Ethio-Egyptian War | |||||||
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Yohannes IV of Ethiopia and Isma'il Pasha of Egypt. |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Egypt | Ethiopia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Werner Munzinger † | John Kirkham | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
9,500 - 30,000+ | 50,000 - 60,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,000+ | ? |
The Ethio-Egyptian War was a war between the Ethiopian Empire and the Khedivate of Egypt from 1874 to 1876, resulting in an Ethiopian victory.
Egypt under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, led by Isma'il Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, sought to expand his reign to the land of Abyssinia and control the Blue Nile. Isma'il Pasha became the ruler of Egypt in 1863. After annexing Darfur in 1875, he turned his attention to Ethiopia. He wished to create an empire covering the whole of the Nile River, much of which is in Ethiopia, and to do this he built a large army, recruiting many European and American officers. Yohannes IV became the emperor of Ethiopia in 1872 after defeating Tekle Giyorgis II in battle. He worked on modernizing his army, some of whom were trained by the British adventurer John Kirkham.