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Speaker 1: I know, I think of the I think in the

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Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest, there's like no bugs, there's no mosquitoes. Yeah. Wow,

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Speaker 1: what a paradise, I know, if you can handle the

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Speaker 1: rain and the cold winters, which goes to show you

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Speaker 1: there is no such places. Paradise always a catch. Well

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Speaker 1: what about um, No, I can't think of anywhere. Well,

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Speaker 1: you know, southern California, perfect weather, but it's all the

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Speaker 1: earthquakes and the fires, fires, many fires. Um. What about

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Speaker 1: the bottom of the ocean, A lot of pressure. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's one thing I don't need more of in my life.

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Speaker 1: It's pressure and vampire squids, which I don't have any

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Speaker 1: in my life currently. And I like that you've never

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Speaker 1: heard of the vampire squid. We'll look them up because

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Speaker 1: they have a little light bulb on the uncle and

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Speaker 1: they look like an alien monster from Hell. I mean,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sure they're actually really cute or whatever, but

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Speaker 1: they look very scary because they live in the darkest

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Speaker 1: part of the ocean, so they just you know, they

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Speaker 1: have not evolved at all the same and it's anything

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Speaker 1: I'm used to know mirrors, so they can't ever take

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Speaker 1: a look at themselves and decide to change and be like, wow,

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Speaker 1: I'm starting with the fish in the mirror telling him

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Speaker 1: to change his face. You're terrifying, sir. This water couldn't

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Speaker 1: get I bet it could. But that's like that blob fish.

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Speaker 1: It was going around the internet a few years ago.

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Speaker 1: I feel like, and it looked so gross and people

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Speaker 1: are like, oh, it's like so saggy and weird looking,

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Speaker 1: and then but of course it's because it doesn't. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't live in this pressure much more pressure environment. So

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Speaker 1: if you're actually seeing it where it's from, it's a

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Speaker 1: totally normal looking fish. It's all put together. Me in

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Speaker 1: the southern heat, if you saw me in you know,

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Speaker 1: upstate New York in November, that's when I look my best,

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Speaker 1: much like the block fish, my true form Rochester in

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Speaker 1: the Fall. We're in our true form today telling another

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Speaker 1: ridiculous romance. So excited about this episode. This is one

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Speaker 1: of those ridiculous romance that like, gave us a whole

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Speaker 1: lot of insight into a subject we did not otherwise

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Speaker 1: know about, and that is the history of Ethiopia. Awesome,

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Speaker 1: I know right, I love that that. You know, sometimes

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Speaker 1: they these stories direct us somewhere or I might not

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Speaker 1: have chosen. Oh, let me, let me learn about the

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Speaker 1: history of Ethiopia today. But then I had to for

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Speaker 1: this and I'm like, jeez, what was I missing? Lots

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Speaker 1: of history. I mean, we've seen on this show a

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Speaker 1: bunch of times in the past that countries across the

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Speaker 1: globe are dealing with the aim, high stakes, high drama

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Speaker 1: games of thrones that we see so often. We only

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Speaker 1: learn about them in Western Europe mostly, but it was

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Speaker 1: happening everywhere. And Menelik the Second is considered to be

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Speaker 1: the founder of modern Ethiopia, and his wife, Empress Tai

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Speaker 1: Tubit Tool, was heavily involved in the country's unification and

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Speaker 1: she helped win one of the most important battles between

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Speaker 1: an African and a European nation. So let's learn a

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Speaker 1: little about Ethiopia and hear what's so powerful about this

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Speaker 1: power couple. I'm in, let's do this. Hey, their friends

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Speaker 1: come listen. Well, Elia and Diana got some stories to tell.

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Speaker 1: There's no match making, a romantic tips. It's just about

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Speaker 1: pardiculous relationships a lover. It might be any type of

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Speaker 1: person at all, and abstract concept on a concrete wall.

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Speaker 1: But if there's a story where the second glance ridiculous role.

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Speaker 1: That's a production of I heart Deo. Ethiopia long also

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Speaker 1: known as Abyssinia, is one of the oldest countries in Africa.

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Speaker 1: Tools and spears have been found their dating back almost

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Speaker 1: three hundred thousand years In archaeologists discovered the fossils of

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Speaker 1: a female Artipithecus remedis named Artie, who is the oldest

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Speaker 1: human ancestor ever found at about four million years old.

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Speaker 1: It's really not polite to ask, well, you don't look

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Speaker 1: a day over three point eight million. Now. The earliest

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Speaker 1: records of Ethiopia pop up in Egypt's Old Kingdom period

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Speaker 1: around three thousand BC. So this is a country with

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Speaker 1: a lot of history, maybe the most history, right, I mean,

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Speaker 1: we're talking about early predecessors of humans left from here.

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Speaker 1: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido Church is the dominant religion there

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Speaker 1: and they have been there since the fourth century. Europeans

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Speaker 1: didn't even really get involved with Ethiopia until the fourteen hundreds.

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Speaker 1: So Christianity came from its original place, not from Western

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Speaker 1: Europe when it came into I don't know why, but

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Speaker 1: I always assumed that Christianity was brought to African nations

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Speaker 1: by European colonization. I know that's true for some, but

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Speaker 1: a version of it was certainly brought there, you know.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, right, but they're closer to Jerusalem than I am.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, I thought I thought that, but definitely. Now,

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Speaker 1: in the sixteen hundreds, Emperor Susneos converted the empire's official

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Speaker 1: religion to Catholicism, and this caused riots and revolts and

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Speaker 1: assassination attempts. So Cisneos changed his mind. He was like,

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Speaker 1: never mind, Yeah, y'all be whatever religion you want, cool

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Speaker 1: with me. It's like Homer going into the bush. Right.

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Speaker 1: Then he set the country's official religion back to the

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Speaker 1: Ethiopian Orthodox Church, not is kicked off a period referred

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Speaker 1: to as the Age of Princes for almost a hundred

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Speaker 1: years from seventeen sixty nine until eighteen fifty five, where

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Speaker 1: emperors became only figureheads while regional lords kind of held

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Speaker 1: the actual power. And during this time, Ethiopia had very

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Speaker 1: little contact with Europe, and that brings us to the

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Speaker 1: point in history where our story today begins. In eighteen

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Speaker 1: forty four, the King of Sahwah, which was a semi

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Speaker 1: independent region in northern Ethiopia knocked up a servant girl.

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Speaker 1: In August of that year, she gave birth to Menelik,

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Speaker 1: and the king didn't recognize the child as his son,

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Speaker 1: because you know, just a servant girl, right, But the

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Speaker 1: boy still grew up with more or less the royal treatments.

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Speaker 1: He got a very good education, He had a very

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Speaker 1: privileged upbringing. You're not my son, but you know, here's

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Speaker 1: some nice things. Yeah, but no son of mine's going

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Speaker 1: to run around with the servants. In eighteen fifty five,

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Speaker 1: the new Emperor of Ethiopia, to Woodrow the Second invaded

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Speaker 1: this kingdom of Shewa, killed the king and captured young

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Speaker 1: Menelik and took him back to the imperial stronghold. And

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Speaker 1: even here though Metelick was treated really well, the emperor

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Speaker 1: even offered him his daughter to marry Metelicks just like charming.

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Speaker 1: I guess people just like immediately like you're all right.

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Speaker 1: Probably sense if the emperor, for any reason knew that

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Speaker 1: he was the son of the king, he probably was

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Speaker 1: thinking to like, well, and if you marry my daughter,

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Speaker 1: then I could lay some claim to this territory. Because

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Speaker 1: these were all kingdoms that were technically in his empire,

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Speaker 1: but they all kind of acted autonomously and a lot

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Speaker 1: of them didn't listen to the emperor that much, so

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Speaker 1: it was hard. It was tough for him to hold

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Speaker 1: it all together. Yeah, this just reminded me of lu

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Speaker 1: Bu Weai because when they had all the different states

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Speaker 1: of China and they were kind of all fighting with

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Speaker 1: each other totally. Also would imprison royal kids in in palaces,

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Speaker 1: so kind of like the prison they're like mink lined cells,

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Speaker 1: like right, So yeah, that was kind of happening here.

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Speaker 1: You know. Menelik was a prisoner, but he was also

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Speaker 1: treated kind of like a son by the emperor. He

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Speaker 1: was his education continued, he was given a very royal life,

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Speaker 1: you know, a lot of privileges. And then Emperor to

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Speaker 1: Woodrows put a new governor in charge of Shewa. It

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Speaker 1: was a non royal guy named bes Abe. But as

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Speaker 1: soon as Besab got there, he rebelled against the emperor

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Speaker 1: and named himself the King of Shea. Emper is like here,

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Speaker 1: giving you this land and you can govern it for me, Like,

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Speaker 1: you just go and act my rule over there, right,

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what to do and you do it. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And the king says, oh, yeah, sure, I'll take it. Thanks.

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Speaker 1: Let me just get over there real quick. And he

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Speaker 1: gets there, gets in his little palace and it's like,

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Speaker 1: now I'm king of this place. Emperor, you can go

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Speaker 1: screw up. These hose ain't loyal. The emperor had all

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Speaker 1: these Shewan royals that he had imprisoned in the same

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Speaker 1: stronghold where Menelick was living. Now, as long as a

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Speaker 1: member of their own royal family was ruling over Siwa,

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Speaker 1: they were pretty chilled. They didn't cause much of a fuss.

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Speaker 1: They're like, sure, I'm living here in this like palace prison,

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Speaker 1: but at least one of my boys is in charge

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Speaker 1: back home. But once this usurper Besaba came in and

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Speaker 1: declared himself king, they got pissed. There's like, no, he's

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Speaker 1: not one of ours, Emperor, what do you mean you

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Speaker 1: put him in charge. The Emperor's like, look, I didn't

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Speaker 1: name him king. He did that on his own. They

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Speaker 1: didn't care. They got really mad, and from within the

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Speaker 1: stronghold they helped Menelik escape. They're like, you're of the

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Speaker 1: proper bloodline, so you go back home. You be king

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Speaker 1: of Shewa. So Menelik escaped the stronghold. He left his wife,

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Speaker 1: the Emperor's daughter, behind, and he returned to Shewa to

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Speaker 1: reclaim his ancestral crown. The emperor heard about this and

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Speaker 1: got so pissed that he slaughtered twenty nine hostages and

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Speaker 1: had twelve Shawan nobles beaten to death with bamboo. Damn,

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Speaker 1: this guy overreacts, for really, he's having a full temper tantrum.

