ye-yekkatit ilkit

The first and perhaps most grievous assault, which many Ethiopians of the time believed, was the deliberate introduction of rinderpest, the most devastating viral disease of cattle, to facilitate the colonization of a starving and exhausted populace.  Just prior to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1888, a devastating epizootic of rinderpest was ignited by the introduction of three infected Indian cattle through the Ethiopian port of Massawa.  Rinderpest quickly engulfed the herds of Ethiopia, killing over 90 percent of the cattle and causing great mortality also in wild ruminant populations of buffalo, hartebeest, and antelope.  As a consequence, an estimated 30‑60 percent of the population of Ethiopia starved to death (Pankhurst, R., "The Great Ethiopian Famine of 1888‑1892: A New Assessment."  The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, (1966) Part I, pp. 95‑124; and Part II, 271‑294).

The story of the devastation of rinderpest is commemorated on the Ethiopian calendar as ye-yekkatit ilkit (the Annihilation of the month of Yekkatit).  Shortly thereafter the disease spread like wildfire to the entire continent of Africa, killing hundreds of millions of cattle and wild ruminants. Rinderpest still remains the number one cattle disease in Africa. 

It is at this juncture that Italy advanced from Massawa to conquer Ethiopia. But Emperor Menelik rallied his starving nation to confront the Italians at the Battle of Adwa; amazingly, he was able to defeat this European colonial power despite its modern military machine.  More miraculously, he did it while his people were struggling to survive the famine caused by rinderpest.  In addition to other political difficulties, rinderpest also sapped the energy of Menelik’s army, and he was prevented from crossing the Mereb River to dislodge the Italians from all territories of Ethiopia.  Thus, Mereb Millash remained occupied by the Italians.  They renamed it “Eritrea” on January 1, 1890, thereby creating for Ethiopia an enduring cancer that would eat away at the nation.   According to Donald L. Levine, the key to Menelik’s success was the strength of an army derived from multiethnic cooperation; it becomes obvious why the TPLF/EPLF has unleashed a divisive ethnic war in Ethiopia as soon as it grabbed power.