| Chronology of Ethiopian
History Aksumite
Empire
300s The Aksumites were converted to
Christianity.
522 Kaleb, King of Aksum, invaded the Yemen to
protect the Christians of Nejran.
570 The Akumsites were defeated at Mecca
and expelled from Arabia.
Zagwe Dynasty
960 A revolution enabled
Judith, a Jewish princess, to seize power.
1200s King Lalibela had a series of
churches cut out of solid rock.
Second Aksumite Empire
1270 Yekuno Amlak, a prince
claiming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba, overthrew the Zagwe dynasty.
Moslem Occupation
1508-1540 Nearly the entire
country fell into the hands of General Mohammed Gran.
1543 The Mohammedans were expelled with
Portuguese aid.
1632-1637 Jesuit
missionaries who had accompanied the Portuguese were
expelled.
Rise of Modern Ethiopia
1852-1855 Lij Kassa, chief
of the Amharic district of Kuara, overcame his
competitors and was crowned emperor as Theodore II.
1863 Captain Cameron, the British
consul, was imprisoned with his staff.
1868 Sir Robert Napier stormed Theodore's stronghold
at Magdala and freed Captain Cameron and staff. Dejaz
Kassa of Tigré, who took the name of John, became
emperor upon Theodore's suicide.
1876 John defeated the Egyptians at
Gura.
March 9, 1889 John was mortally wounded
while repelling the Sudanese at Gallabat. Menelik was
proclaimed emperor as Menelik II.
May 2, 1889 Menelik II concluded the
Treaty of Uccialli with Italy.
March 1, 1896 The Italians were utterly
defeated at Adowa.
1906 An agreement was concluded by Great
Britain, France, and Italy defining the rights of these
powers in Ethiopia.
1913 Menelik II died and was succeeded
by Lij Yasu, his gradson.
1916 Lij Yasu was deposed. Waizeru
Zauditu, a daughter of Menelik, ascended the throne, with
her cousin Ras Tafari Makonnen as Regent of the Empire.
1923 Ethiopia became a member of the
League of Nations.
1930 Ras Tafari was crowned as emperor
Haile Selassie I upon the death of Zauditu.
1931 Selassie introduced Ethiopia's
first written constitution.
Conflict with Italy
September 1934 The
Ethiopian and Italian governments issued a joint
statement of mutual friendship and nonaggression.
December 1934 A border confrontation at
Walwal caused the death of 100 Ethiopians and 30 Italian
native soldiers.
October 2, 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia.
November 18, 1935 The League of Nations
decreed penalties against Italy, but they were never
fully carried out.
February 10-15, 1936 Ethiopian forces
led by Ras Mulugheta were routed at the Battle of
Enderta.
March 1936 40,000 Ethiopians led by the
emperor were routed near Mount Alazi.
March 31, 1936 Italian forces occupied
Gondar.
April 15, 1936 Italian forces occupied
Dessye.
May 2, 1936 Emperor Selassie and his
family fled to Djibouti.
May 4, 1936 Italian forces occupied
Addis Ababa.
May 9, 1936 Italian Premier Benito
Mussolini announced the annexation of Ethiopia.
June 1, 1936 Ethiopia was incorporated
in the new colony of Italian East Africa.
June 15, 1936 The sanctions against
Italy were terminated by the countries which had taken
part in them.
June 30, 1936 The League of Nations
formally recognized Italy's annexation of Ethiopia.
World War II
January 15, 1941 British
forces began their campaign to drive the Italians out of
Ethiopia.
April 1941 The British succeeded in driving the
Italians out of Eritrea and Italian and British
Somaliland.
April 6, 1941 British, Belgian and
Free-French troops entered Addis Ababa.
May 5, 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie
entered Addis Ababa after five years in exile.
May 19, 1941 The Italian Viceroy, the
Duke of Aosta, surrendered with 38,000 men to the
British.
July 4-6, 1941 The remnants of the
Italian armies surrendered.
January 31, 1942 Ethiopia concluded an
alliance with Great Britain.
December 1942 Ethiopia declared war on
Germany, Italy, and Japan.
1944 A new treaty of alliance between
Great Britain and Ethiopia restored full independence to
Ethiopia.
Modern Ethiopia
July 1943 Diplomatic
relations were established with Russia.
1945 Ethiopia became a member of the
United Nations.
1947 By the treaty of peace Italy was
obligated to pay $25,000,000 in reparations to Ethiopia.
1950 The United Nations General Assembly
voted that Eritrea should be united with Ethiopia in a
federation.
1974 Selassie was overthrown by the
military.
1977 Somali people in Ogaden staged a
major revolt against Ethiopian rule.
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