respective countries.
Significantly, in 1994 the EPRDF administration implemented a federal system that divided the country into regions based on ethnicity (Adejumobi 2007).
2.2.1. LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE IN ETHIOPIA
There are 73 distinct languages in Ethiopia (Girma 2009), belonging to four language families: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic and Nilo-Saharan. Table 1 shows the total number of mother-tongue speakers of each of the four language families, as well as totals for the most populous language for each group (cf. Smith 2008, 215).
Table 1: Language families in Ethiopia
Language family No. of speakers Largest language No. of speakers
Cushitic 26 469 394 Oromo 16 777 975
Nilo-Saharan 482 212 Gumuz 120 424
Omotic 3 989 694 Wolayta 1 231 674
Semitic 22 511 505 Amharic 17 372 913
Source: Hudson (2003, 94)
Based on Ferguson’s (1966) scheme for classifying languages into three categories, namely major, minor and special status (McNab 1989), Amharic, Oromigna (Afan Oromo), Tigrigna, English, and ‘possibly’ Somali are given the status of major languages in Ethiopia (Bender et al. in McNab 1989). The dominant (major) language in Ethiopia is Amharic (Amharigna) (McNab 1989), due to the official status conferred on it as the language of government, business, and, to a large extent, education. As the official language it is learnt and spoken by a large number of Ethiopians, irrespective of their mother-tongue. Oromigna and Tigrigna are designated as major languages on the basis of the number of mother-tongue speakers (ibid.). English is included as a major language on the grounds of its ‘crucial position in education, commerce, government and international communication’ (ibid, 56). McNab prefers, however, to classify the English language in Ethiopia as a language of special status, since it is not the mother tongue of any Ethiopians, while its use in the country is also strictly formal (McNab 1989.)
Ethiopia’s languages can thus be categorised as follows: major languages: Amharic, Oromigna, Tigrigna; minor languages: Afarigna, Gedeoigna, Haidyigna, Kefa-Mochigna, Kembatigna, Kunamigna, Sahoigna, Siltigna, Sidamigna, Somaligna, Wolaitigna; special status languages: Arabic, English and Geez. Arabic and Geez are used for religious purposes, while English and Amharic are used for educational purposes.