Biggest battle in Africa on 27. Oktober 1916

[Holger Kotthaus]

Biggest battle in Africa on 27. Oktober 1916

The military conflict in Ethiopia/Abyssinia, described in superficial historiography as a Coupe d'Etat (palace revolt), was in reality a short but bloody civil war in the shadow of the First World War, which developed into the largest battle in Africa in October 1916.

War of Abyssinian Succession - 1916  https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/abyssinian-succession.htm

The (British Military) Handbook of Abyssinia Vol. 1 June 1917 speaks of 200,000 participants. https://www.compasslibrary.com/en-se/products/handbook-of-abyssinia-1917

British Policy towards Ethiopia, 1909 to 1919, The Shoan Coupe d´Etat of September 1916,

https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/file/ed09ebcb-6abd-a0c6-42f3-f221c14a7606/1/Andrew%20Caplan%20Thesis.pdf

A forgotten diplomatic Front of World War I; - Ethiopia https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1361110

The strategic background of the Central Powers and the Entente to exert influence in Ethiopia is obvious. Both European opponents were also interested in drawing this military factor, which should not be underestimated, onto their respective sides. Personally, I am also convinced that this conflict would not have existed in Ethiopia without World War I.

But which people were behind it? Are there any names from European embassy staff, military advisers, observers, or possibly even take part at this battle?

Regards Holger

Edited 19 April by Holger Kotthaus

[MaureenE]

12 hours ago, Holger Kotthaus said:

Biggest battle in Africa on 27. Oktober 1916

The military conflict in Ethiopia/Abyssinia, described in superficial historiography as a Coupe d'Etat (palace revolt), was in reality a short but bloody civil war in the shadow of the First World War, which developed into the largest battle in Africa in October 1916.

 

The (British Military) Handbook of Abyssinia Vol. 1 June 1917 speaks of 200,000 participants. https://www.compasslibrary.com/en-se/products/handbook-of-abyssinia-1917

 

Handbook of Abyssinia is available online in the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/handbkabyssiniavol1

Maureen

[Holger Kotthaus]

6 hours ago, MaureenE said:

Handbook of Abyssinia is available online in the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/handbkabyssiniavol1

Maureen

Thanks Maureen for the helpful information. 14 years ago I had to pay US$180 for this book.

Regards Holger

[Holger Kotthaus]

SOME BACKGROUND

The civil war, the decisive battle at Segele and the names of the losing party were largely deleted from Ethiopian historiography and no longer mentioned. The later Emperor Haile Selassie I, who was involved in the civil war, feared discussions about his later illegitimate imperial title throughout his life. The entire background of this change of power and what was by far the largest battle in Africa was lost in the other events of the First World War.

 

For example, there are still many completely unproven events in the German Wikipedia entry to this day:

“At the end of 1915, Iyasu followed the German insistence and the call of the Turkish-Ottoman Sultan-Caliph for a “holy war”. [ . . . ] “In addition, the German envoy in Addis Ababa, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl von Syburg, tried to persuade Ethiopia to enter the war with promises of future territorial gains on the Red Sea. At the beginning of 1916, German submarines appeared off Eritrea, and Somali rebels or emissaries of the Somali Dervish uprising who had fled to Ethiopia within the territory claimed by the British also received German weapons. However, instead of attacking the Red Sea coast or Somalia, he attacked Anglo-Egyptian South Sudan. There, German agents had staged a parallel uprising by Christian Africans and Muslim Darfuris, while pro-Turkish Senussi from Libya were supposed to advance through Egypt into northern Sudan. However, Iyasu's venture failed right from the start and his clearly outnumbered Ethiopian troops were quickly defeated in May. The Allies consequently saw him as an enemy, and in return Anglo-Egyptian troops advanced quickly and unstoppably on Addis Ababa. [ . . . ] "In parallel, British agents fomented a rebellion against him among the nobles of Shewa in September. Iyasu and his father were defeated in the Battle of Segale, north of Addis Ababa, in October 1916." Source: Translated German Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyasu_V.

 

Even the more serious BBC begins its blog about the Ethiopian prince Lij Iyasu with a irritating statement in the headline. The first photo also does not show the 16-year-old prince and designated heir to the throne Lij Iyasu, but rather his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo, who was 64 at the time, before his coronation as King of Wollo in Dessie, May 1914. Source: How Ethiopian prince scuppered Germany's WW1 plans https://www.bbc.com/news/world-37428682

 

“A hundred years ago, from 1910 to 1916, the young Prince Lij Iyasu (1897-1936) assumed power as the uncrowned emperor of Ethiopia. However, he was overthrown by an oligarch alliance led by the future emperor Hayle Sillase. Iyasu's short reign, punctuated by fierce internal competition in the international context of World War I, remained obscure even to specialized researchers. But over the last two decades, new sources have been discovered that raise new questions and seek new answers. This book brings together various perspectives on Lij Iyasu's politics and life, his "pluralistic" and controversial religious leanings, and his international relations.“ Source: The foreign politics of Lij Iyasu in 1915/16 according to newly dicovered government paper, by Wolbert G.C. Smidt, page 103 https://www.academia.edu/31143633/The_Foreign_Politics_of_Lij_Iyasu_in_1915_16_According_to_Newly_Discovered_Government_Papers

 

Anyway; - But that is not the subject of this topic, but the names of the European people who may have been involved in this conflict during the First World War in Northeast Africa.

