Theodore II (Ethiopia)

Emperor Theodor II

Theodor II ( Ethiop . ቴዎድሮስ, Téwodros ; born as Kassa Hailu in 1818 in Scherhié , historical Quara province ; † April 13, 1868 in Magdala , today: Amhara region ) was initially governor of Quara (Kwara) and from 1855 to 1868 emperor of Ethiopia .

Life

Youth and political advancement

The emperor's cross

Theodore was born on the western border of Christian Abyssinia , today's Ethiopia. His mother was of little origin, his father Hailu was former governor of Quara. He was supposed to be a clergyman and was brought up in the Tschankar monastery near Gonder . When the monastery was destroyed, he escaped and lived for some time with the family of his high-ranking uncle Kenfu. When bloody feuds broke out in the family, he fled to the remote mountains of Saharo , where he became the leader of a band of robbers.

As such, he was feared and was entrusted with the governorship of Quara by Menen, the mother of Ras Ali . In the autumn of 1848 he appeared as a rebel and was victoriously awarded by Ras Ali the landscapes of the Menen around Gondar and the title Dejazmach . Next he defeated in rapid succession in November 1852 Goschu , the Prince of Gojjam , in January and July 1853 the Prince Ras Ali himself, in May 1854 Beru , the son Goschus, and finally in February 1855 the Dejazmach Wube Hayle Mariam of Tigray and Simen (known in European literature as Ubie von Tigray and Simen ) at the Battle of Däräsge . Two days later, on February 11, 1855, he was crowned negusa nagast (German: "King of kings") of Abyssinia by Abuna Salama as Theodor II . The coronation took place in the Marienkirche built by Wilhelm Schimper and Eduard Zander in Däräsge . Wube Hayle Mariam von Tigray, who had recently been defeated, had given the contract to plan and build the church.

Domestic politics and reforms to modernize the country

Imperial seal of Tewodros II (ንጉሥ)

Theodore opposed all attempts by the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain to influence his country and, at least officially, abolished slavery , although it was unsuccessful. After all, he put an end to the widespread robbery and restored security along the routes. He divided the provinces of the country into smaller units, which were subordinate to paid governors. He improved the administration of justice by assuming the post of chief judge himself. Theodor also tried to modernize the military and raised an army of paid soldiers who were equipped with muskets and mortars according to European guidelines.

Nevertheless, Theodor found himself facing an increasing number of domestic political opponents in the course of time. This included not only numerous provincial princes, such as Kassa (i) Mercha, who later became Yohannes IV , but also Abuna Salama, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church . The ruler, who was largely isolated domestically, therefore sought support abroad. With a letter addressed to the British monarch, he linked the hope of technological and weapons help to modernize his country. In this way, he said, it would also be possible to raise his prestige again and to keep his domestic opponents in check.

Conflict with Britain and ruin

The corpse of Theodor after the capture of Magdala

When the British Queen left unanswered the letter of October 29, 1862, in which Theodor asked for help against Islam and the "Turks" (this expression meant the Egyptians), his anger at this disregard for himself discharged finally to the Anglican missionary Henry Aaron Stern, who had good relations with Abuna Salama. Stern was eventually flogged and chained on Theodor's orders, whereupon Great Britain recalled its consul. This set in motion the chain of events that would eventually lead to the British Ethiopia expedition.

First, Theodor reacted to what he believed to be a renewed British provocation in January 1864 with the arrest of the consul, whom he had chained and brought to Magdala fortress with other Europeans who gradually fell into his hands. After a long diplomatic tug of war between Britain and the Ethiopian rulers, which was not only unsuccessful but also that caused the British negotiator sent to the negotiations at the Ethiopian court also held hostage were taken, the British government decided on August 13, 1867 for a violent end to the hostage drama by sending a punitive expedition to free the hostages and restore Britain's (supposedly) battered reputation in the world.

In December 1867, an Indo-British expedition army under the command of Robert Cornelis Napier landed on the coast of the country, which began at the end of January 1868 with the advance inland. On April 13, 1868, the British-Indian army launched the storm on Magdala , where Theodor had holed up. In order to avoid a detention that was shameful for him, Theodor committed suicide immediately before the mountain fortress fell.

The German Africa explorer Gerhard Rohlfs was an eyewitness to the storming of Magdala. He had participated in the military operation as the official observer of Prussia and published the events literarily in 1869. Rohlfs noticed that Theodor's body was largely intact. He regretted that no photograph was taken. However, a hand drawing was made. The day after the storm, Theodor was buried with all honors in the vicinity of the church in Magdala. But Rohlfs feared that the Oromo would take revenge on the dead after the army withdrew.

family

The British also fell into the hands of the two women and the son of Emperor Theodor at Magdala. Theodor had three children with his first wife, who was named Durenesch, of whom only the eldest, the seven-year-old son Alamayo, was still alive; the second wife, Tamena, was the former widow of a Uedjo boss and, together with her two children, from her first marriage in the fortress.

Critical appraisal

Theodor's historic achievement is to have "stopped the collapse of Ethiopia and created the conditions for a future upswing". The fact that his measures to modernize the country were no longer successful was due to the structural conditions of Ethiopia as well as to his personality, which were characteristic of heavy alcohol consumption and sudden changes in mood and outbursts of anger.

The inner-Ethiopian power struggles following Theodor's death and the other historical events prevented the development of any form of culture of remembrance of the tragic events of Magdala for a long time . Today, however, Theodor is seen by many Ethiopians as a national hero and his fight against the British in Magdala as a heroic act of anti-colonial resistance.

literature

• Wilhelm Baum:  Theodor II. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 20, Bautz, Nordhausen 2002, ISBN 3-88309-091-3 , Sp. 1455-1459.

Web links

Commons : ቴዎድሮስ  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, Mary Baker: Africa and the Africans in the Nineteenth Century . ISBN 978-0-765-61697-5 (page 79)
2. ↑ See Volker Matthies: Enterprise Magdala. Punitive expedition in Ethiopia. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-572-0 .
3. ↑ Gerhard Rohlfs, on behalf of Sr. Majesty of the King of Prussia with the English Expedition Corps in Abyssinia , Bremen 1869, pp. 174, 175
4. ^ Gerhard Rohlfs, on behalf of Sr. Majesty of the King of Prussia with the English Expedition Corps in Abyssinia , Bremen 1869, pp. 173, 174
5. ↑ ^{a b} Joseph Ki-Zerbo: The history of black Africa. Translated from the French by Elke Hammer. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-26417-0 , p. 318.
6. ↑ Matthies (2010), p. 170.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sahle Dengel	Emperor of Ethiopia 1855–1868	Tekle Giyorgis II.