By the 19^th century, the various European Nations had been for some time turning their thoughts towards the continent of Africa into a sphere of influence. According to the interests that each power had for itself; Italy was anxious to obtain satisfactory share. The eastern shoulder of Africa was the sphere she had fixed her eyes; Ethiopia being one of the countries of interest.

Italy tried to build diplomatic relations with Ethiopia and various treaties had been made between the two governments amongst which the Treaty of Uccialli was the famous one that led to many disputes. In the treaty it was tried to mark the Italian-Ethiopian boundary and above all by Article 17 of this treaty it was stated as if Emperor Menelik II had consented to employ the Italian’ government in treating all matters that might arise with other powers and governments. In the side of the Italian government, the statement of the article imprinted a concept of establishing protectorate over Ethiopia.

Menelik refused point-blank to admit the protectorate or any equivalent to it, or even to undertake not to place himself under the protection of another nation. He attributed the mistake to his interpreter and refused to here any more of the matter. Thus, the diplomatic relation between the two governments broke off which finally led to the battle of Adwa which is unquestionably a singular epochal event in Ethiopian History.

On 1 March 1896, the Ethiopian forces led by Emperor Menelik II scored a resounding victory over Italian colonialism. That victory put an end to decades of Italian encroachment on Ethiopia. it thus ensured the independent existence of the country, while the rest of the continent was swept by the tide of European colonialism. The victory won on that day has reverberated through the decades.

It has shaped the historical evolution of the country to a degree that few other events of the modem era have done. It also left a deep imprint on Africans struggling for independence and the Black race as a whole fighting for social justice and equality.

Thus, the great Victory at Adwa which over time brought freedom and sovereignty to all colonized peoples on the African Continent belongs not only to the peoples of Ethiopia but to all Africans and freedom loving peoples.