Will be continued. . .

Regards Holger

Edited Saturday at 10:02 by Holger Kotthaus

[Holger Kotthaus]

I found a reference in a translated Turkish text source that T.E. Lawrence was also involved in the events in Ethiopia during the GW?

Can anyone confirm or rule this out?

 

“ . . . Ethiopian historian Berhanou Abebe, while examining the "Addis Ababa Coup d'état" of 27 September 1916, puts forward a very interesting thesis that has been neglected by modern historians until now. According to this Ethiopian historian, England, which was greatly concerned about the developments in Ethiopia in 1915-1916, He sent the famous T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) to the city of Harar in the east of Ethiopia. As it is known, T.E. Lawrence was busy organizing the great Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire at that time.

Berhanou Abebe bases his argument on this subject on two main sources, the first of which is a letter sent to Paris by France's Ethiopian Ambassador at that time, Charles Brice. In this article, Charles Brice writes that a British officer named Major Lawrence, who was stationed in Somaliland, deputized for the Consulate in January 1916, while the British Consul in Harar, Major H. Dodds, was on leave[11].

The second source is the information provided by an Italian named Antonio Ziscka, who voluntarily enlisted in the "East African Troops" to take part in Italy's military operation against Ethiopia in 1935.

Antonio Ziscka, indeed, in his book Abissinia ultimo probléma insoluto dell Af-rica, T.E. He stated that Lawrence came to Ethiopia in 1915 and 1916, and that the turban that Prince Lidj lyassou wore on his head in the Somali region, which we mentioned above, and which was intended to prove that he was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, was given to him by T.E. He claimed that it was given by Lawrence[12].

To prove this extremely interesting thesis, Berhanou Abebe uses T.E. It points to Lawrence's trip to Somalia in 1928, which was a fact this time.“

 

Birinci Dünya Savaşı'nın Unutulmuş Bir Diplomatik Cephesi: Etyopya.

(A Forgotten Diplomatic Front of the First World War: Ethiopia.)

Online Source: https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin/2719/tur

/// pdf Source: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/1361084

Regards Holger

[athelstan]

Hello Holger.  All really fascinating stuff to do with Ethiopia during the Great War.  Not so sure about the T.E. Lawrence reference though.  There are of course many, many books about him and a quick check on Jeremy Wilson's epic 'Lawrence of Arabia - The Authorised Biography of T.E. Lawrence reveals no references to him being in Ethiopia at any time.  Neither is there any reference to him being in Somaliland in January 1916.  Suspect this is another Major Lawrence altogether (it is a fairly common surname) and some wishful thinking on making connections by the author.

Please keep up the contributions.  This is a new area to me and I hope of interest to others as well.

regards

James W

[Holger Kotthaus]

On 29/04/2024 at 21:41, athelstan said:

Hello Holger.  All really fascinating stuff to do with Ethiopia during the Great War.  Not so sure about the T.E. Lawrence reference though.  There are of course many, many books about him and a quick check on Jeremy Wilson's epic 'Lawrence of Arabia - The Authorised Biography of T.E. Lawrence reveals no references to him being in Ethiopia at any time.  Neither is there any reference to him being in Somaliland in January 1916.  Suspect this is another Major Lawrence altogether (it is a fairly common surname) and some wishful thinking on making connections by the author.

Please keep up the contributions.  This is a new area to me and I hope of interest to others as well.

regards

James W

Hi James

I agree with you. Full-time historians are more or less 'forced' to make money with their work and are therefore forced to 'produce headlines', which in some cases has a negative impact on the content and quality of their work.

 

However, I would describe the online content of the French Ministry of Research as quite serious. Likewise the work of the accredited and now deceased Ethiopian historian Dr. Berhanu Abebe and author of the article:

“Annales d'Ethiopie Le coup d'État du 26 septembre 1916 ou le dénouement d'une décennie de crise“

https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_2001_num_17_1_1005

 

The same applies to publications by Professor Gianfrancesco Lusini, Chair of African & Oriental History at the University of Naples, which were published in the Asia-Africa Institute of the University of Hamburg under the heading: “International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies” and online is accessible:

“Annales d’Éthiopie, XVII, 2001: Aksum, Éthiopie musulmane, Études“

https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/387

 

Was T. E. Lawrence 1915/1916 in Ethiopia?

file:///C:/Users/Kotthaus/Downloads/ethio_0066-2127_2001_num_17_1_1005-2.pdf page 330

 

I'm certainly not an expert on T. E. Lawrence so I haven't done any further research. With so many publications, I'm afraid I'll "lose sight of the forest for the trees."

There may be experts at GWF who can answer this question quicker than I can.

Regards Holger

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Holger Kotthaus