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Speaker 1: And in saw Menelik basically took control with no trouble.

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Speaker 1: Bisiba tried to raise an army to defend himself and

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Speaker 1: and the crown that he claimed for himself, but even

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Speaker 1: his own soldiers defected in favor of this guy who

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Speaker 1: showed up and who was legitimately a prince. So Menelek

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Speaker 1: easily snatched up the crown and afterwards also made it

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Speaker 1: clear that he had a pretty strong claim to the

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Speaker 1: imperial throne through his bloodline, but he did not make

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Speaker 1: any attempt to take the throne. In Harold Marcus's book

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Speaker 1: The Life and Times of Menelik the Second, he says

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Speaker 1: that the king was quote emotionally incapable of helping to

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Speaker 1: destroy the man who had treated him as a son.

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Speaker 1: That's nice. Usually they don't seem a lot of times.

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Speaker 1: They don't seem to have a problem with that royal

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Speaker 1: just like killed my dad, kill my brother, rods Aches Metelka.

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Speaker 1: We'll see as a sentimental guy. Yeah, he seems like

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Speaker 1: sweetie pie. Meanwhile, Emperor to Woodros drama Queen sent out

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Speaker 1: letters to a bunch of European nations asking for help

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Speaker 1: to fight off expanding Muslim powers that were at Ethiopia's door.

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Speaker 1: You know, he's like, hey, you're a Christian, I'm Christian,

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Speaker 1: let's fight these Muslims together. And France kind of like

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Speaker 1: half responded like they were like yeah, but nobody else

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Speaker 1: responded at all. So to Woadros decided to capture a

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Speaker 1: few Englishmen and hold them hostage in order to get

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Speaker 1: Queen Victoria's attention. Well it got her attention alrighty, and

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Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty seven she announced that she was sending

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Speaker 1: in a huge military contingent to go in and rescue

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Speaker 1: the hostages and slap around the Ethiopians a little while

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Speaker 1: they were at it. There were thirteen thousand British and

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Speaker 1: Indian soldiers, twenty six thousand camp followers, and over forty

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Speaker 1: thou animals, including elephants. They set sail from Bombay aboard

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Speaker 1: two and eighty ships, and they called this the British

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Speaker 1: Expedition to Abissidia, which sounds like such a parade, like

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Speaker 1: just a nice little festival we're going to have, when

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Speaker 1: it was like meant to subjugate an entire country, you know,

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Speaker 1: a don'ty holiday to colonize an African exactly. Now, it

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Speaker 1: would have actually been quite difficult for the British because

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Speaker 1: nobody had invaded Ethiopia in hundreds of years. The terrain

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Speaker 1: was super unfamiliar, and the Ethiopians were a strong and

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Speaker 1: ancient civilization. But to Wodrow's, you know, he was not

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Speaker 1: holding all these kingdoms together, and he didn't have a

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Speaker 1: lot of friends left. A few princes even pledged aid

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Speaker 1: to the British. So the British faced very little resistance

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Speaker 1: in their march to the Imperial fortress. To Wodrow's had

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Speaker 1: alienated and attacked allies. He got angry and slaughtered people

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Speaker 1: who just committed like minor of enses against him, and

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Speaker 1: then he sent thousands of his own soldiers, many of

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Speaker 1: them only armed with spears, to charge against the British forces.

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Speaker 1: They were met with cannon, fire, rockets and artillery, and

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Speaker 1: nearly eight hundred Ethiopians were killed, with many more wounded,

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Speaker 1: while only two British soldiers died. So they literally brought

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Speaker 1: a knife too again. Yeah yeah. Rather than face captivity

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Speaker 1: to Woodrow's committed suicide using a pistol that had been

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Speaker 1: given to him as a gift by Queen Victoria, the

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Speaker 1: British forces looted and burned the fortress, including its churches,

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Speaker 1: and it took fifteen elephants and two hundred mules to

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Speaker 1: carry all the historical and religious artifacts that they stole

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Speaker 1: back to their ships to take back to England. But

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you a little trivia question here, Diana,

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Speaker 1: where do you think we can find these Ethiopian artifacts today?

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna guest that they're still at the British Museum.

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Speaker 1: Still at the British Museum today. Yes, there is an

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Speaker 1: article in the Atlantic from that says they're actually eleven

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Speaker 1: wood and stone tablets in a storeroom of the British

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Speaker 1: Museum that represent the Ark of the Covenant, and according

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Speaker 1: to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, only it's priests should ever

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Speaker 1: be able to see them. That's how sacred these objects are.

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Speaker 1: The Brits even brought along on their holiday expeditions an

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Speaker 1: expert from the British Museum whose whole job was to

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Speaker 1: just a praise and bid on items that they could

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Speaker 1: take back with them from Ethiism, which I guess bidding

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Speaker 1: is nice. Maybe they bought some of them. No, no,

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Speaker 1: they bought them from each other. It was like he

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Speaker 1: was a rep from the British Museum to say, I'll

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Speaker 1: buy these from the army that took them. Oh, okay,

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Speaker 1: they had like individual soldiers would bid to buy items,

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Speaker 1: the museum bought whatever. They were just like, well, we're

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Speaker 1: taking this now, let's all sell it to each other.

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Speaker 1: It's crazy that they brought an appraiser with them because

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Speaker 1: they knew they were going to take home a bunch

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Speaker 1: of ships. Mostly yeah, they were like, part part of

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Speaker 1: the reason we're going is to pick up some stuff. Absolutely,

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Speaker 1: just like any holiday Stupidish shopping. So for the last

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Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty years, Ethiopia has repeatedly asked for

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Speaker 1: this stuff back because it is their stuff and it

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Speaker 1: was taken wrongly, maybe they should get it back. But

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Speaker 1: as of the article, the British museum's best offer was quote,

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Speaker 1: it would consider the possibility of a long term loan. Oh,

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Speaker 1: but you're the one with the long term. I don't

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Speaker 1: call in it, invested it back, loan over, give me

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Speaker 1: my ship back. Insane. And the thing is the British

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Speaker 1: Museum has these tablets and they're honoring the fact that

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Speaker 1: no one else is allowed to look at them besides

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Speaker 1: Ethiopian Orthodox priests by keeping them in a storeroom under

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Speaker 1: the museum. And Ethiopia is like, then, why the hell

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Speaker 1: are you keeping them exactly what's the point? Just give

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Speaker 1: them back and now no one can see them, so

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Speaker 1: you're technically still infringing on their religious freedom because their

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Speaker 1: priests can't look at their fucking arc of the Covenant.

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Speaker 1: It's crazy. England is still clutching to this stuff right

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Speaker 1: after all this time. And I'm like, part of me

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Speaker 1: is like I would not necessarily want every country of

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Speaker 1: origins stuff to go back to that country, and is

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Speaker 1: that you know, not everyone gets to go to Ethiopia

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Speaker 1: in their life, sir, But this way they get to

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Speaker 1: see some cultural items and stuff like that. But okay,

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Speaker 1: by them, by them or ask for some stuff from

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Speaker 1: them that they would like to give those countries take

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Speaker 1: their own ship and put it into a touring exhibition. True,

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Speaker 1: and then they can make the money off of it.

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Speaker 1: To you, I mean, yes, exactly who are we enriching?

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Speaker 1: And yeah, okay, alright, enough shipping on the British Museum.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll get many more opportunities and next episode,

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Speaker 1: but we want to get to this romance. So after

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Speaker 1: to woodross suicide, Menelick was pretty broken up because remember

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Speaker 1: this is the guy like raised him like a son,

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Speaker 1: and he was like, even though you're crazy, I can't

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Speaker 1: can't fight check. But he publicly threw a big celebration.

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Speaker 1: According to Harold Marcus's book, when Menelick was asked why

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Speaker 1: he did this, he said, quote, to satisfy the passions

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Speaker 1: of the people. As for me, I should have gone

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Speaker 1: into a forest to weep. I have now lost the

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Speaker 1: one who educated me and toward whom I had sincere affection.

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Speaker 1: That is tough stuff. And I could see it if

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Speaker 1: he was really unpopular. It was like, cool, he died.

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Speaker 1: Everyone's happy. Even then I'm not happy. We should we

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Speaker 1: should I should enter into my personal feelings do not

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Speaker 1: necessarily reflect my my subjects in my kingdom, you know. Yeah. Now,

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Speaker 1: after twelve jurs death, one of metalicks rivals took the

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Speaker 1: imperial crown as Emperor, Johannis the Fourth, and Metalick didn't

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Speaker 1: really make too much of a fuss about it. At

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Speaker 1: this time. He was busy being a great king. He

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Speaker 1: was also busy getting married two more times. One marriage

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Speaker 1: didn't go so well and the other would change Ethiopia forever.

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Speaker 1: And we will hear about those right after this commercial break.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the show, everybody. So, Johannis the fourth

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Speaker 1: is Emperor of Ethiopia and mentally is the king of Shwah,

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Speaker 1: which is, you know, again a northern kingdom and Ethiopia

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Speaker 1: semi independent. But he needed a queen, of course. Menelick

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Speaker 1: had had to leave his first wife, Altash two DROs,

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Speaker 1: the daughter of the previous emperor, when he escaped captivity.

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Speaker 1: We don't really know what kind of relationship they had,

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Speaker 1: but I like to assume maybe it was strained, you know,

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Speaker 1: a complicated union probably, and then the fact that he

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Speaker 1: just had like I'm escaping, bye bye. They had no

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Speaker 1: children together, and he did officially divorce her in eighteen

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Speaker 1: sixty five, when he had plans to marry another woman.

