Menelik II In Ethiopia

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During the revolutions in Ethiopia, Menelik II had an immense part in the government and power. As a young child he was educated in the house of the ruler. He did not like how the government worked and started rebelling by making his own relations with countries before his time of power. He also betrayed the king in order to make treaties and allies with other countries. Society before Menelik was not as structured and did not have as many rules in place. During the rule of Tewodros and Yohannes there were more wars and rebellions that occured. Ethiopia did not have as much land or freedom because it was a protectorate of Italy. Menelik’s greatest achievement was freeing Ethiopia because it gave him more power to do what he wanted with the …show more content…
As a young kid, Menelik was taken by the king and educated at his kingdom. He always wanted to leave the kings rule, so he went behind the rulers’ back and made his own relations with outside countries. Menelik made a secret treaty with Italy and also allied with France. They agreed to give him supplies that was essential for battles. They exported weapons to Ethiopia in order to improve fighting (Adejembobi). The weapons that were used from other countries were more modern which helped to grow Ethiopia’s empire. It also led to a strong army who were then able to conquer more land. Before Menelik, there was a ruler named Tewodros. He tried to reform Ethiopia, although all of his ideas were not put into place. He started the idea of a principle government with judges or appointed officials. After Tewodros and the next ruler, Yohannes, died, Menelik received all of the power and was able to reform how the political system worked and carry out more of Tewodros’s ideas. Additionally, Menelik strengthened the centralized power of the government (“Menelik II”). He appointed generals to be in each of the provinces. Below them were governors who appointed the Shum, the heads of the lowest division of officials (Adejembobi). Later he created the first cabinet in Ethiopia (“Menelik II”). Menelik made the government system more organized and efficient. By electing other officials to help him with the power, he …show more content…
Ethiopia was not very technologically advanced and many times took ideas from allied countries to help improve their own ideas. Telegraph lines and the printing press were new innovations that helped improve overall life (“Menelik II”). The growth in technology throughout Ethiopia was benefitted by these inventions. People could now send and receive messages rapidly and share information more efficiently leading to more inventions to come. As population increased because of the advances, more and more diseases came about. Many people died because there were no cures for the diseases. They easily spread to others because of the close quarters. Better hospitals with new vaccines were created. These vaccines were created because of the unsanitary conditions caused by the influx of people (Adejemobi). These hospitals and vaccines allowed for people to live healthier lives. People were able to live longer and not get sick as frequently. With more people getting vaccines, disease did not spread as easily. This allowed for people to have more time to work on education and getting a job. When only a portion of the population recieved education, it was harder to have a prospering country or city. Schools before Menelik’s time did not offer the best, most beneficial education to its students. Modern schools led to more people coming up with better ideas and the government being stronger (“Menelik II”). Not only did more