[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 66 (Monday, May 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4982-S4983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE BATTLE OF ADWA
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, recently I was catching up on my
reading and I read in a bulletin published by the Embassy of Ethiopia
the speech of President Negasso Gidada on the 100th anniversary of the
battle of Adwa.
Frankly I had never heard of the battle of Adwa before reading this
speech but because of its insight into this historic event as well as
insights into Ethiopia I ask to have it printed in the Record after my
remarks.
Ethiopia and its neighbor Eritrea, who divided into two countries
peacefully after years of struggle, are both making progress.
It is good to see the progress that Ethiopia is making and I
congratulate President Negasso Gidada and the people of Ethiopia on
their steps forward.
The address follows:
Address by His Excellency Dr. Negasso Gidada on the 100th Anniversary
Celebration of the Battle of Adwa
[The following are selected excerpts from the speech of
President Negasso Gidada on March 2, 1996, in Addis Ababa]
Dear Peoples of Ethiopia, Invited Guests and Friends of Our
Country:
At the outset, I wish on behalf of all the peoples of
Ethiopia, to express my heartfelt joy as we celebrate the
100th anniversary of the Victory of Adwa, an event that is
accorded a special place of honor in our long history of
struggle to safeguard our independence.
A hundred years have passed since the victory of the battle
of Adwa, a victory which is a source of pride not only to us
Ethiopians, but to those peoples of Africa and other
continents who suffered under colonial rule. Today, all over
our country we are celebrating with great joy the one
hundredth anniversary of the victory achieved at Adwa by our
heroic fathers who, with their fervent patriotism, halted the
invasion designed to subjugate us under the colonial yoke
forced upon our African brothers at the end of the last
century.
This victory achieved by our heroic fathers over Italian
colonialists at Adwa, the centenary of which we celebrate
with great color today, had special significance not only for
Ethiopia but for the anti-colonial struggle of all the
African peoples.
It is to be recalled that it was in the last quarter of the
previous century that the rich European countries decided to
divide up Africa among themselves to satisfy their demand for
raw materials and markets. Following their decision,
European powers invaded all parts of Africa. They deployed
highly organized armies equipped with modern arms with the
objective of subjugating under direct colonial rule the
African countries, most of which were relatively at low
levels of development. Africa and her peoples sank into
the darkness of colonialism.
The colonial powers keen to exploit the wealth and labor
that Africa provided them, sought to insure that no country
remained free in Africa and began planning to bring Ethiopia
under their control. After having labored to weaken our
country earlier through various smaller acts of aggression,
they eventually launched an all out invasion in 1896. The
invading force deployed by Italian colonialists was, however,
dealt a crushing blow by our gallant forebears on March 2,
1989 at Adwa. Ethiopia and her peoples were saved from
falling under colonial rule. The colonialists suffered great
humiliation.
The historic victory scored at Adwa, coming at a time when
our continent was suffering from foreign domination, had the
strong effect of marking a new chapter in the anti-colonial
struggle of the African peoples. The victory of Adwa provided
a great example for our African brothers to rekindle their
struggle to regain their freedom with new vigor and hope. The
victory of Adwa contributed greatly to the intensification of
the struggle of black peoples all over the world for their
right to live in dignity and equality. Adwa provided a vivid
example not only for Africa but for peoples the world over
suffering under colonialism and racism to revitalize their
struggle.
It is because of these features signaling light at the end
of the dark tunnel of colonialism to the peoples of Africa
that we say that the victory of Adwa, beyond being a war
between Italian invaders and Ethiopia, had a special meaning
and dimension for Africa.
[[Page S4983]]
The victory of Adwa enabled us to ensure that after the
battle our country remained sovereign and free. The victory
provided great morale for the resistance of our patriots when
the colonialists returned to Ethiopia in strength 40 years
later to invade the country for a second time. The generation
that struggle valiantly for five years to put to shame the
fascist forces who launched the second Italian invasion was
the beneficiary of the patriotic legacy of our fathers who
defeated the invaders of Adwa.
