The Ethiopian Intelligentsia and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1941

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Periodical article

Title:	The Ethiopian Intelligentsia and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-1941
Author:	Bahru Zewde
Year:	1993
Periodical:	International Journal of African Historical Studies
Volume:	26
Issue:	2
Pages:	271-295
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ethiopia Italy
Subjects:	intellectuals military occupation nationalism History and Exploration colonialism
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/219547
Abstract:	The Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935-1941 brought about the denouement of the Ethiopian intellectuals who had worked for reform before the war. Most intellectuals fell victim to the Graziani massacre. A few, like Hakim Warqenah Eshate and Bajerond Takla-Hawaryat, prolonged their exile and became marginalized on their return. Some, like Dr. Alamawarq Bayyana and poet-playwright Yoftahe Neguse, found it difficult to adjust to the post-1941 order and died soon after liberation. Ironically, the collaborators fared much better. With the exception of Afawarq Gabra-Iyyasus, most of them were absorbed into the political order. This paper examines the fate of the Ethiopian intelligentsia in the course of the war. Attention is focussed on three aspects: the warnings by the intellectuals of the Italian danger and the place of these intellectuals in the preparations for war, their role in the resistance or in the collaboration, and the activities of the exiles. The paper concludes with an assessment of the picture that emerged after liberation. Notes, ref.