By Dr. Richard Pankhurst
The last decades of Menilek’s (1889-1913) reign marked the beginning
of Ethiopia’s modernisation, which had been delayed, among other reasons
by almost a century of internal or external warfare. An unprecedented
period of peace after the battle of Adwa, the opening up of foreign
contacts in the aftermath of the Italian defeat, and the advent of
increasing numbers of foreign craftsmen, created an entirely new climate
for economic and technological developent. This owed much also to the
Emperor’s almost child-like interest in innovations of all kinds, and to
the ability of his trusted Swiss engineer Alfred Ilg. All these factors
contributed to the founding at this time of a modern state. The
Founding of Addis Ababa One of the earliest developments in the field of
modernisation had its origin in 1881, when Menilek, then only king of
Shawa, abandoned the old Shawan
capital, Ankobar, and established his
headquarters further south, on the mountain of Entoto. Later, in 1886,
his consort Queen Taytu, and her courtiers, moved down to the nearby
plain, the site of thermal waters. There they set up a new place of
abode. Taytu named it Addis Ababa, literally New Flower. Five yeras
later it became the capital of the Ethiopian realm, The settlement,
which rapidly acquired the character of a boon town, had by 1910 an
estimated population of around 70,000 permanent and 30,000 to 50,000
temporary inhabitants. The town became the site of many of the country’s
principal innovations, and, because of its sizeable population, enabled
a degree of specialisation of labour scarcely known elsewhere in the
land.
Enter the Russians The growth of Addis Ababa, which was particularly
rapid after the battle of Adwa, was accompanied by the construction of
some of the country’s earliest modern bridges. They were important in
that the land in and around the capital was broken up by deep ravines,
which were filled during the rainy season by unfordable torrents. One of
the first Addis Ababa bridges was erected by a group of Russians after
one of their number was drowned on the way to or from the then nearby
Russian Legation. Other bridges were built over the Awash river on the
trade route to the Gulf of Aden coast, and in Gojjam. Its local ruler,
King Takla Haymanot, obtained the bridge-building services of an
enterprising Italian, Count Salimbeni.
Where Tewodros had Failed Partly in view of the impending conflict
with the Italians, Menilek subsequently reorganised the system of
taxation. He instituted a tithe for the upkeep of the army, in 1892.
This marked an important step, which Emperor Tewodros had attempted, but
for lack of resources had failed to take, towards terminating the old,
but iniquitous system, whereby the soldiers lived by looting from the
peasantry.
New Money The need to assert Ethiopian sovereignty in the face of
Italy’s Protectorate claim may well also have helped to prompt Menilek
to issue the country’s first national currency in 1894. This, according
to the Ethio-Italian Additional Convention of 1889 was to have been
struck in Italy, but Menilek, after denuncing the Italo-Ethiopian
Wechale treaty, of 1889, had it minted in Paris instead. The at least
partially political motive for instituting the new currency was revealed
in an official proclamation. It declared that this money was introduced
“in order that our country may increase in honour and our commerce
prosper”. The new money bore the then politically relevant Biblical
motto: “Ethiopia stretches forth her hands to God”, as well as effigies
of Menilek and the Lion of Judah. The currency was based on a silver
dollar, of the same weight and value as the old Austrian Maria Theresa
dollar, or thaler, which had circulated throughout Ethiopia, as well as
much of the Middle East, since the mid-eighteenth century. Despite this
equivalence Menilek’s money failed to supplant the thaler, which for the
next half century was to remain the country’s principal coin. A mint
was later established in the palace, with Austrian help. It was used to
strike Menilek’s smaller denomination coins, but not the thaler piece
itself, which was imported from Paris.
A Postal Service The year 1894 also witnessed the issue of Ethiopia’s
first postage stamps. These too were produced in Paris, and bore
representations of Menilek and the Lion of Judah. The stamps were at
first little used in the country itself, but were well received by
philatelists, and provided the basis for the subsequent development of
an efficient postal system. This owed much to the assistance of French
advisers, and enabled Ethiopia to join the International Postal Union in
1908. This was the first international organisation to which the
country was admitted, but by no means the last.
The Jibuti Railway Another important step taken by Menilek at this
time was the granting to Ilg, in 1894, of a concession for the
construction of Ethiopia’s first railway, to link Addis Ababa with the
French Somaliland port of Jibuti. Ilg, whose work confined him the
Ethiopian capital, obtained the support of the French trader Lon
Chefneux, who became his partner. Implementation of the project could
not, however, take place until after the battle of Adwa, on 1 March
1896, and the consequent elimination of Italy’s Protectorate claim. The
French Government almost immediately afterwards the gave permission, on 5
March, for the laying of an adjacent section of the line across French
protectorate territory, between Jibuti port and the Ethiopian frontier.
The railway project, however, soon ran into numerous technical,
financial and political difficulties. Building operations were so
delayed that the railway line reached Dire Dawa, half way between Addis
Ababa and the coast, only in 1902. The original railway company then
went bankrupt. Menilek was obliged to grant a second concession, in
1906, to his personal phycisian, Dr Vitalien, who had the support of the
French Banque de l’Indo-Chine. Railway construction work, backed by
French finance, was then resumed, and the line duly arrived at Aqaqi, in
the vicinity of the capital, in 1915. The coming of the railway, the
country’s greatest technological achievement of the period, contributed
greatly to the expansion, and permanence of Addis Ababa. Of major
commercial importance, the line also led to substantial expansion of the
country’s import-export trade.
Railway construction was accompanied by the installation of the
country’s first telephone and telegraph line, which followed the railway
track from the capital to the coast. This line, which was erected by
the technicians working on the railway, and led from Addis Ababa to
Jibuti. The line was supplemented,after the battle of Adwa, by a second
one, installed by Italian electricians. It ran from the Ethiopian
capital to the frontier of Eritrea, as well as to a number of provincial
capitals to the south and west of the country.
Source: http://www.linkethiopia.org
No comments:
Post a Comment