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Speaker 1: She was a noble named Buffana Wolde Mikhail, and Menelick

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Speaker 1: was so fond of her. He really fell in love

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Speaker 1: with this woman. She was beautiful and smart and strong,

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Speaker 1: but she didn't really think much of him at all. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: she apparently had a bunch of kids from previous marriages,

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Speaker 1: and she only agreed to marry Menelek basically as a

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Speaker 1: means of keeping them well cared for. H So she

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Speaker 1: was like, I don't really like you, but you are

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Speaker 1: the king, so you'll keep my kids nice and they'll

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Speaker 1: be they'll be in soft And she was from a

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Speaker 1: noble background, so she probably had ambitions for her family herself,

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Speaker 1: you know. And she did start to take that a

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Speaker 1: little too far, and she was widely suspected of making

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Speaker 1: secret plans with Emperor Johannes the Fourth to replace Menelick

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Speaker 1: with one of her own sons. Now Buffana got found

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Speaker 1: out and Menelick's advisers had to separate them once again,

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Speaker 1: someone he really cared for ended up being his enemy.

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Speaker 1: And his friends and his relatives would try to introduce

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Speaker 1: him to new wives, but he said to them, quote,

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Speaker 1: you asked me to look at these women with the

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Speaker 1: same eyes that once gazed upon Buffana and they're like, yeah, bro,

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Speaker 1: she sucked. It's like come on, you know. They they

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Speaker 1: list that quote and say it was really a testament

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Speaker 1: to not only how much in love he was with her,

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Speaker 1: how how great he thought she was, but how beautiful

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Speaker 1: he thought that she was too. Like my eyes can't

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Speaker 1: handle looking at anybody less than her. Yeah, they all

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Speaker 1: look like ship in comparison. But in eighty two, after

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Speaker 1: seventeen years of marriage, Menelek divorced Buffana, and again not

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Speaker 1: a ton of info, but he was probably pretty bummed.

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Speaker 1: I mean again, he was like really into infatuated with

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Speaker 1: his wife. Um, so probably a lot of moping around

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Speaker 1: the palace. He's listening to The Cure, eating ice cream

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Speaker 1: by the pint more in the same T shirt day

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Speaker 1: and brow you gotta get back out. They're like coming

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Speaker 1: and rip open the curtains and they're like, listen, king,

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Speaker 1: get out of it, get out of here. It's like

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Speaker 1: stoner friend because he's like, hey, man, you know what

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Speaker 1: we're going dance in tonight. We're going out. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: find some not gonna yeah, man, pick it up. We're

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Speaker 1: going all right, but I'm not gonna have any fun,

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Speaker 1: I promise cut to him at the club. Okay, alright,

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Speaker 1: I'm single, but at some point he did meet tie

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Speaker 1: To tie To bed Tool was born probably in eighteen

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Speaker 1: fifty one to an aristocratic family. Her father was a

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Speaker 1: raz which is sort of like a duke or a prince,

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Speaker 1: and they had like a ruling foothold in the north,

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Speaker 1: and her great grandfather, raz Gibris of Simeon ruled during

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Speaker 1: the Age of Princes and was remembered for having treated

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Speaker 1: his subjects so well and providing them with enough food

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Speaker 1: and water that they didn't actually have to farm to

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Speaker 1: feed themselves. They could farm fully commercially just to make money.

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Speaker 1: Can you imagine? Incredible? He's not coming from a scarcity mindset.

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Speaker 1: A ruler providing his subjects with enough food and water

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Speaker 1: they don't have to pay for her and then they

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Speaker 1: prosper insane, and so does the kingdom. That's so weird now.

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Speaker 1: Tai two was also descended from Emperor the guy who

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Speaker 1: never minded Catholicism, if you remember, he tried it. And

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Speaker 1: then when her father died at the Battle of a Shaw,

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Speaker 1: her mother married an administrator of a monastery, which is

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Speaker 1: where it's believed t Too got her education, which was

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Speaker 1: pretty unusual for Ethiopian women in her time. She could

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Speaker 1: read and write multiple languages, she wrote poetry, She loved centaeres,

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Speaker 1: which is an Ethiopian variant of chess, and she played

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Speaker 1: the bagana, which is like a tall stringed instrument. It

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Speaker 1: kind of looks like a big harbor, a liar or

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Speaker 1: something so very accomplished. I gotta say though it was

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Speaker 1: probably was. I think from other stories we've told it

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Speaker 1: was unusual at the time for women of many cultures

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Speaker 1: to get educated. Who is it La Cruz right? She

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Speaker 1: she was educated in a monastery, which is the only

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Speaker 1: way women could get educated at the time. That's true.

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Speaker 1: And what's funny is that in yes, Tchestro was in

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Speaker 1: medieval times. This is which if you do compare to

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Speaker 1: other episodes, I mean in America many women are being educated.

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Speaker 1: They still couldn't go to colleges. So it was like

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Speaker 1: they wanted you to know how to read and stuff,

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Speaker 1: but like, don't go too far start the start of

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Speaker 1: everybody else. Or remember Clementine Churchill who like could learn,

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Speaker 1: but they didn't want her to, especially not maths. Which

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Speaker 1: was a subject for men only. I know you don't

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Speaker 1: want to be a blue stocking darling. There's nothing men

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Speaker 1: hate more than a bookish lady. Well, Ty two was

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Speaker 1: first married off at the age of ten to an

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Speaker 1: officer of emperor. To address the second and Encyclopedia dot

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Speaker 1: Com says, quote sex was considered normal for Ethiopians of

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Speaker 1: Tyto's age at the time. That's a bit of uncomfortable history.

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Speaker 1: That's extremely young, yes, but I will say the age

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Speaker 1: of consent in Ethiopia today is eighteen. No need to

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Speaker 1: write any letters right now. While marriages were fairly patriarchal,

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Speaker 1: it was also quote not unusual for Ethiopian women to

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Speaker 1: marry several times or to take several lovers when they

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Speaker 1: were older. Now, her first marriage didn't go so well. Uh,

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Speaker 1: not just because she was tant and I imagine, but

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Speaker 1: because two DROs who remember had a real problem with overreacting.

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Speaker 1: He arrested and chained up her husband for some some

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Speaker 1: minor offense that he did, and Ty two was chained

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Speaker 1: at the wrist and forced to follow along behind the

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Speaker 1: army on foot and cook for the soldiers at their camp. Now,

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Speaker 1: their marriage eventually ended and ty two was then wed

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Speaker 1: to the brother of a consort of minelek Up in Shawa.

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Speaker 1: So she's like getting closer to him. She's she's in

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Speaker 1: his sphere right now. But this guy was an abusive

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Speaker 1: dick and he beat her. So Tai to who's considerably

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Speaker 1: older by now, she's you know, in her like early twenties.

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Speaker 1: She gets beaten by this guy, and the next day

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Speaker 1: she says, um, you know what, I'm gonna go visit

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Speaker 1: with my mother back home for a little while in

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Speaker 1: the neighboring kingdom. Understandable. And when she left, quote a

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Speaker 1: great deal of her abusive husband's property as well as

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Speaker 1: many of his servants went with her. Yeah, let me

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Speaker 1: pack a bag real quick, I'm gonna go. And then

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Speaker 1: she loads up, you know, two mules with like a

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Speaker 1: procession of all the events. And then he comes home

424
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 1: to just an empty house. Where is everybody? Where's my bed?

425
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 1: It looks like that grinch was there. This's like a

426
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: couple of wires on the wall of the rug. All

427
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 1: the gifts she can read, just back takes the last crumb.

428
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: I won't leave you, rom. I love that she divorced

429
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,920
Speaker 1: his ass and she didn't even bother trying to get

430
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: a settlement out of the divorce because she had already

431
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: taken so much of his ship. She's like, what you

432
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 1: got left? Nothing too. We learned was not to be

433
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:26,560
Speaker 1: trifled with. No, ma'am t two married two more times,

434
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 1: and it became clear over the course of these marriages

435
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 1: that she was unable to bear children. Some sources say

436
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 1: this is due to the genital mutilation she was subjected

437
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: to as a baby, which is unfortunately still pretty common

438
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: practice in many countries in Africa. Regardless, she was very beautiful,

439
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 1: she was incredibly smart. She's quick witted, and as historian

440
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: Haywan Seaman says, quote, there was a prophecy that she

441
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,479
Speaker 1: heard as a young girl that said she would be

442
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 1: the next Empress of Ethiopia. Yeah, and that guided her

443
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 1: in like all the decisions she made in her life.

444
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 1: She was like, I'm supposed to be the empress. Yeah.

445
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: I wonder if I would have been a more ambitious

446
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:09,879
Speaker 1: person if someone had come up to me as a

447
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,040
Speaker 1: child and said, you're destined, right, Maybe just we should

448
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,679
Speaker 1: all go to hospitals, go to the baby room and

449
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 1: just tell them all and just see what happens. Actually,

450
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: you know what, I just realized, maybe it's all my

451
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 1: own fault. I've long blamed as as a as a teenager,

452
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,399
Speaker 1: some of my teachers and stuff and directors in theater

453
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 1: they would tell me, oh, you're going to be famous

454
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 1: one day, and I think I took that as a

455
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,560
Speaker 1: reason to not work very hard. You know. I was like, well,

456
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: everyone says I don't even I don't have to try, damn,

457
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 1: And uh look look where that got us. Do you

458
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: talk a lot about like gifted kids or whatever who

459
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 1: are very anxious and prospectionous and can't get anything done

460
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,640
Speaker 1: because they're afraid of doing it wrong and stuff like that.

