[16] In his history of Ethiopia, British historian Augustus Wylde wrote: "England made use of King John [Emperor Yohannes] as long as he was of any service and then threw him over to the tender mercies of Italy...It is one of our worst bits of business out of the many we have been guilty of in Africa...one of the vilest bites of treachery".

[16] The Italian government for its part was more than happy to embark upon an imperialist policy to distract its people from the failings in post Risorgimento Italy.

Barely a month later, on 2 May he signed the Treaty of Wuchale with the Italians, which apparently gave them control over Eritrea, the Red Sea coast to the northeast of Ethiopia, in return for recognition of Menelik's rule, a sum of money and the provision of 30,000 rifles and 28 artillery cannons.

Italian diplomats, however, claimed that the original Amharic text included the clause and Menelik knowingly signed a modified copy of the Treaty.

[23] The Italian claim that Menelik was aware of Article XVII turning his nation into an Italian protectorate seems unlikely given that the Emperor Menelik sent letters to Queen Victoria in late 1889 and was informed in the replies in early 1890 that Britain could not have diplomatic relations with Ethiopia on the account of Article XVII of the Treaty of Wuchale, a revelation that came as a great shock to the Emperor.

The Queen informed Menelik that the restrictions on the import of arms were no longer in force and to prove this mentioned that Ras Makonnen received permission "to pass two thousand rifles through Zeila, return to Harar" i.e. from Italy.

The efforts of Emperor Menelik, viewed as pro-French by London, to unify Ethiopia and thus bring the source of the Blue Nile under his control was perceived in Whitehall as a threat to their influence in Egypt.

[29] In 1893, judging that his power over Ethiopia was secure, Menelik repudiated the treaty; in response the Italians ramped up the pressure on his domain in a variety of ways, including the annexation of small territories bordering their original claim under the Treaty of Wuchale, and finally culminating with a military campaign and across the Mareb River into Tigray (on the border with Eritrea) in December 1894.

[30] In June 1894, Ras Mengesha and his generals appeared in Addis Ababa carrying large stones which they dropped before the Emperor Menelik (a gesture that is a symbol of submission in Ethiopian culture).

[20] Menelik had spent much of his reign building up a vast arsenal of modern weapons and ammunition acquired though treaty negotiations and purchases from the Russians, French, British, and even the Italians.

[31] In 1884, Count Pietro Antonelli [it], the Italian envoy to Menelik II, was able to import 50,000 Remington rifles and 10 million cartridges in exchange for 600 camels bearing gold, ivory and civet.

[32] After Italian sources dried up Menelik strove to increase his other imports, in the few years preceding the war the arms trade expanded considerably.

[33][34][35] In December 1894, Bahta Hagos led a rebellion against the Italians in Akkele Guzay, claiming support of Ras Mengesha Yohannes.

Units of General Oreste Baratieri's army under Major Pietro Toselli crushed the rebellion and killed Bahta at the Battle of Halai.

He issued a proclamation, annexing Tigray province into Italian Eritrea, then moved into Mekelle and fortified an old church above the town's spur.

[37] Leaders of every region in Ethiopia responded to Menelik's call to arms and would assemble an army of over 100,000 men before marching north to face the Italian invaders.

Makonnen was joined by Ras Mengesha Yohannes and Welle Betul, and together they overran the Italian positions on the natural fortress, killing Major Toselli and most of his men.

General Giuseppe Arimondi, who had just arrived to reinforce Toselli, was barely able to escape and retreated with 400 survivors to the unfinished Italian fort at Mekele.

Menelik allowed them to leave Mekelle with their weapons, and even provided the defeated Italians mules and pack animals to rejoin Baratieri.

[41] On the night of 29 February and the early morning of 1 March, three Italian brigades advanced separately towards Adwa over narrow mountain tracks, while a fourth remained camped.

Unbeknownst to General Baratieri, Emperor Menelik knew his troops had exhausted the ability of the local peasants to support them and had planned to break camp the next day.

[44][45] George Berkeley records that the Italian casualties were 6,133 men killed: 261 officers, 2,918 white NCOs and privates, 954 permanently missing, and about 2,000 ascari.

[45] As Paul B. Henze notes, "Baratieri's army had been completely annihilated while Menelik's was intact as a fighting force and gained thousands of rifles and a great deal of equipment from the fleeing Italians.

[56] Soon after the battle, Menelik II later sent a message to Antonio Baldissera informing him that he would conclude peace if Italy publicly renounced their protectorate claim over Ethiopia.

The adventuresome Seljan brothers, Mirko and Stjepan, who were actually Catholic Croats, were warmly welcomed when they arrived in Ethiopia in 1899 when they misinformed their hosts by saying they were Russians.

Delegations from the United Kingdom and France—whose colonial possessions lay next to Ethiopia—soon arrived in the Ethiopian capital to negotiate their own treaties with this newly proven power.

Quickly taking advantage of the Italian defeat, French influence increased markedly and France became one of the most influential European powers in Menelik's court.

Ethiopia was occupied by Italy until the Italians were driven out in 1941 by the Ethiopian Arbegnoch, patriots with assistance from the British Empire during World War II.