Furthermore the proud struggle and sacrifice of the present
generation against the seventeen year traitorous dictatorship
which provided foreign forces the opportunity to interfere in
our affairs, is proof that the victory of our fathers in Adwa
continues to be passed on from one generation to the other.
The century old victory of Adwa which left a legacy of
patriotism and resistance to the generation that followed
would not have succeeded had it not been for the decisive
participation of all the peoples of Ethiopia. If all our
peoples had not arisen as one and not demonstrated their
readiness to resist the invading army, Ethiopia would not
have been saved from colonialism, and either would her people
have been spared from humiliation. Thanks to all the heroes
of Ethiopia, the victory of Adwa ensured that we were
bequeathed a free country.
Peoples of Our Country,
It is difficult for us Ethiopians to have a clear
understanding of the situation in which we find ourselves as
well as the struggle that awaits us, unless the victories
registered in the struggle to resist foreign invaders and our
proud history of resistance are seen against the backdrop of
the life we have lived in other aspects of our existence.
Although the courage that prevailed over repeated external
attempts to humiliate our country guaranteed the survival of
our independence and kept our flag flying, it also should be
borne in mind that there was another side of our existence
that had persisted for a long time. This other side has been
marked by lack of social liberty and development and by a
system that denied us the opportunities for progress, for
peace and consolidating strong national unity.
The stark reality until recently was that all the peoples
of our country had been subjugated under a system in which
their democratic and human rights were stifled and their
destinies decided by dictators. Being anti-democratic the
system denied the peoples the freedom to uphold their
national rights and consigned them to national oppression as
well as humiliation. Although our peoples are hard working
and our country is endowed with abundant natural resources,
we have been exposed to abject poverty and associated social
hardships because our economy has remained stagnant. Because
we have been denied the opportunity to address these and
other related problems democratically, our country and its
peoples have suffered from continuous internal conflicts.
After a long and bitter struggle, our country has embarked
upon a path that will extricate it from these and related
difficulties. Nevertheless, poverty and backwardness,
oppression and national subjugation still remain today the
lot of most of us Africans. Therefore, it is incumbent upon
us in Africa to re-dedicate our resolve that had enabled us
to achieve independence in the direction of extricating our
continent from poverty and related social ills.
At the regional level, side by side with the responsibility
of promoting growth and prosperity in each country, our
mission calls for strict observance of the obligation to
adhere to the recognition and mutual interests in order to
promote cooperative endeavors to achieve prosperity freeing
the continent from its multitude of problems.
In recognition of the imperative need to strengthen the
economic and democratic foundations of our country's
sovereignty and independence, Ethiopia has chosen its path of
democratic and economic development. It has taken numerous
steps in this direction during the transition period and
continues to do more along the same lines. The prevalence of
peace and democracy in our country today as well as the
development activities in which the whole population
participates are concrete evidence that our aspirations are
unfolding. Our strong conviction is that the path of peace,
democracy and economic growth on which we have embarked will
steer our country towards the realization of a fully-fledged
and sustainable democratic system.
Peace in our country has steadily taken root because our
nations and nationalities have worked to make it sustainable.
Democracy has become a means through which the peoples
address their problems. The constitution of dictatorship has
been replaced with a democratic constitution through the
active participation and efforts of all our population. This
is a clear demonstration of the sustainability of democracy
in our country.
The lesson to be drawn from the development efforts being
exerted by regional governments elected by the peoples and
that have taken advantage of the wide and extensive powers
they have attained and the prevailing democratic and peaceful
conditions, is that any effort on the road we have chosen
cannot succeed in the absence of the extensive and active
support of our population.
All the peoples of our country, therefore, should mobilize
their energies that are characteristic of their traditional
culture of hard work, for the implementation of the programs
of peace, development and democracy drawn up by the
government. I would like to take this opportunity to call on
the peoples of our country to dedicate their energies that
constitute the engine of growth towards the implementation of
our plans, thereby fulfilling the creation of the requisite
internally conducive environment.
I thank you.
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