461
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yep, yep. I was the gifted program for

462
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 1: I feel like if you did tell a generation of

463
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: children that they were all destined for greatness, it was

464
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,240
Speaker 1: it would turn out pretty chaotic, Like some people would

465
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,000
Speaker 1: be awesome like hero types. Others would take it a

466
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,640
Speaker 1: very different direction. Only one of who gets to be

467
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 1: emperor fight amongst yourselves. So but she did hear this

468
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 1: cool prophecy about herself, and she was like, Okay, great, well,

469
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 1: I guess I need to do everything I can do

470
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 1: to make that come true. She took it better than

471
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 1: I did. She was like, gotta work, got a hustle,

472
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,120
Speaker 1: So anyway be in This hot and rich badass with

473
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 1: her eyes on the prize probably caught the attention of

474
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: King Menelik of she Wa. Some historians think it was

475
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,360
Speaker 1: love at first sight, because Menelik, as we've seen, is

476
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 1: attracted to powerful women. He like, he likes. He doesn't

477
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 1: want a dumb mass next to him. He wants her

478
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 1: to be good looking and smart. But even if it

479
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 1: wasn't a love connection right away, um, it was still

480
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,960
Speaker 1: a smart move because Menelick was trying to consolidate his

481
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 1: power subtly, you know, without bringing too much attention from

482
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 1: Emperor Johannes the fourth, So marrying into Tai Tu's powerful

483
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 1: family would give him a real edge. And they started

484
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: according in three and though he was merely King of

485
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 1: Shehwa at that time, he told her about his big plans. Yeah,

486
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:34,320
Speaker 1: because Menelick claimed a paternal lineage that could be traced

487
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 1: all the way back to King Solomon and the Queen

488
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:42,040
Speaker 1: of Sheba like Old Testament ship sure now, according to

489
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 1: the cabre Negast, which is an old text where Ethiopia

490
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: derives much of its tradition, and law Ethiopia must be

491
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:53,960
Speaker 1: ruled by someone of that lineage. So Menelick staked his

492
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 1: claim to the imperial throne. And he told tay To

493
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,720
Speaker 1: about this. You know, He's like, hey, let's get together.

494
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:02,920
Speaker 1: I know you're cool. You got a lot of power.

495
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,240
Speaker 1: And guess what, I'm going to be emperor one day.

496
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: I'm the I'm the guy who should be. I was

497
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:08,960
Speaker 1: gonna say, do you think She was like, well, I

498
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: don't want to be just a queen. I thinken to

499
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 1: be empress. And there was a whole prophecy about me.

500
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 1: And it's like, oh, actually, it's so funny you say that.

501
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: Turns out my dad's dad's dad dad. It's probably exactly

502
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: more or less what happened. And on Easter Sunday of

503
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three they were married. Raymond Jonas writes in

504
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,640
Speaker 1: his book The Battle of Odwa that Menelik and Tai

505
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,080
Speaker 1: two were actually very affectionate with each other. Um, so

506
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 1: we can we can imagine that there was some real

507
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: love and romance here and it wasn't all political, which

508
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,280
Speaker 1: I like to hear that for both of them. It

509
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 1: feels like they deserve a break in the love. There's

510
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: some candid photos of their personal lives that show how

511
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: comfortable they are together. They would eat meals together, which

512
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily common and quote their interactions were described as

513
00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 1: attentive and tender. And like you said, both of them

514
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 1: had some really ugly divorces behind them, so they must

515
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: have really considered this union carefully. But through this marriage

516
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 1: and some other careful alliances, Menelik turned Shewa into the

517
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 1: most powerful kingdom in Ethiopia. He also buddied up with

518
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 1: the Italians and the French, and they were really keen

519
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 1: on having an ally down in this region to help

520
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 1: stop British expansion. So he's playing the Europeans against each

521
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,000
Speaker 1: other too, very smart. Yeah, they were like, oh, they

522
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 1: already took a bunch of stuff we wanted. Then, in

523
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 1: March of eighteen eighty nine, Emperor Johannes the fourth was

524
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 1: killed in a battle. It said that with his dying

525
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: breath he declared that his son would be heir to

526
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,479
Speaker 1: the throne. That sounds convenient. Well. Metelk and t two

527
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: heard about this and they were like, Okay, the time

528
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,680
Speaker 1: is now to strike. And Metelick stepped up and proclaimed

529
00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 1: himself Emperor of Ethiopia, and some people were like, wait

530
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,160
Speaker 1: a minute, but Johannes was just here. He just said

531
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:11,239
Speaker 1: it would be his son, and Menelik was like, I know,

532
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: that's very confusing, but let me lay it out for y'all.

533
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: Johannes was a descendant from King Solomon. Sure, great, but

534
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 1: it was through the female side. Boo. My bloodline is

535
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 1: through the male lineage, so it counts for more. And

536
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: he had enough of the nobility on his side in

537
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,120
Speaker 1: addition to the backing of the Italians that in November

538
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:41,680
Speaker 1: of that year he was crowned. Emperor. Johannes's son didn't

539
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,600
Speaker 1: really have his ship together, he couldn't contest it. He

540
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: didn't have no friends with the Italians or anything like that.

541
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 1: So Menelik gave him a governorship as like a consolation prize.

542
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 1: So Emperor Menelik the Second and Empress Tai Tu, we're

543
00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 1: now ruling all of Ethiopia, and we'll hear about their remarkable,

544
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 1: sometimes ridiculous exploits right after this. Welcome back everyone. Now,

545
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 1: Menelick the Second is generally considered to be the founder

546
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 1: of modern Ethiopia. Like we said at the top of

547
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,520
Speaker 1: the episode, there had been so many wars going on,

548
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 1: and the country was so split into these many little

549
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,400
Speaker 1: regions that had, you know, pretty much little to do

550
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,839
Speaker 1: with each other besides this idea of an emperor who

551
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 1: ruled them, but they were kind of self governing. So

552
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,800
Speaker 1: Menelick's very first mission was to modernize and unite the empire.

553
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,760
Speaker 1: But he couldn't have done any of this without Tie

554
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,800
Speaker 1: too at his side. She made sure to get herself

555
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:45,719
Speaker 1: involved in all matters of policy, and Menelik was very

556
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,720
Speaker 1: glad to have her assistance because while Menelik was fairly

557
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:53,359
Speaker 1: he was kind of approachable and amenable rejected princesses dot

558
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,719
Speaker 1: Com calls Tie to quote, the bad cop Empress of Ethiopia.

559
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:00,839
Speaker 1: So they had this kind of like a go ask

560
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: your mother sort of thing going on there, this routine

561
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:07,600
Speaker 1: that helped them kind of pacify a lot of conflict

562
00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: and get ship done when he had to take an

563
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 1: unpopular stance. Mentally had a catch phrase where he basically said,

564
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:20,240
Speaker 1: yes tomorrow, somebody's like, hey, should we raise taxes? Yeah,

565
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,239
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that tomorrow. You know, should we do

566
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:27,040
Speaker 1: this and that, Yeah, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Tomorrow,

567
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 1: come back and ask me again today is crazy? Get it?

568
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:34,800
Speaker 1: But Tie two had no problem with her catchphrase, absolutely not.

569
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: And she was involved in all of his political moves,

570
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 1: and she would interrupt negotiations quote often in a decisive

571
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:48,280
Speaker 1: and resolutely hostile way. I could totally see this working.

572
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 1: I mean, his strength is that he makes friends, right,

573
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:55,120
Speaker 1: people like him throughout his life. That's been everything that's

574
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,120
Speaker 1: helped him is that people like him. But then if

575
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,120
Speaker 1: you can't really lead and stay likable because you have

576
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,440
Speaker 1: to say no. So he's like, great, you say no.

577
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,319
Speaker 1: She's like cool, I don't mind being unlikable. I will

578
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:13,280
Speaker 1: say no. Now, Medelick was still getting some on the side.

579
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,560
Speaker 1: He had his little side pieces going on, and Tie

580
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,760
Speaker 1: too tolerated it. But she kept a sharp eye on things,

581
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,640
Speaker 1: and she would not tolerated if a woman looked like

582
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 1: they were vying for power. They thought, you know, they

583
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,799
Speaker 1: could compete with her. You can sleep with that girl.

584
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,680
Speaker 1: But that second I see her eyeball on that throne. Okay,

585
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 1: she's out, she's far out, Like we'll kick her as

586
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,319
Speaker 1: to the other borders, probably like why didn't you date

587
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: that bimbo? Why don't you date some dummies? And I'd

588
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,720
Speaker 1: be fine with me. She's like, you'll get so bored

589
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,560
Speaker 1: listen to her chatter. I don't have to worry about

590
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,799
Speaker 1: you disappearing for life. It said that one of these

591
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: ladies started maybe asking a few too many questions, making

592
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 1: some suggestions that were a little too suggestive, and Tie

593
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 1: two poisoned her. In fact, Ty two was rumored to

594
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 1: be connected to quite a few poisonings dating back to

595
00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 1: her teenage years, but rejected. Princesses dot Com says that

596
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,399
Speaker 1: a lot of these claims are probably rumor mongering. They're

597
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,800
Speaker 1: not backed up by evidence um which we've seen many

598
00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,880
Speaker 1: times in the past with queens getting getting smeared and dragged,

599
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: you know. But a couple of them quote aren't out

600
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: of the question. So Tie two probably did not poison

601
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:39,319
Speaker 1: a lot of people, but she not against it. But

602
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 1: she did start to curb mentalis womanizing, and this helped

603
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 1: him be a more focused and serious ruler. There was

604
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,319
Speaker 1: a popular song at the time that said, quote the

605
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:54,920
Speaker 1: sun has dissipated the fog that Ti two is Gayez

606
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:59,040
Speaker 1: for sun, and the fog clearly meant these foggy as bitches.

607
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 1: That mentally because in her ound with so people were

608
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,640
Speaker 1: pretty happy that she rained him in a bit when

609
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,560
Speaker 1: it came to that. But do you unite the empire

610
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 1: and bring all these kingdoms together? Menelik needed to establish

611
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 1: a new capital city because for a long time there

612
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 1: wasn't a permanent capital. The Emperor's royal encampment was basically

613
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 1: like a capital that just moved around wherever needed to be.

