Battle of Segale

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Battle of Segale
date October 27, 1916
place Segale, 65 km north of Addis Ababa
output Ethiopian victory
Parties to the conflict

Regents from Shewa

Loyalists under Iyasu V.

Commander

Got Giyorgis

Mikael from Wollo

Troop strength
120,000 80,000

The Battle of Segale , which took place north of Addis Ababa on October 27, 1916 , was a victory for the supporters of Empress Zauditu against the supporters of Emperor Iyasu V. According to Paul B. Henze, Segale was "Ethiopia's greatest battle since Adwa " of the year 1896. With this battle Ras Tafari, the future Emperor Haile Selassie, consolidated his political importance.

background

The nobility of Ethiopia was in turmoil due to the reign of Emperor Iyasu V. Iyasu did not honor the important Coptic holiday Meskel in the capital Addis Ababa. Instead, he stayed in the predominantly Muslim city of Harar . Therefore, the nobility decided to embark on a political intrigue: 17 days later, on September 27, a number of noblemen met and convinced Abuna Mattewos Iyasu to excommunicate, accusing him of converting to Islam. On the palace steps it was announced that Iyasu had been deposed in favor of the Empress Zauditu. The conspirators gave orders to Harar that Iyasu be arrested. But it was not carried out. There is disagreement over the following events: Bahru Zewde believes that Iyasu wanted to march on Addis Ababa, but that 15,000 soldiers stopped his advance at Mieso. As a result, Iyasu fled into the desert. Harold Marcus cites European diplomatic cables and explains that Iyasu had instead marched to the capital with one force under Dejazmach Gebre and a second made up of loyal Afars and Somalis to secure Dire Dawa. Dejazmach defected to the opposing army while the Afars and Somalis deserted before reaching the city. Iyasu then fled to Jijiga with his bodyguards. Aleqa Gebre Igziabiher Elyas' story confirms Marcus in the fact that Iyasu fled into the desert, where his Afar supporters helped him. In both cases he lacked Harar as a support base, so he had to take refuge in the desert.

battle

Battle of Segale, natural colors on canvas, unknown artist, around 1920

Iyasu's most important ally was his father King (Negus) Mikael von Wollo, who let his soldiers march slowly on the capital to help Iyasu to regain the throne. The king waited until the middle of October and when he marched off he smashed the troops that were sent towards him. On October 18, his troops defeated an advanced force of 11,000 soldiers near Menz and killed their leader, Ras Lul Seged . His opponents were under the command of the (next in line to the throne) regent Ras Tafari (the future emperor Haile Selassie ) and Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis, who led their troops estimated at 25,000 to 35,000 men north into battle. The two armies faced each other at Segale on October 22nd. Ras Tafari later announced: “Bloodshed among Ethiopians is very sad. I agreed that the monks of the monasteries of Debre Libanos and Zequala ... should come with their crosses to ask King Mikael to return to Wollo without waging war. It is said that King Mikael arrested the envoys and ignored their message. ”King Mikael opened the battle early in the morning, but his artillery was incapacitated by the enemy and his machine gun shooters ran out of ammunition. According to eyewitness reports, Aleqa Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas traced the opening of the butcher and describes the storm of King Mikael's cavalry and infantry : The Shewan troops were trained to fire their rifles in horizontal rows and in quick succession. Then the Shewans attacked, pursued Wollo's army and took prisoners. The Shewan cavalry moved from valley to valley and overran King Mikael's camp. At 3:25 in the afternoon, a Shewan officer reported the victory in the capital by telephone, "... with numerous deaths on both sides". Aleqa Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas explained the high blood toll by the similarity of badges and uniforms on both sides, so that the soldiers could often only differ from one another by passwords, which they often did not know. Bahru Zewde remarked succinctly: "The Wollo troops were defeated; King Mikael captured; the coup d'état [of September 27] sealed with blood."

aftermath

King Mikael defended himself in his wagon castle until defeat was inevitable and he surrendered. All enemy soldiers captured were pardoned as long as they swore allegiance to the new empress. However, two first lieutenants of King Mikael escaped the battle undefeated: Ras Yimer managed to gather parts of the dispersed troops and lead them to Dessie; Fitawrari Sirah Bizu threw away his weapons and combat suit and slipped off the battlefield into the robe of a sick priest. With a single servant he met Ras Yimer again in Dessie. Dejazmach Gebre Igziabiher, a half-hearted supporter of King Mikael, sat out the battle. But when his king surrendered and tried to flee, the farmers of Aliyu Amba ambushed him and killed him. When the battle ended, the dethroned Iyasu reached Ankober and led his small army of 6,000 men back into the desert to Dessie, which he reached on November 8th. There Ras Yimer and Fitawrari Sirah Bizu joined. When the imperial army reached the city on December 10, he fled further north from the imperial domain to the Amba Mariam fortress. "Iyasu could no longer prevent the formation of a new government," writes Harold Marcus.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul B. Henze: Layers of Time, A History of Ethiopia , New York: Palgrave. P. 196. ISBN 0-312-22719-1
  2. ↑ a b Bahru Zewde: A History of Modern Ethiopia (second ed., 2001). Oxford: James Currey. P. 128. ISBN 0-85255-786-8 .
  3. ↑ Harold G. Marcus: Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936 , Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996, pp. 19f.
  4. ↑ Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas: Prowess, Piety, and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930) , translated by Edward Molvaer (Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 1994), p. 366.
  5. ^ Harold G. Marcus: Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936 , Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996, p. 22.
  6. ^ Haile Selassie: My Life and Ethiopia's Progress , Chicago: Frontline Distribution International, 1999, pp. 54f.
  7. ^ Harold G. Marcus: Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936 , Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996, p. 23.
  8. ↑ a b Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas: Prowess, Piety, and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930) , translated by Edward Molvaer (Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 1994), p. 371.
  9. ^ A b Harold G. Marcus: Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936 , Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996, p. 24.
  10. ^ A b Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas: Prowess, Piety, and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909-1930) , translated by Edward Molvaer (Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 1994), p. 372.
  11. ^ Harold G. Marcus: Haile Sellassie I the Formative years: 1892-1936 , Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996, pp. 25f.