Browsing by Author "Weldegebreil, Biniam"

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    Memories of the Victory of Adwa: A Focus on Its commemoration. (1941-1999)
    (Addis Ababa University, 2004-02) Weldegebreil, Biniam; Gebreselase, Teclehaimanot(PhD)
    National Commemoration and memories of glorious past of a given nation have played significant role in shaping national identity in many parts of the world. In Africa, where colonialism resulted in the formation of new states, each of the newly born countries tried to build a distinct national identity in order to prevent disintegration. This was made possible partly by retaining a collective past that would epitomize the unity of a given people. 123 As opposed to many of the African countries, Ethiopia is not a creation of Europeans. The country has existed over a long period in spite of repeated invasions from external powers. The Victory of Adwa, which rescued the country from European colonialism, among many wars the country fought, was fought by almost all the peoples of Ethiopia. This unique Victory has been, therefore, the most celebrated and glorified part of the history of the country. This resounding Victory acquired a strong religious interpretation especial from the early times up to the Revolution. Emperor Menelik began the celebration of the Victory Day to pay homage to Saint George who was considered to have assisted the Ethiopians at the Battle of Adwa. Nevertheless, political implications of the celebration were also conspicuous when the magnificent parade was displayed before foreign representatives, which Emperor Menelik used it as a forum to display the military potential of his country to neighbouring colonialist countries. The commemoration and memories of Adwa fostered strong sense of patriotism and heroism at times the country encountered invasion from external forces throughout the twenty century. The memory people had, regarding the Victory of Adwa, was instrumental on the eve of the Italian invasion and during the resistance war in arousing many people to fight against the Italians. Adwa’s memories were also employed to reconstruct the symbols of the state in the aftermath of the liberation. The Emperor, by renovating the statue of Emperor Menelik II, put himself in the line of national contunity 124 and declared symbolically the defeat of the Italians. Emperor Hailesselasie also employed to strengthen his throne by overplaying the role of his father. During the regime of the Emperor, the fame of his father, Ras Makonnin, was glorified as a man who brought Victory to Ethiopia at the Battle of Adwa. Nevertheless, with the passage of time the Emperor subtly avoided praising Adwa and its memories to evade the contempt that could have come to his regime by praising Adwa. The new ideology introduced by the Darg, resulted in a total departure in the commemoration and the meanings given to the Victory of Adwa. The divorce of the state and religion had a direct ramification in this regard. The religious symbolism of the Victory was abandoned (at least from the state point of view) and secular interpretations of the Victory were given and overplayed. The commemorations of Adwa Day began to take place out side the Cathedral of St. George, at Menelik II Square and Revolution Square. The Darg , by colorfully celebrating the Victory of Adwa and by activating and reinvigorating the memory of the Victory, tried to undermine the old regime, got its ideology and policy delivered and mobilized the people against the tide of external invasion and internal oppositions. With the demise of the Darg, the political philosophy of the ruling regime brought about change in the commemoration as well as in the interpretations of the Victory of Adwa. EPRDF did not seem to take notice of the values of national symbols like the Victory Day of Adwa. In the first three or four years, after it took power narratives of the Victory were not published in the newspapers and its memories were not told in the government media. 125 Moreover, unlike the earlier regimes, when the commemoration was presided over by higher officials, the top leaders of the EPRDF showed their ambivalence by not presiding over the celebrations. The Centenary celebrations in particular showed vividly the ambivalence of the government. The government handed over the responsibility of celebrating the Grand National Centenary to a third party and allotted a very insignificant amount of money to its celebrations. The opposition, on the other hand, took an extreme stand rejecting the Centenary celebrations at Adwa where Ethiopians got the resounding victory in 1896. The controversy between the government and the opposition made the Centenary celebrations highly politicized. It is understood from the discussion of the theisis that the meanings and commemorations of the Victory of Adwa were maneuvered in line with the political philosophy of each of these governments. The memories and commemoration were revived and reinvigorated at times when the unity of the country was challenged, became dormant when peace and order was established and were vulnerable to manipulation for a destined political objective. In spite of this, however, Adwa was a useful past that the three regimes invariably used to mobilize the Ethiopian people against enemies and to inculcate their policies