614
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,720
Speaker 1: I could see that being useful, and like battles should

615
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:26,799
Speaker 1: keep moving retreating. And he had been parked for a

616
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 1: while on Mount and Toto. But in eight eighties six,

617
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 1: Empress Tai Tu took a little trip south of the

618
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: mountain to one of these hot springs while Menelick was

619
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: out fighting off a little battle or something. And she

620
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 1: gets there and she's like, yeah, this is it. And

621
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 1: she built a little house for herself, and she said,

622
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,239
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be here from now on. If anybody's looking

623
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:52,879
Speaker 1: for me, this is where I live now. I found paradise,

624
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 1: very nice spot, and she called it addis Ababa, which

625
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 1: means new flower. So mentel gets bred of this. He

626
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: sends his generals down there to start allocating land and

627
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: building their own houses. And in eighteen eighty nine they

628
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,840
Speaker 1: started building the Royal Palace. Over the next twenty years,

629
00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,840
Speaker 1: the city grew to a population of over a hundred thousand,

630
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 1: and it is still Ethiopia's capital city today. Right now,

631
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:24,239
Speaker 1: it's the eighth wealthiest city in Africa, and it's home

632
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:27,040
Speaker 1: to the oldest university in Africa as well as the

633
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 1: h Q for the African Union. And it's just we're

634
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,359
Speaker 1: looking it up and it is just full of diversity

635
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,960
Speaker 1: and food that looks incredible, and museums and architecture. It

636
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,200
Speaker 1: just sounds amazing. Now I really want to get on

637
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:46,520
Speaker 1: the list for absolutely it looks amazing. I read if

638
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:48,560
Speaker 1: any of you live in Ethiopia and would like to

639
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 1: provide us a couch together, Menelik and Tai to continue

640
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:58,680
Speaker 1: to bring Ethiopia into the modern era. Previous emperors Johannes

641
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,920
Speaker 1: the Fourth and to Woodros the second had both outlawed

642
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,400
Speaker 1: slave trading, but they had had a hard time suppressing

643
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 1: it because a lot of the disparate tribes were not

644
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:09,839
Speaker 1: against it, so they didn't really enforce any of that.

645
00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,600
Speaker 1: Raiders came into the country from all sides to capture people.

646
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:18,880
Speaker 1: But as Metelis reach expanded out into these tribal kingdoms,

647
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:23,279
Speaker 1: either through military conquest or diplomatic agreements. He was able

648
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 1: to actively suppress the slave trade. He had slave markets

649
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:32,400
Speaker 1: across Ethiopia destroyed, and he enforced serious punishments for anyone

650
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 1: caught working in that industry. In addition to founding Addis Ababa,

651
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:42,080
Speaker 1: Taied two helped homeless orphans by educating them to become deacons, priests,

652
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:45,480
Speaker 1: or even government officials. Wow, can you imagine a ruler

653
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 1: coming in and being like, hey, homeless folks, I'm going

654
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 1: to educate you and make you government officials. I mean

655
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,560
Speaker 1: a world, why would you want a lot of homeless people?

656
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 1: I have to ask that, even an o U. And

657
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:03,719
Speaker 1: then what a great perspective to be working in government? Yeah, boy,

658
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 1: I don't want people to have to go through what

659
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,440
Speaker 1: I went through. Let me try and make that not happen. Well,

660
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:10,480
Speaker 1: I wondered too, since she was able to get an

661
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 1: education and knew that that was kind of a privilege.

662
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,759
Speaker 1: She was like, seriously, this is transformational. You will not

663
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,560
Speaker 1: be the same once you've opened your eyes in this way.

664
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:22,680
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about these people, and they both, you know,

665
00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 1: obviously came from privileged households, but they were also both

666
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,960
Speaker 1: imprisoned at different times. I'm thinking of her, you know,

667
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:32,320
Speaker 1: being forced to walk behind the army and chains and

668
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:34,799
Speaker 1: forced to cook for them and stuff, and him being

669
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,280
Speaker 1: locked up in this palace and like, you know, pretty

670
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 1: much forced to marry the emperor's daughter and you know,

671
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,320
Speaker 1: and and give up all of his lineage and everything.

672
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,719
Speaker 1: And they just have like a really unique perspective as rulers.

673
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,320
Speaker 1: Tied To also built the first hotel, the Tegway tie

674
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 1: To Hotel, which still stands today. And that's where I'd

675
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:56,800
Speaker 1: like to stay. You can afford it, you go to Athiopia.

676
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 1: I don't know anything about the hotel itself. I know,

677
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 1: maybe it's like a Best West and I don't know,

678
00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:03,799
Speaker 1: but maybe it's like a fucking four C, you know.

679
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 1: Fancy and a Metallick spoke fluent French, Italian and English

680
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:13,840
Speaker 1: and started to get involved in global investments very smart.

681
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:18,120
Speaker 1: He heavily invested in American railroads, and according to a

682
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 1: New York Times article from nineteen o nine, he had

683
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:26,600
Speaker 1: a private fortune of around twenty five million dollars, which today,

684
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 1: let me check here, would be over eight hundred million dollars.

685
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 1: Dang metal, that's pretty good, can I get you won't

686
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,560
Speaker 1: even notice it in the ocean. Now. He was constantly

687
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 1: reading books from all over the world, and he had

688
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 1: a library in his palace of ten thousand volumes. Imagine,

689
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 1: I'm picturing you totally just as Bell on the ladder,

690
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,759
Speaker 1: like rolling through those blick shelves singing. That's how I

691
00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:00,880
Speaker 1: always I always related to her so hard, because he

692
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:02,399
Speaker 1: was like, wait, you just want me to hang out

693
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,560
Speaker 1: in a soft bed surrounded by books with like things

694
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:07,880
Speaker 1: that talk to me and I could get delicious food.

695
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,279
Speaker 1: I don't know why I should be upset right now. Yeah,

696
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,520
Speaker 1: you can see how the Stockholm sunt term sent pretty fast.

697
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,600
Speaker 1: It said that when asked about a new upcoming author

698
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,360
Speaker 1: in England or something like a European author who was

699
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,440
Speaker 1: new and fresh and hot, you could go ask him

700
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:26,319
Speaker 1: about it and he already knew who they were. He

701
00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:29,319
Speaker 1: was real up to date. Dang okay. He was like

702
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:33,319
Speaker 1: a literal literature subscriber. He was like he wanted it all.

703
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:37,840
Speaker 1: He clearly valued knowledge and intelligence. You know it served

704
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,240
Speaker 1: him well. Yeah, so, yeah, amazing library. He built modern roads,

705
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 1: expanding out from the capitol. He introduced the first modern

706
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 1: postal system, and through his relations with the French. He

707
00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: introduced electricity, telephones, cars, and modern plumbing, and more and

708
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,879
Speaker 1: more Westerners were looking to Ethiopia as a trade hub.

709
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 1: So you really like elevated this whole country in the

710
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:08,280
Speaker 1: eyes of the globe, in the the continents. Definitely, yeah,

711
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:11,880
Speaker 1: that Taitu was instrumental in this work. She was a

712
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,640
Speaker 1: shrewd strategist and she was a real force in negotiations. Remember,

713
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 1: she would interrupt them hostily, sometimes resolutely hostile. Historians mostly

714
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:25,279
Speaker 1: agree that she was quote seen as meneliks equal and

715
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,240
Speaker 1: often took a tougher stance on matters than her husband.

716
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,640
Speaker 1: According to an article on dw dot com, she also

717
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:40,279
Speaker 1: really really, really really did not trust Europeans. Why we're

718
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:45,280
Speaker 1: so cool to yall? Though European colonization was expanding rapidly

719
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,520
Speaker 1: across Africa and Italy, who had only unified as a

720
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 1: single country in the eighteen sixties, so very recently, they

721
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:56,920
Speaker 1: felt like they were falling behind the other European countries

722
00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:01,200
Speaker 1: in terms of colonization across the globe. But they found

723
00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:04,520
Speaker 1: this port city in Eritrea, and by the late eighteen

724
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:09,120
Speaker 1: eighties they had expanded through Eritrea and Somalia, which border

725
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:13,879
Speaker 1: the entirety of eastern Ethiopia, and it did cut off

726
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:21,000
Speaker 1: Ethiopia's coastal access. So the Italians came to emperormental Like

727
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:23,880
Speaker 1: the second and they said, hey, oh, we want to

728
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:32,760
Speaker 1: colonize Ethiopia. And Metelick replied no. And the Italians were like, okay,

729
00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:38,160
Speaker 1: fat enough. We had to ask, you know, oh, how

730
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 1: did you get here? So they said, how about this

731
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:47,920
Speaker 1: nice treaty? And they brought him the Treaty of Wuchale

732
00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:52,240
Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty nine, also known as the Italo Ethiopian

733
00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:56,520
Speaker 1: Treaty of Friendship and Commerce. What a nice little nail.

734
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:59,920
Speaker 1: I like that. The treaty contained twenty articles, and they

735
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:04,360
Speaker 1: wrote two copies, one in the Ethiopian language of Amharik

736
00:46:04,719 --> 00:46:09,560
Speaker 1: and one in Italian. Everything sounded great. Emperor Menelek the

737
00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:14,480
Speaker 1: Second signed the treaty, presumably with Tito behind him, with

738
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:20,719
Speaker 1: her arms crossed, frowning, looking very disapproving and untrusting. But

739
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:23,879
Speaker 1: the Italians took their treaty and they went home. Great,

740
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:25,879
Speaker 1: that's probably what she wanted. She's like, great, they left.

741
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:31,160
Speaker 1: That's all I care about. Except there was one teeny

742
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:35,960
Speaker 1: tiny little difference between the two translations of this treaty.

