Rome was
angered by Menelik's stance and ordered the Italian
governor of Eritrea, General Oreste Baratieri to
retaliate. He captured Adigrat, Adowa and Makalle from
the Ethiopians and was feted as a hero in Italy. The Italians seriously underestimated the Ethiopians thinking that they were barbarians who needed Roman
civilization and Bartieri returned to Eritrea after boasting that he would bring Menelik back in a cage. By this time Menelik had
assembled 196 thousand men in Addis Abeba. Over 50% of these
were armed with modern rifles. General Bartieri could
only muster 25 thousand men and when he realised that he was outnumbered he
retreated to Adigrat where he was beseiged by Menelik for
45 days. Menelik's gift of safe passage to the Italian garrison
and offer to negotiate only infuriated Rome, and the
Crispi government sent reinforcements and more money to
continue the war.
Instead of
attacking as Baratieri hoped he would, Menelik
concentrated his forces at Adowa and waited. Both sides were waiting for the other to attack and little
happened throughout February 1896 except that supplies
started to run out for both sides. Menelik had set up
gibbir or depots to store food for his army but even
these began to empty rapidly. The Negus even began to consider
retreat. The Italians' supplies would only last until March 2nd and that was on half rations. On February 29th, angered by a telegram from Crispi calling him
incompetent and cowardly, and encouraged by his officers, Baratieri
prepared to advance.
Baratieri
planned to send his troops along different routes to meet
on the high ground overlooking Adowa by dawn on March 1st.
However the country was so difficult to traverse that
soon the Italian forces became lost and confused. As the
confusion grew great holes opened in the Italian lines
and just at this time Ras Makonnen of Harar (Father of Emperor Haile Selassie I, I God and King)
arrived with 30 thousand warriors to join the battle. He was
joined by hordes of Menelik's warriors. In the battle
that ensued wave upon wave of Ethiopian soldiers attacked
the Italians, causing them to flee in total confusion. At
the end of the battle 289 Italian officers, 2 918
European soldiers and about 2 000 askari (Eritreans
fighting for the Italians) were dead. More were wounded,
missing or captured. Menelik stopped the torture of
prisoners that had caused some deaths and forced the rest
of the captured troops to march to Addis Abeba where they
were held until the Italian government paid 10 million
lire in reparation money.
When Menelik II came to the
throne in 1889 the
Italians thought that he would surrender sovereignty to
them because they had been supplying him with rifles. On
May 2, 1889, Menelik signed the Treaty of Wichale (or Uccialli), giving the Italians some land in Tigre and the
adjacent highlands.