On March 1, 1896, Ethiopian forces crushed the Italian army, securing their nation’s independence and rewriting the history of colonial resistance By Buony Lam Chuol , second secretary at the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in the Russian Federation The Battle of Adwa was a blow against Italian colonialism in Ethiopia and a beacon of hope that illuminated the anti-colonial struggle across the globe. On March 1, 1896, in the small town of Adwa, the forces of Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II annihilated the invader – the Italian Army. The Battle of Adwa was the height of the ‘Scramble for Africa’ when European powers carved up the continent with little regard to its existing kingdoms, peoples, and cultures. Italy, a relative latecomer to the imperial game, had established the colony of Eritrea on the Red Sea coast and set its sights on neighboring Ethiopia. Two texts of the treaty In 1889, Italy sought to expand its influence through the Treaty of Wuchale with Emperor Menelik II.…