Ethiopia Monday launched a month-long celebrations of the 125th anniversary of Battle of Adwa, the first victory of Africans over the highly armed Italian forces at the Battle of Adwa in north-central Ethiopia in 1896.
“Adwa month” celebrations includes events several events such as panel discussions across the country and within the Ethiopian Embassies across the world, according to the organizers. The Italian forces armed with advanced military weapons at the time was defeated by Emperor Menelik’s of Ethiopia’s patriots who were less armed but said no to colonialism.
The month-long event is used by the government to call for unity at a time of persistent ethnic clashes that left hundreds of people dead and thousands of others displaced due to violence in the last nearly three years.
The victory that preserved Ethiopia’s independence in 1896 resounded elsewhere in Africa, becoming a rallying point for Africans a generation later as they bid to end colonial rule. Video:
