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Initiatives and Objectives in Ethio-European relations, 1827–1862*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Donald Crummey
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Extract

Although the primary initiative in nineteenth-century Ethio-European relations came from Europe, the Ethiopian princes recurrently showed an active desire to exploit the European presence. In the first half of the century, the most active Ethiopian diplomat was Dajjāch Webē of Semēn and Tegrē (fl. 1830s–1855). Webē is taken as representative of such princes as Rās Ali and Negus Sāhla Sellāsē, who from 1827 to 1862 repeatedly launched initiatives and refined their objectives. The latter arose primarily from the desire for immediate aggrandizement and expressed themselves most commonly in the search for advanced weapons; but wider issues and the control of military technology were not ignored. The dramatic career of Emperor Tēwodros has obscured the extent to which his predecessors foreshadowed his own foreign policy. A closer look suggests that his predecessors were just as active as Tēwodros, and lacked only his breadth of understanding.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , July 1974 , pp. 433 - 444
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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References

1 A truism, but worthy of repetition in the light of the post-Robinson and Gallagher scramble for African causes for the partition.

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