Victoria replies to Tewodros II

[David Flin]

Discuss this article by Jeff Provine of This Day in Alternate History here.

Reprinted with permission from the blog On This Day in Alternate History.

 

[I Saw A Red Sky]

Can't really think of why Ethiopia in this path doesn't just end up another Egypt in terms of British subjugation, esp considering how volatile things are.

 

[David Flin]

Can't really think of why Ethiopia in this path doesn't just end up another Egypt in terms of British subjugation, esp considering how volatile things are.

For that, we need to ask one of our posters knowledgeable on the region. @Gary Oswald ?

 

[Alex Richards]

Can't really think of why Ethiopia in this path doesn't just end up another Egypt in terms of British subjugation, esp considering how volatile things are.

Definitely feels that 'enthronement of an underage king in am unstable country where the regime is reliant on foreign support' is going to go that way.

 

[Gary Oswald]

Can't really think of why Ethiopia in this path doesn't just end up another Egypt in terms of British subjugation, esp considering how volatile things are.

It's probably the most likely route, given the examples we have of Zanzibar and Egypt as countries modernising with British help, though the flipside of that is you have Madagascar where the alliance just ended without British subjugation. And there were people in the British government who opposed firmer control being taken in both Egypt and Zanaibar, though it's difficult to read too much into that as the anti interventionists lost pretty much every internal debate re the UK in Africa.

I think the idea is that the chaos of the Egyptian intervention (which Gladstone resented that he ended up doing) and then the fall of Khartoum allows them to escape that. That's probably the time period where that has the best chance of happening, it is hard to overstate the extent to which the Fall of Khartoum overshadowed everything else and the Mahdists became the big enemy. Gladstone allowing Sudan to gain their independence basically lost him the election.

Given the focus of the British Army on that, I can just about see Ethiopia slipping the leash a bit because keeping them onside as allies against Sudan is more important. Which seems to be the story told here.

 

[David Flin]

I knew I could rely on Gary to explain.

 

[Charles EP M.]

It feels likely enough as written that Britain would go "our Ethiopian allies who of course need us to WAIT THEY'RE NOW STRONGER THAN WE WANTED OH NO!!!!" , certainly would make a good story setting. Feels a bit like Japan going from that exotic place to Oh Wait They Beat Up Russia (Ethiopia fought off Italy OTL but here it could look scarier, more peers at war)

 

[Warthog]

I'm curious how the Italian Ethiopian War started? OTL, Ethiopia was seen by many European powers as an Italian sphere of influence wasn't it? But ITTL Ethiopia would be seen more as a British sphere of influence / ally?

 

[Warthog]

it is hard to overstate the extent to which the Fall of Khartoum overshadowed everything else

Indeed
The impending collapse of Khartoum could provide impetus for British Ethiopian military alignment as speculated?

 

[RyanF]

The standing of Ethiopia in the TL presented here raises the idea of East Africa from the Med to Mozambique being largely under the control of native, if nor local, entities from Egypt to Ethiopia to Zanzibar.

 

[Alex Richards]

The standing of Ethiopia in the TL presented here raises the idea of East Africa from the Med to Mozambique being largely under the control of native, if nor local, entities from Egypt to Ethiopia to Zanzibar.

*Victorian Race 'Scientists'*: Clear proof that Ethiopia is one of the lost tribes of Israel.

 

[Redolegna]

*Victorian Race 'Scientists'*: Clear proof that Ethiopia is one of the lost tribes of Israel.

I'd have thought between that and the Solomonid dynasty, they would have gone extra hard for Queen of Sheba.