Pāhonoa te oro

Italy pushed. They occupied Tigray. Menelik tried diplomacy. Tayitu urged war. By September 1895, Menelik issued a call to arms. From every corner of Ethiopia — Amhara, Oromo, Tigray, Gurage, Afar — they came. Over 100,000 men and women answered. Many wore the white shamma, the traditional cotton cloth of the highlands. In their hands: curved shotel swords, lion-hide shields, spears, and rifles bought from France and Russia. Against them: General Baratieri’s 17,000 Italian and Askari troops. Mod