BY BETELHEM BEDLU
“At the beginning of March, 1896, Ethiopians, at the Battle of Adwa, startled the world. They decisively defeated the Italian/European army. An army trained and armed for colonization mission. The victory not only put to halt Italian’s colonial ambition in Ethiopia but it also sent shockwaves throughout Europe. The victory undoubtedly marked the beginning of the end of colonialism in Africa and the end of the notion of nativism and European white supremacy,”
In his essay dedicated to the 124th Anniversary of Ethiopia’s Victory at the Battle of Adwa on Tadias magazine Ayele Bekerie (PhD) wrote the above statement on Feb 1st 2020.
Despite the internal wars that brought them to the battlefields, the Ethiopian women saw their involvement in successive wars fought in defense of the motherland from foreign aggression after the second half of the 19th century.
It is worthy of note that regardless of the extraordinary type of foreign threat that the nation had to bear against the survival of its independence, the age-long integrity and independence was not broken. This was, indeed, due to the great sacrifice paid by the valiant sons and daughters of Ethiopia, as depicted in the case study of women and warfare and their role during the campaign of Adwa, 1895/96, and the Italo-Ethiopian war, 1935-41 by Minale Adugna.
It is quite evident that wars were frequent events throughout Ethiopian history; and sadly enough, men are mainly considered to have fought in those wars.
However, regardless of all the challenges, biological, social or any other cases that mitigated the degree of women’s involvement in war, many Ethiopian women played very important roles in the history of Ethiopian war; and sacrificed their lives for the love of their country.
Among other warfronts, the Battle of Adwa that took place between Ethiopia and the invading Italian forces in March 1896 at the town of Adwa is the best showcase in this regard. Ethiopian women, under the leadership of Empress Taytu Bitul, made extraordinary history. Ethiopian women, not restricted by those factors, wrote their own history standing by the side of their counterparts.
Of these women, as historical documents stated, Empress Taytu, who is the mastermind behind Emperor Menelik, is the first one. Ethiopia’s ingenious Empress Taytu is said to engineer the victory at the frontline as recognized by friends and foe.
The Empress played the leading role in mobilizing troops, organizing and transporting supplies and provisions, raising the morale of fighters.
“It is thought that wars were fought mainly by men. However, the Empress was one of the women who played a significant role in mobilizing troops, organizing and transporting supplies and provisions, raising the morale of fighters, gathering intelligence, nursing the wounded, and participating in actual fighting, during the Battle of Mekelle in particular and during the Battle of Adwa,” an International Journal of African Renaissance Studies wrote by Wondim Tiruneh Zeleke and published under the title ‘Achievements of Women during the Battle of Adwa and Its Aftermath: A Case Study of Empress Taytu Betul (1880s–1910s) indicated.
According to the piece, her command and leadership was accountable for various responsibilities, including the actual fighting.
In his book “Battle of Adwa: Reflections on Ethiopia’s Historic Victory Against European Colonialism”, Paulos Milkias, said that Empress Taytu was not only a diplomat and stateswoman with resolve, but also an ingenious commandant versed in the art of war, a tactician par excellence.
While some women were responsible for guarding the camp along with some soldiers so that it would not be possessed by the enemy, others have helped their combatant men folks by gathering information on the whereabouts of their enemy’s lines of combat, as to the same case study.
Furthermore, the women had a role of misleading the enemies by displaying themselves from top of the hill, shouting but disappearing suddenly from the site so that the site would be falsely targeted by the enemy.
Apart from facilitating the burials of soldiers, with the absence of proper transportation, these women had to carry the wounded to camps on their back (Tekle Tsadiq 1983E.C227-29).
In similar manner, those women who did not go to the battlefield had the responsibility of carrying the burden of men’s work at home.
Following in the footsteps of Emperor Taytu, Ethiopian women also played a part in the successful completion of the war. Aside from directly involved in the war and sacrificing their lives, they played an important part in preparing and supplying food and water for fighters, nursing wounded fellow citizens, as well as uplifting the morale of the army through songs.
What is more, the works carried out to gather information about the enemy had an important impact in the campaign. Without exaggeration, the participation of women in the battle yielded multitudinous benefits and contributed a lot to the victory.
Above and beyond all other contributions, the Victory of Adwa, which is an important event in the shared memory of the entire African population, has exhibited the spirit of unity, love and friendship. Equally important, it was a place where gender equality was massively ascertained.
While commemorating the 127th Victory of Adwa, it is only fair to mark the significant role that women contributed to the victory. There is no doubt that women exerted a huge role in leadership, diplomacy, tactic, among others.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2023