743
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:40,719
Speaker 1: The Amharic version of article seventeen said the Emperor of

744
00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:44,560
Speaker 1: Ethiopia could go check with Italy before he had any

745
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,640
Speaker 1: dealings with other foreign powers, but the Italian version said

746
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:53,960
Speaker 1: the emperor must go check with Italy first. What you

747
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:57,319
Speaker 1: see why the lawyers are always so serious about their

748
00:46:57,360 --> 00:47:00,360
Speaker 1: definitions and stuff, because these tiny little things make a

749
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:05,440
Speaker 1: big difference. And now when the Italians got home, they're like, hey,

750
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 1: good news, Ethiopia is an Italian protect or it and

751
00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:14,280
Speaker 1: they won't do anything without our say so Chow and Metelick,

752
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:16,759
Speaker 1: you know, and Tai two, we're like, what are y'all

753
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,920
Speaker 1: talking about? They heard about this, They were obviously like,

754
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:22,480
Speaker 1: hell no, if y'all are not even going to keep

755
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 1: up the treaty that we thought we signed, and then

756
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:26,640
Speaker 1: we don't have to keep it up either. And it

757
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,239
Speaker 1: said that Tai two took the contract and tore it

758
00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:32,600
Speaker 1: to pieces, which I love. I hope she threw it

759
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:35,879
Speaker 1: in the air and danced around. Now, negotiators came back

760
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:38,680
Speaker 1: from Italy and they tried to be like, okay, that

761
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:41,759
Speaker 1: was just a little mistranslation, but that's what you agreed to.

762
00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:44,760
Speaker 1: You signed it right here. Sucks to be you, but whatever.

763
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,839
Speaker 1: And during deliberations, Tay too obviously very indignant. She wanted

764
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:53,480
Speaker 1: the Italians to pack up and leave Ethiopian territories altogether,

765
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:58,040
Speaker 1: get out away from a borders, and according to historian

766
00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:02,320
Speaker 1: An Chiho, the lead at Italian negotiator, Count Pietro and

767
00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:06,919
Speaker 1: Tonelli said, quote, Menelick is playing games on me by

768
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:11,120
Speaker 1: giving up his regal authority to a woman, to which

769
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:15,600
Speaker 1: Empress Ty two said, quote, my womanliness and your manliness

770
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,400
Speaker 1: is going to be tested on the battlefield. Do not

771
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 1: absent yourself. So Tie two was like threw down a gauntlet.

772
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:26,440
Speaker 1: She was like, I'm ready to fight you hear, and

773
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:32,720
Speaker 1: now any time you say when? And so unsurprisingly, negotiations

774
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,600
Speaker 1: failed and Menelik was wavering on what to do next,

775
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,400
Speaker 1: but Tie two kept telling him, you know what you

776
00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:42,359
Speaker 1: have to do next. We are going to war with

777
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,960
Speaker 1: the Italians. There's only one thing to do here, And

778
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:50,200
Speaker 1: finally she got through to him and Menelik declared war. Now,

779
00:48:50,239 --> 00:48:56,480
Speaker 1: the Italians thought this was so cute. Europeans were victorious

780
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,719
Speaker 1: over African armies for centuries, so they just thought their

781
00:48:59,719 --> 00:49:02,680
Speaker 1: win was like in the bag basically a given, don't

782
00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:06,239
Speaker 1: even have to worry about it. And in January six

783
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:10,879
Speaker 1: Menelik and Tie two together attacked an Italian fort at Adigrat,

784
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,160
Speaker 1: and that did not go well for the Ethiopians. Italians

785
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:18,359
Speaker 1: slaughtered five Ethiopian soldiers easily and they barely suffered any

786
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:22,200
Speaker 1: casualties themselves. And Menelik here i I feel like it's

787
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:26,600
Speaker 1: probably thinking about two DROs and his really bad loss

788
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:30,920
Speaker 1: against the British during that expedition to Abyssinia, when that

789
00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:33,359
Speaker 1: he sent all those soldiers out against that heavily armed

790
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:38,680
Speaker 1: British force. But Tie two had a plan. Now, she

791
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:41,800
Speaker 1: had her own private army of about five thousand soldiers,

792
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:45,560
Speaker 1: including a hundred women. She took nine hundred of her

793
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:48,359
Speaker 1: people and they snuck around the ravine where the fort

794
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:52,080
Speaker 1: was situated, and they cut off the stream that was

795
00:49:52,120 --> 00:49:56,399
Speaker 1: supplying water to the fort. The Italians were not good

796
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:59,200
Speaker 1: at the local geography, their maps were outdated, they had

797
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:02,600
Speaker 1: no idea what to do, and the Ethiopians just backed up,

798
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,320
Speaker 1: settled in out of firing range and waited. And after

799
00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:12,000
Speaker 1: ten days the Italians stumbled out of this sport totally

800
00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:16,160
Speaker 1: dehydrated and sick and they surrendered. Yeah, that's home field

801
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:19,399
Speaker 1: advantagement exactly. She's like, they don't know about this place,

802
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:22,800
Speaker 1: let's use that against them. Welcome to my house, exactly.

803
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:27,080
Speaker 1: Welcome to my house. And now the Italians basically thought, Okay,

804
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:30,200
Speaker 1: you got lucky. We didn't know about the water. Sue

805
00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:37,320
Speaker 1: us this time. I'm amia. Now, this time, we'll send

806
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,239
Speaker 1: some serious firepower to Ethiopian a deal with these locals.

807
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:46,480
Speaker 1: So they sent seventeen thousand men to march through Ethiopia

808
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:49,799
Speaker 1: towards the capital city of Addis Ababa. They knew this

809
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:53,880
Speaker 1: would put a stop to these uncivilized Ethiopians once and

810
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:58,000
Speaker 1: for all. But on their march to Addis Ababa, they

811
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:01,800
Speaker 1: were intercepted by Menelik tai Tu and their forces in

812
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:04,800
Speaker 1: the mountains near the town of Adwa, and the Battle

813
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:07,120
Speaker 1: of Adwa would prove to be one of the most

814
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:13,320
Speaker 1: significant in African history. Italian general Baratieri had been marching

815
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:17,240
Speaker 1: south from Eritrea, but his seventeen thousand men were again

816
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:21,160
Speaker 1: unprepared for the Ethiopian terrain. They were already low on water,

817
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 1: munitions and morale. Then he saw the Ethiopian forces. Now

818
00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:33,000
Speaker 1: Menelik had for years, led the Italians to believe that

819
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:38,640
Speaker 1: Ethiopia was just a disparate collection of disorganized tribes without

820
00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:43,640
Speaker 1: any modern weaponry. But he had united most of the kingdoms,

821
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:47,480
Speaker 1: and this war with Italy did more for that than anything.

822
00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:53,200
Speaker 1: Barrattieri looked up and saw Menelick's army of over a

823
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:57,840
Speaker 1: hundred thousand soldiers, and while half of them were armed

824
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:01,799
Speaker 1: with spears and swords and shield the other half had

825
00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:07,000
Speaker 1: modern rifles. What what? What? Menelik had been making deals

826
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:11,000
Speaker 1: with the Russians, who were also Orthodox Christian, and they

827
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:14,759
Speaker 1: didn't want Catholic European expansion in Africa, so they came

828
00:52:14,760 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: to a good arrangement, and they had been supplying Menelik

829
00:52:17,640 --> 00:52:21,640
Speaker 1: with weapons for years. There he goes again, finding allies

830
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:25,839
Speaker 1: in the most strange places. I love that. Meanwhile, tai

831
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:29,439
Speaker 1: To gathered up ten thousand women and had them fill

832
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:33,239
Speaker 1: water jugs to supply the Ethiopian troops and tend to

833
00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:36,000
Speaker 1: the wounded, which is of course something the Italians didn't

834
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:38,359
Speaker 1: know where to get or even think ahead to do.

835
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:45,120
Speaker 1: Barrittieri wanted to retreat, but the Italian Prime Minister Crispy

836
00:52:45,440 --> 00:52:49,279
Speaker 1: ordered them to attack. But they were like, Oh, you're

837
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:51,839
Speaker 1: about to have a crispy ass because I burned you

838
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:58,920
Speaker 1: out of office. Crispy mother, crispy bitch. Now, when the

839
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:03,840
Speaker 1: fighting began, hied To rushed in with her five thousand soldiers, shouting,

840
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:10,600
Speaker 1: quote courage, victory is ours strike, and Encyclopedia dot com says,

841
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:14,560
Speaker 1: quote cannoneers to the right of where she stood fired

842
00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:19,120
Speaker 1: so continuously that they broke the center of the enemy army.

843
00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:23,239
Speaker 1: And the Italians tried to split into three contingents, gain

844
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:27,120
Speaker 1: the high ground and flank the Ethiopians. But again, they

845
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:31,640
Speaker 1: had outdated maps and they were not only completely separated

846
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:33,520
Speaker 1: from each other, but they were way more out in

847
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:35,759
Speaker 1: the open than they thought they would be, and they

848
00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:40,520
Speaker 1: were easily spotted by Ethiopian scouts. So Metalis massive army

849
00:53:40,719 --> 00:53:47,080
Speaker 1: decimated all three contingents. By the afternoon the battle was over.

850
00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:51,040
Speaker 1: The Ethiopians had lost between ten and fifteen percent of

851
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:57,360
Speaker 1: their men, the Italians had lost nearly six When news

852
00:53:57,400 --> 00:54:00,520
Speaker 1: got back to Italy, there were riots in the reads

853
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:04,279
Speaker 1: protesting Prime Minister Crispi's handling of the war. That was

854
00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:09,040
Speaker 1: crispy bitch signs and they had to make peace with

855
00:54:09,080 --> 00:54:11,880
Speaker 1: the Ethiopians. So soon they were back at the table

856
00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:16,719
Speaker 1: signing the Treaty of Addis Ababa, in which Italy recognized

857
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:21,960
Speaker 1: Ethiopia's complete independence. And I bet Ti too read that

858
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:27,840
Speaker 1: ship a couple of times. Italy was humiliated across the

859
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:32,160
Speaker 1: world and Europe had to think twice about their arrogance

860
00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:36,960
Speaker 1: in fighting African forces. Again, they're just using everything. They

861
00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,719
Speaker 1: all the tools available. You know. He's like, y'all are

862
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:43,400
Speaker 1: so racist, and you think you're so condescending about us,

863
00:54:43,480 --> 00:54:46,279
Speaker 1: you think we got nothing. I guess I'll use that

864
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,200
Speaker 1: instead of trying to persuade you, I'll just one day

865
00:54:49,239 --> 00:54:54,640
Speaker 1: prove it to you. Now. Count Pietro Antonelli remember him.

