Congratulations to the Oromo Peoples’ Congress (OPC) and the Oromo
FederalistDemocratic Movement (OFDM) who
have merged to form the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC). My sincere hope is
that more Oromo political factions will follow suit. Here is why. The famous
French author, Martial de Salviac, in his book: Les Galla: Grande
Nation Africaine, unpeuple antique au pays de Menelik
(published in 1901) had considered the Oromos as the
pillar of the Ethiopian nation state. (For those who are interested, this book
has been translated into English by Dr.Ayalew Kano as The Oromos: An Ancient People, Great African Nation [2005].)
It is an open secret that the Oromos have been
at the forefront of all those who fought off colonialism and moulded Ethiopia
into the only truly independent African country during the European scramble
for the continent. This is an incontrovertible historical fact.
What many are not aware of is the valour with which the Oromos fought foreign invaders. Mark that the commander of Menelik’s army that annihilated the Italian army at the
battle of AmbaAlagie (jailed
by RasMakonnen, Emperor
Haile Selassie’s father for doing so without receiving imperial orders) and
then led the Ethiopian army into a brilliant victory against the Italians in
1896 was none other than an Oromo general, Fitawurari Gebeyehu [aka Gabo] Gora. Gebeyehu,
though badly wounded, persevered in his gallantry and died while pursuing the retreating
Italian soldiers at the conclusion of the Battle of Adwa, clearly the greatest
military operation between the Africans and the Europeans since Hannibal
marched from an African soil, crossed the Alps with elephants and vanquished
the Romans at the Battle of Cannae in 210 BC.
One can give cases after cases regarding Oromo gallantry in fighting
foreign invaders such as the episode of Major Abdisa
Aga who confronted the Italian aggressors on their own soil wreaking havoc
wherever he carried out his insurgency right under the nose of the feared Fascist
bully, Benito Mussolini, or the case of a youthful, courageous Oromo fighter
known as Abichu who in 1935-36 led an all young Salalé contingent, harassed the invading Fascist Army capturing
badly needed weapons and ammunition for his comrades and commandeering provisions
from the enemy even while Emperor Haile Selassie considered him an adventurous
young man who should be restrained and if he refused and persisted in his herculean
task of engaging bomb and poison gas spitting war planes and rumbling tanks
discharging a hail of bullets on the Ethiopian peasant army should be arrested
(Read Adolf Parselak’sHabesskaOdyŝsea [The Valour of the Habeshas], recently translated by Techane JobireMakonnen as Ye-HabeshaJebdu.]
Lest anyone doubt the chivalry of the Oromos and
their role in keeping Ethiopia independent, and for that reason why they should
be at the forefront of keeping this country, genuinely federated and led with a
democracy that prescribes to the concept of the rule of the majority and the protection
of the minority, I shall leave you with a long quotation I extracted from a
recent book I was asked by a major scholarly journal to review. The book is The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the
Age of Empire written by Professor Raymond Jonas of the University of
Washington in Seattle, and published by Harvard University Press in 2011. Here
it is, verbatim other than a quote within a quote from a previous book edited
by myself and my colleague Prof.Getachew Metaferia.
Quotes from Raymond
Jonas’ book:
The Battle of Adwa: Africa’s Historic Victory against European Colonialism,
Harvard University Press, 2012: [pp. 213, 214, 215,…]
… Fear began to weigh in
the decisions of Italian soldiers. The appearance of the Oromo cavalrymen,
known at the time as Galla, had a notably dispiriting
effect. The Oromo were mounted infantrymen. They rode into position,
dismounted, and fired. Oromo cavalry had achieved quasi-mythical status in the
weeks leading up to the war … Stories on Oromo cavalry and illustrations with
captions reading “Mow them down!” fed the imaginations not only of
civilians but also of soldiers shipping out. ….Since the Italians had no
cavalry and, in retreat, were sometimes without weapons, the Oromo held a
distinct advantage. Their lion’s mane headdresses, which amplified their
reputation for ferocity in combat, made them fearsome.
