The Tragedy of Colonialism in a Non-Colonised Society: Italy’s Historical Narratives and the Amhara Genocide in Ethiopia

Abstract

In its attempt to colonise Ethiopia, Italy challenged Ethiopiawinet, claiming that Ethiopia is a mere collection of discrete ethnic groups brought together by Amhara colonialism. Extracting data from a variety of sources including secondary materials, opinions expressed in the broadcast, print and social media platforms, party documents, official letters and key informant interviews, this paper provides a critical reflection on how the colonial presence of Italy made a political mess in Ethiopia by asserting ethnic nationalism. The paper argues that the narratives invented by the Italian colonisers greatly contributed to the emergence of ethnic nationalism following the advent of Marxism-Leninism in Ethiopia. Borrowing narratives from the Italian colonial regime, Ethiopian ethnic elites of the 1960s, who were the advocates of Marxism-Leninism, simplistically categorised the Amhara as oppressor while ‘others’ as oppressed. This categorisation negatively shaped the attitude of ‘others’ towards the Amhara and instigated genocide against these people.