866
00:54:54,640 --> 00:54:57,120
Speaker 1: He was the negotiator who was talking shit about tai

867
00:54:57,239 --> 00:55:00,600
Speaker 1: To after the treaty, of which who said, you know,

868
00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:05,600
Speaker 1: I can't believe Emperor is listening to a woman. She said,

869
00:55:05,600 --> 00:55:08,280
Speaker 1: I'll see you on the battlefield. Well he did absent

870
00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:11,640
Speaker 1: himself from the battlefield, of course, and after this he

871
00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:15,960
Speaker 1: changed his tune a bit. Now he said, quote. The Empress,

872
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:19,920
Speaker 1: like all other Ethiopian women, is brave. She has a

873
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:25,239
Speaker 1: strong character, sometimes haughty and just interesting in appearance. Her

874
00:55:25,239 --> 00:55:28,520
Speaker 1: look is commanding and at the same time as spaness.

875
00:55:28,520 --> 00:55:32,360
Speaker 1: In some she is a great lady who perhaps in

876
00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:36,160
Speaker 1: another milieu would have been a Christina of Sweden or

877
00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:40,360
Speaker 1: a Catherine the Great, but rejected Princesses dot Com points

878
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:44,840
Speaker 1: out this is European code for quote if she wasn't black,

879
00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:52,640
Speaker 1: pretty obvious, Pretty obvious there. I liked her appearance is interesting, right, Oh,

880
00:55:52,719 --> 00:55:55,120
Speaker 1: if she were white, she might be like Catherine the Great.

881
00:55:55,160 --> 00:55:59,920
Speaker 1: I'm like she is like now. Europeans got pretty aggres

882
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,520
Speaker 1: with their racism about Tie two two after this, saying

883
00:56:03,680 --> 00:56:07,960
Speaker 1: she was a brutal murderer who based in virgin's blood

884
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:11,680
Speaker 1: and tried to slaughter prisoners who had surrendered. They even

885
00:56:11,719 --> 00:56:14,239
Speaker 1: said that she was the cause of the war herself,

886
00:56:14,520 --> 00:56:18,120
Speaker 1: because they believed Menelik would have capitulated and compromised if

887
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:22,759
Speaker 1: it weren't for her bloodthirsty hatred of Europeans, and Encyclopedia

888
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:26,400
Speaker 1: dot Com says quote, no one outside of Ethiopia seemed

889
00:56:26,480 --> 00:56:30,000
Speaker 1: to recognize Tie too simply as a patriot fighting for

890
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:33,080
Speaker 1: the freedom of her people. I mean, how many times

891
00:56:33,080 --> 00:56:35,279
Speaker 1: do you see that? Right? It's like everyone has their

892
00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:39,040
Speaker 1: own little version of how a conflict goes, and who

893
00:56:39,040 --> 00:56:42,799
Speaker 1: the oppressor is and who the patriots are just kind

894
00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:45,680
Speaker 1: of depends which sidere exactly. I think it's pretty clear

895
00:56:45,840 --> 00:56:49,359
Speaker 1: if you look objectively in this case now. But Tie

896
00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:53,040
Speaker 1: two was a bit divisive even at home. But in

897
00:56:53,160 --> 00:56:57,320
Speaker 1: nineteen o six, Menelik suffered a stroke and although he recovered,

898
00:56:57,360 --> 00:57:01,160
Speaker 1: he was weakened, and Tie two increasingly assumed his powers.

899
00:57:01,920 --> 00:57:05,640
Speaker 1: She was known to be merciful and progressive, and she

900
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:10,239
Speaker 1: quote applied herself to not only feminine works, but like quicksilver,

901
00:57:10,360 --> 00:57:14,680
Speaker 1: attended to perplexing business usually done by men and succeeded

902
00:57:14,719 --> 00:57:18,720
Speaker 1: at it. She was surprised, mind blowing to the author

903
00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:22,720
Speaker 1: of that piece, like, wow, she could also do this

904
00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:28,680
Speaker 1: and she succeeded. I don't know what to think anymore.

905
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:31,960
Speaker 1: I better write this down. Dogs and cats living together,

906
00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:36,400
Speaker 1: women succeeding in business. What is happening to the world

907
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:42,000
Speaker 1: this modern era. But she was pretty ruthless as a

908
00:57:42,040 --> 00:57:46,400
Speaker 1: political ruler, to unsurprising what we've heard about her already.

909
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:50,320
Speaker 1: And as her power expanded, it was said that quote

910
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:55,040
Speaker 1: nearly half of Ethiopia is in the hands of her relatives.

911
00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:58,640
Speaker 1: So the people got a little upset about her nepotism.

912
00:57:58,880 --> 00:58:02,480
Speaker 1: You know, the why is always a bit tool running around.

913
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:07,200
Speaker 1: In nineteen o nine, Menelik had a second stroke and

914
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:11,880
Speaker 1: died shortly after. A Council of Regency from which the

915
00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:16,200
Speaker 1: Empress was excluded, was formed in nineteen ten, and they

916
00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:21,400
Speaker 1: ruled over Ethiopia until nineteen sixteen, when Empress Zudtu was crowned.

917
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:25,840
Speaker 1: Now Tai two was effectively forced out of politics during

918
00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:29,200
Speaker 1: this Council of Regency, so she moved to live out

919
00:58:29,280 --> 00:58:34,439
Speaker 1: her days in a nearby palace. She died in nineteen seventeen. Yeah,

920
00:58:34,440 --> 00:58:37,959
Speaker 1: and Menelik and t two are still celebrated in Ethiopia today.

921
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:40,440
Speaker 1: They're buried next to each other in a monastery in

922
00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:44,800
Speaker 1: Adis Ababa, and they're remembered as modernizers and patriots who

923
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:48,760
Speaker 1: fought for their people and brought prosperity to Ethiopia. And

924
00:58:48,840 --> 00:58:52,720
Speaker 1: in Italy. There's a common expression when someone is being

925
00:58:52,960 --> 00:58:57,760
Speaker 1: bold and demanding that things go their way, La gina

926
00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:01,520
Speaker 1: Tai two, which translates to who does she think she is?

927
00:59:01,720 --> 00:59:08,680
Speaker 1: Empress two? That's awesome. I saw a woman in one

928
00:59:08,680 --> 00:59:10,440
Speaker 1: of the comments some one of these articles saying, oh,

929
00:59:10,480 --> 00:59:12,520
Speaker 1: my grandmother is Italian. She used to say that to

930
00:59:12,560 --> 00:59:14,360
Speaker 1: me all the time, like, who do you think you are?

931
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:17,959
Speaker 1: Empress ty two? Amazing? Let's start using that around here.

932
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:20,640
Speaker 1: That is good. That is yeah, next time I say

933
00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:24,560
Speaker 1: some some unreasonable demand, Hey babe, can I get some

934
00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:26,640
Speaker 1: water while you're up? Who do you think you are?

935
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:30,920
Speaker 1: Empress two? No? Be like if you were Empress tight too,

936
00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:34,000
Speaker 1: you'd be cutting off the water. I wouldn't have any

937
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:38,240
Speaker 1: I'd have ten thousand women carrying it around. Right, You'd

938
00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:41,680
Speaker 1: be like, you're part Italians, sir, You're not get any water.

939
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:44,840
Speaker 1: That's what We've never been a strategic thinker, all right,

940
00:59:45,160 --> 00:59:48,320
Speaker 1: I would never presume to be empressed. I do, right,

941
00:59:48,960 --> 00:59:51,000
Speaker 1: But that is so smart cut off the water and

942
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:53,240
Speaker 1: then just wait him out. She was a thinker. She

943
00:59:53,320 --> 00:59:56,720
Speaker 1: was so smart. Yeah, A little bit reminded me of

944
00:59:56,720 --> 00:59:59,800
Speaker 1: Olga of Kiev when she would she would just funk

945
00:59:59,840 --> 01:00:02,439
Speaker 1: with they're all right, so she didn't even go in there.

946
01:00:03,200 --> 01:00:05,760
Speaker 1: She had already decimated so many of them. I love

947
01:00:05,800 --> 01:00:07,640
Speaker 1: that they're cut the image of them cutting off the

948
01:00:07,640 --> 01:00:09,760
Speaker 1: water and then go standing out of range and just

949
01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:14,200
Speaker 1: waiting and just watching them like another day goes by. Boy,

950
01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:16,840
Speaker 1: they sure they sure do look a little, a little

951
01:00:16,880 --> 01:00:24,280
Speaker 1: frustrated right now, hot enough for you. They're like, yeah,

952
01:00:24,280 --> 01:00:26,920
Speaker 1: they're out there, like, you know, just pouring water out

953
01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:30,600
Speaker 1: of jugs and taking a bath them. Oh so no,

954
01:00:30,760 --> 01:00:32,880
Speaker 1: I think I'll go for a swim or doing that

955
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:35,240
Speaker 1: mean thing where you're like, hold it and then just

956
01:00:35,280 --> 01:00:37,800
Speaker 1: pour it on the ground. You don't need it, right,

957
01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:41,600
Speaker 1: It's like ice cold glass of lemonade. She's like, wouldn't

958
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:45,600
Speaker 1: you know, Oh, there's a bug in it. Dump. Honestly,

959
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:47,600
Speaker 1: what's probably worse is that they went and set up

960
01:00:47,640 --> 01:00:50,160
Speaker 1: a little fire and then boiled pasta right in front

961
01:00:50,200 --> 01:00:55,120
Speaker 1: of them. They were like, it's perfectly audente. How does

962
01:00:55,160 --> 01:01:02,240
Speaker 1: it fail? Oh no? Not? The Wall Luigi is so upset.

963
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:06,200
Speaker 1: That's the story of when Empress tied too defeated Wall Luigi.