The Oromo functioned with such grim
efficiency that they hastened the demoralization of the crumbling Italian army. Baratieri would later claim that fear of the
Oromo-and the belief that the Oromo castrated only soldiers caught with
weapons-prompted dozens of retreating soldiers to cast down their weapons come pazzi-like madmen.
(Quote within a quote from PaulosMilkias and GetachewMetaferiathe Battle of Adwa, Reflections on
Ethiopia’s Historic Victory against European Colonialism, New York: Algora, 2004. )
Here is what General Baratieri, commander of the Italian invasion Army reported
regarding the battle of Adwa and the final debacle in a coded top secret
message to his government:
The enemy,…with great
boldness, were mounting upwards to our position and were penetrating our files,
firing almost point blank at our officers. Then all was at an end and no
orderly retirement could be organized. The officers sought in vain to hold the
troops at one of the successive positions; because enemy eruptions and a few Galla horsemen below discouragingly sufficed to throw
everything into a state of confusion. Then our true losses commenced; [Italian]
soldiers like madmen threw away rifles and ammunition because they thought that
if they were captured unarmed, they would not be castrated, and almost all of
them were abandoning their rations and cloaks. [General Bartieri’s
telegram to the Italian Government on March 3, 1896, See, Italian Ministry of
War, DocumentiDiplomatici XXXIII,
Rome, 1896.)
[Back to quote from
Jonas’ book:]
One Italian soldier
survived the combat but lost his mind. He had managed to retreat as far as Sauria, where he was seen wandering around the camp
“with a strange smile on his lips” and murmuring, “Galla cavalry! Galla cavalry!
Horror! Horror!,
Giovanni Tedone, a sergeant in the bersaglieri fighting under General Arimondi’s command, gave a
vivid account of the role of the Oromo in the breakdown of Italian forces.
Colonels UgoBrusati and
Francesco Stevani were part of a group of officers
who tried to organize an orderly retreat. Just as his men rallied to slow the
assault from in front, Tedone glanced to his left to
see a large group of Ethiopian soldiers approach their position. It was as if
“a high black sea had flowed into the immense valley.” He and his men
were nearly surrounded. Eugenio Dolciotti, like Tedone a member of a bersaglieri unit assigned to Arimondi, watched officer after
officer fall-Lieutenant AgostinoChigi,
Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Compiano, Lieutenant Gillio, and finally General Arimondi himself.ll ,
Despair set in. For the
Italians, the retreat was now deadlier than the battle, especially as they lost
the discipline needed to halt the Ethiopian pursuit. Some chose individual
strategies. Tedone watched Lieutenant Pastore put a revolver to his head and pull the trigger.12
Francesco Frisina witnessed a man-wounded, disarmed,
and unable to continue the retreat-toss himself from a high rock, a final
cigarette still in his mouth.
As Tedone
and his men moved away from the passes, they found themselves surrounded by
Oromo cavalry. Tedone’s men were badly outnumbered
in the ensuing firefight; they held the Oromo at bay as their ammunition and
numbers dwindled. Tedone watched as his immediate
superior, Lieutenant Garibaldi Pennazzi, chose death.
Sensing the end of combat, Pennazzi turned his pistol
on himself, firing a round into his chest. The wound wasn’t fatal, so Pennazzi sat up and fired again, crumpling at Tedone’s feet. Following Pennazzi’s
lead, Second Lieutenant Mazzoleni raised his revolver
to his right temple and pulled the trigger, spraying Tedone
with blood and grey matter. As the Oromo closed in on Tedone
he fell, wounded by saber and lance blows.14 His battle was over.
It is certainly the case
that the Oromo, uniquely able in their capacity as mounted soldiers to pursue
the fleeing Italians, were well placed to carry out such acts. Alberto Woctt praised the fighting ardor of the Oromo, referring to
them as “bold,” “beautiful” warriors and “stupendous
horsemen” who “love war for war’s sake.”22 In fact, it was the
warlike reputation of the Oromo that made them particularly effective. Their
mere appearance could undermine the confidence of the Italians, hastening
their collapse into disorderly retreat.
… Dubisati Dubisisa!….
Professor Paulos Milkias
Department of Political Science
Concordia University
Montreal, Canada
