Everything about The Battle Of Dogali totally explained
The
Battle of Dogali was fought on
January 24,
1887 between
Italy and
Ethiopia in Dogali (near
Massawa, in present-day
Eritrea).
On his own initiative,
Ras Alula Engida, then governor of
Emperor Yohannes IV, had attacked the Italian-controlled town of
Sahati on the day prior. Hundreds of his men were slaughtered by cannon fire, while only 4 Italians were injured, forcing Ras Alula to pull his men back.
On January 24, a battalion of 500 Italians sent to reinforce the Italians at Sahati were ambushed by Ras Alula's men at Dogali. Although the Italians fought heroically all were killed, except for 80 wounded men who were able to escape notice by the Ethiopians and be rescued.
Although a victory for the Ethiopians, Haggai Erlich notes that this incident only encouraged the Italians to intregue with Yohannes' rival,
Menelik II, then ruler only of
Shewa, and encourage his insubordination towards his Emperor.
This battle was celebrated under the
Derg regime, and
Mengistu Haile Mariam commemorated the centennial with much attention, including the erection of a monument topped with a red star on the battlefield. Following Eritrean independence, the monument was removed. Paul B. Henze diplomatically notes in a footnote, "When I crossed the battlefield in 1996, I could detect no trace of the monument." Erlich provides more information: when Eritrean troops gained control of the area in
1989, "a prominent commander, now a prominent minister, was delighted to himself blast Mangistu's monument of Ras Alula." This may seem unusual since Alula was
Tigrian, the
EPLF was majority Tigrian, and the post Derg government was inclusive of Tigrian elements. Observers, including Erlich and others, attribute this to Eritrean Tigrian views of their own relationship with Ethiopia as a whole. Since Alula fought for the Empire and not Tigray itself, he's viewed as a traitor on the Eritrean side of the border, a hero on the Ethiopian side.
Films
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battle Of Dogali'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://battle_of_dogali.totallyexplained.com">Battle of Dogali Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