964
01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:10,640
Speaker 1: I bet she could too, you know, she Mario Party

965
01:01:10,760 --> 01:01:15,160
Speaker 1: easily easily. I will say that the game Civilization, I

966
01:01:15,200 --> 01:01:20,360
Speaker 1: want to say Civilization four or five. Some gamer will

967
01:01:20,360 --> 01:01:23,760
Speaker 1: correct me. But they added Ethiopia as a nation and

968
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:27,960
Speaker 1: Emperormentelek is your character if you play that. Yeah, yeah,

969
01:01:28,160 --> 01:01:30,840
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of history in the game. Cool. I'm

970
01:01:30,840 --> 01:01:34,680
Speaker 1: glad we've retained them. In pop cultures. Oh, definitely, They're awesome,

971
01:01:34,720 --> 01:01:38,360
Speaker 1: and it's you know, we kind of rushed through the end.

972
01:01:39,240 --> 01:01:42,720
Speaker 1: I'll say that all of the modernizing and the Rhodes

973
01:01:42,880 --> 01:01:46,400
Speaker 1: and the churches they built, and the government systems they

974
01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:48,600
Speaker 1: set up and everything like that, a lot of that

975
01:01:48,640 --> 01:01:51,560
Speaker 1: happened after the war with Italy. Um. You know, there

976
01:01:51,600 --> 01:01:54,040
Speaker 1: was there was a solid eight or nine years there

977
01:01:54,080 --> 01:01:56,560
Speaker 1: after the war where they were just prospering and didn't

978
01:01:56,560 --> 01:01:59,360
Speaker 1: even well. And then when by the time he died

979
01:01:59,400 --> 01:02:02,200
Speaker 1: and she got worst doubt. You know, it's politics. It

980
01:02:02,280 --> 01:02:05,680
Speaker 1: wasn't anything too exciting or dramatic or anything. Um, but

981
01:02:05,720 --> 01:02:08,240
Speaker 1: they were you know, well thought of and well remembered

982
01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:12,360
Speaker 1: to this day. You think Tay two was tired or

983
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:15,600
Speaker 1: she just was like whatever, Mentalis dead, so I'll just

984
01:02:15,640 --> 01:02:19,520
Speaker 1: go relax. Now. I wonder years or I wonder it

985
01:02:19,560 --> 01:02:21,120
Speaker 1: was probably because I mean, you know, she lived well

986
01:02:21,160 --> 01:02:24,080
Speaker 1: into her sixties. Yeah. My only question would be because

987
01:02:24,280 --> 01:02:26,040
Speaker 1: she doesn't strike me as the type who would just

988
01:02:26,120 --> 01:02:30,120
Speaker 1: let a counsel form around her right and totally exclude her.

989
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:32,800
Speaker 1: So I was like, did she have a problem with

990
01:02:32,840 --> 01:02:35,840
Speaker 1: the hatter or was she kind of like fine, I've

991
01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:38,800
Speaker 1: had my fun I could crush you all right now,

992
01:02:38,840 --> 01:02:42,840
Speaker 1: but almost episode. But I think she needed him. I

993
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:45,240
Speaker 1: think they needed each other to be that balance, you know,

994
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:48,920
Speaker 1: because I think if if she's got that really harsh

995
01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,760
Speaker 1: attitude like I don't take no ship and I'm not

996
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:54,800
Speaker 1: negotiating with you, you know, that only gets you so far,

997
01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:58,800
Speaker 1: and mentalis attitude of like I don't want to make

998
01:02:58,800 --> 01:03:01,720
Speaker 1: anybody mad, will work this out? That only gets you

999
01:03:01,760 --> 01:03:04,520
Speaker 1: so far. Sit together and why why they're such a

1000
01:03:04,520 --> 01:03:07,960
Speaker 1: fascinating couple to me, that's really what made them so strong.

1001
01:03:08,440 --> 01:03:10,920
Speaker 1: Do you think, like the Italians, that he would have

1002
01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:15,280
Speaker 1: compromised without Taie two hard to say. I think he

1003
01:03:15,320 --> 01:03:22,040
Speaker 1: would have said tomorrow a lot, and they just kept

1004
01:03:22,040 --> 01:03:24,120
Speaker 1: being like, Okay, I guess we'll send him another message.

1005
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:31,040
Speaker 1: But I don't. Man, you know, I'm not a historian

1006
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:33,440
Speaker 1: of these people, so it's hard for me to really

1007
01:03:33,520 --> 01:03:36,280
Speaker 1: make a judgment call on what he might have done.

1008
01:03:36,640 --> 01:03:39,400
Speaker 1: From what little I know, it feels like I don't know.

1009
01:03:39,560 --> 01:03:42,360
Speaker 1: He might have quite as pushy. He might have. He

1010
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:45,120
Speaker 1: might have tried to negotiate a different deal, maybe so.

1011
01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:47,640
Speaker 1: And she was so bold, like she was willing to

1012
01:03:47,680 --> 01:03:49,760
Speaker 1: go with a fight, and she did have to coax

1013
01:03:49,840 --> 01:03:52,520
Speaker 1: him into it. I imagine he but he just didn't

1014
01:03:52,520 --> 01:03:54,600
Speaker 1: have a better idea. But he might have been pushed

1015
01:03:54,600 --> 01:03:58,640
Speaker 1: into it eventually anyway, because he did care about his

1016
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:03,000
Speaker 1: power and and out Ethiopian independence. He wanted this united kingdom.

1017
01:04:03,080 --> 01:04:05,760
Speaker 1: So I think that at some point there there still

1018
01:04:05,760 --> 01:04:08,480
Speaker 1: would have been a war because I'll remember also he

1019
01:04:08,560 --> 01:04:11,240
Speaker 1: was still negotiating and doing deals with the Russians for

1020
01:04:11,240 --> 01:04:14,760
Speaker 1: all those weapons. He was trying to like keep it

1021
01:04:14,800 --> 01:04:16,440
Speaker 1: on the d l that he was building such a

1022
01:04:16,480 --> 01:04:20,600
Speaker 1: powerful nation and did and did pretty good. Yeah, so

1023
01:04:20,680 --> 01:04:22,520
Speaker 1: hard to say a king with a lot of friends

1024
01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:26,120
Speaker 1: is a very dangerous man. But then you know, you

1025
01:04:26,200 --> 01:04:29,000
Speaker 1: Butterfly effected and you're like, well, if you've taken her out,

1026
01:04:29,320 --> 01:04:32,040
Speaker 1: would he even have gotten to this point where he

1027
01:04:32,160 --> 01:04:36,200
Speaker 1: was emperor? Um, hard to say that as well. They

1028
01:04:36,200 --> 01:04:41,200
Speaker 1: really they really worked well with each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

1029
01:04:41,240 --> 01:04:44,240
Speaker 1: this is awesome, What a great story. Yes, I'm so

1030
01:04:44,360 --> 01:04:48,360
Speaker 1: glad that we have so ready to go to Ethiopia. Please,

1031
01:04:48,560 --> 01:04:53,160
Speaker 1: Oh my god, we haven't even really dug into Ethiopian food. Here.

1032
01:04:53,160 --> 01:04:55,480
Speaker 1: There's a Ethiopian restaurant nearby it we've got to go

1033
01:04:55,520 --> 01:04:57,800
Speaker 1: try out. I've had it once or twice and it's delicious. Yeah,

1034
01:04:57,960 --> 01:05:00,840
Speaker 1: I've I've not had Ethiopian food it since high school,

1035
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:02,920
Speaker 1: so I need to definitely try it again. I was

1036
01:05:03,280 --> 01:05:06,360
Speaker 1: very adventurous eater, and let's go right now. I'm hungry,

1037
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:10,720
Speaker 1: jest Ethiopian. Here we go, right, we'll go in. We'll

1038
01:05:10,760 --> 01:05:14,200
Speaker 1: be like, yes, We'll talk to the server and be like, well,

1039
01:05:14,440 --> 01:05:18,640
Speaker 1: have you heard of Empress tie too? And they'll be like, oh,

1040
01:05:18,760 --> 01:05:22,080
Speaker 1: tonight's meals on the house. I was gonna say it's

1041
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:26,480
Speaker 1: probably some hipster and no, maybe not. Hopefully they're like, yeah,

1042
01:05:26,520 --> 01:05:29,000
Speaker 1: I heard about it on this episode of Ridiculous Romance.

1043
01:05:29,480 --> 01:05:37,840
Speaker 1: Wow cool, how we just recorded it? I have eyes

1044
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:46,720
Speaker 1: and everything you do service turning into quite a creepy character. Leave. Well, look,

1045
01:05:46,720 --> 01:05:48,400
Speaker 1: I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as

1046
01:05:48,440 --> 01:05:53,960
Speaker 1: I did learning it um super interesting, fascinating, awesome people. Yes, yes,

1047
01:05:54,240 --> 01:05:56,720
Speaker 1: very cool. Yeah, but yeah, let us know what you thought.

1048
01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:59,680
Speaker 1: We always love hearing from you and getting your suggestions

1049
01:05:59,800 --> 01:06:02,760
Speaker 1: and all anything you have to say. So yeah, reach out.

1050
01:06:02,800 --> 01:06:05,960
Speaker 1: We are ridic Romance at gmail dot com right or

1051
01:06:06,040 --> 01:06:09,160
Speaker 1: find us on Twitter and Instagram. I'm at Oh great,

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Speaker 1: it's Eli I'm at Dianamite Boom and the show is

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Speaker 1: at ridict Romance. Yeah, and don't forget to drop us

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Speaker 1: a rating interview on Apple Podcasts that other people can

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01:06:19,800 --> 01:06:22,920
Speaker 1: hear about how great we are, super helpful. We love that,

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Speaker 1: and we love all of you and we will catch

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Speaker 1: you all the next episode. Thanks for being here, and

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01:06:28,240 --> 01:06:32,560
Speaker 1: by so long, friends, it's time to go. Thanks so

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Speaker 1: listening to our show tell your friend's names, Uncle Sandance

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Speaker 1: to listen to a show ridiculous roll Nance