[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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