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169-695: After the Ethiopian Empire violated a 1952 UN resolution that guaranteed Eritrea the right to an autonomous government, the ELF was established in 1960 in order to waged an armed struggle for independence. Under Emperor Haile Selassie , the Ethiopian government banned Eritrean political parties, free press and right to assembly . During 1961, the ELF began the Eritrean War of Independence . Idris Muhammad Adam and other Eritrean intellectuals founded

338-506: A miraculous light that in the sky. Believing this was a sign from God showing his approval for his persecution of pagans, the emperor ordered a church built on the site, and later constructed an extensive palace nearby, and a second church, dedicated to Saint Cyriacus . Zara Yaqob was succeeded by Baeda Maryam I . Emperor Baeda Maryam would give the title of the Queen Mother to Eleni of Ethiopia , one of his father's wives. She

507-556: A 1958 trade union strike. The struggle for independence turned violent with this strike as many protesters were killed. In 1958, the Eritrean Liberation Movement (ELM) was founded. The ELM, which was composed primarily of students and laborers, focused on organizing demonstrations against Ethiopian occupation. ELM strongholds were located in the urban central highlands, where a large proportion of Christians lived. It organized Eritreans clandestinely and played

676-598: A 2012 Pew Research Center survey, if current trends continue, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion by 2050. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. While Muslims have an average of 3.1 children per woman—the highest rate of all religious groups—Christians are second, with 2.7 children per woman. High birth rates and conversion were cited as the reason for Christian population growth . A 2015 study found that approximately 10.2 million Muslims converted to Christianity . Christianity

845-607: A bandit and giving the Eritrean liberation struggle public attention. In response, Awate motivated further military action by claiming that he was fighting "for the sake of the Eritrean flag and their homeland." Further 1961 attacks took place in Eritrea's western lowlands. These rural communities were composed of Muslims who had been oppressed by the Ethiopian government , thus exhibiting the greatest antagonism for Ethiopia. Also,

1014-455: A deep sense of patriotism and unity, have labored without crease to bring about this advancement. We vow before God, that, as we have repeatedly stated, we shall spare no effort to secure the happiness and advancement of our people." Israel later revealed its support of Eritrea's annexation, providing funding to train the Ethiopian police force. The ELF began to receive arms from Saudi Arabia and North Yemen in 1962. There were 250 members of

1183-540: A definite invasion of the empire, burning churches, forcibly converting Christians and massacring the inhabitants. According to the chroniclers everywhere he went his men "slew every adult Christian they found, and carried off the youths and the maidens and sold them as slaves." By the mid 1530s most of Ethiopia was under Adalite occupation and Lebna Dengel fled from mountain fortress to mountain fortress until he finally died of natural causes in Debre Damo . The Emperor

1352-408: A derisive element in the term Christian to refer to followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians , had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames. However Peter's apparent endorsement of the term led to its being preferred over "Nazarenes" and the term Christianoi from 1 Peter becomes the standard term in

1521-722: A golden age of peace and stability for the Ethiopian Empire. However, the remaining Walashma returned from their exile in 1415 and established the Adal Sultanate centred around the Harar region. The Muslims then began to harass Christian held territories in the east prompting Emperor Yeshaq I to dedicate much of his time to defending his eastern peripheral territories, he seems to have employed several Egyptian Christian advisors to drill his army and teach them how to make Greek fire. These advances were not enough to keep

1690-486: A highly stable, prosperous commercial center. This period saw profound achievements in Ethiopian art , architecture , and innovations such as the construction of the royal complex Fasil Ghebbi , and 44 churches that were established around Lake Tana . In the arts, the Gondarine period saw the creation of diptychs and triptychs , murals and illuminated manuscripts , mostly with religious motifs. The reign of Iyasu

1859-778: A letter the Mamluke Sultan, Qalawun asking him to allow the patriarch of Alexandria to send an abuna or metropolitan for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church , but also protesting the Sultan's treatment of his Christian subjects in Egypt, stating that he was a protector of his own Muslim subjects in Ethiopia. Towards the end of his reign, Yagbe'u refused to appoint one of his sons to be his successors and instead decreed that each of them should rule for one year, he

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2028-551: A military coup known as the Derg removed Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie from power. This marked a shift in Ethiopia's Cold War alignment from the west to the east. Meanwhile, the rise of President Anwar El Sadat in Egypt converted the country to a western Cold War alignment. This shift in leadership paved the way for Ethiopia's request for Egypt to cease their support for the Eritrean independence movements. Also, by this time,

2197-658: A period known as the Princes Era (in Amharic: Zemene Mesafint ). This was a period of Ethiopian history with numerous conflicts between the various Ras (equivalent to the English dukes ) and the Emperor, who had only limited power and only dominated the area around the contemporary capital of Gondar . Both the development of society and culture stagnated in this period. Religious conflict, both within

2366-456: A political context, is Ṣalībī ( صليبي ' Crusader ' ) from ṣalīb ( صليب ' cross ' ), which refers to Crusaders and may have negative connotations. However, Ṣalībī is a modern term; historically, Muslim writers described European Christian Crusaders as al-Faranj or Alfranj ( الفرنج ) and Firinjīyah ( الفرنجيّة ) in Arabic. This word comes from the name of

2535-453: A proposed constitution creating a constitutional monarchy was presented to the Emperor, the Derg began a program of dismantling the imperial government to forestall further developments in that direction. The Derg deposed and imprisoned the Emperor on 12 September 1974 and chose Lieutenant General Aman Andom , a popular military leader and a Sandhurst graduate, to be acting head of state. This

2704-656: A resounding victory over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, utilizing modern imported weaponry, Menelik ensured Ethiopia's independence and confined Italy to Eritrea . Later, after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War , Benito Mussolini's Italian Empire occupied Ethiopia and established Italian East Africa , merging it with neighboring Eritrea and the Italian Somaliland colonies to

2873-498: A review of the Nobel Prizes award between 1901 and 2000 reveals that (65.4%) of Nobel Prizes Laureates, have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference. In 2017, Open Doors , a human rights NGO , estimated approximately 260 million Christians are subjected annually to "high, very high, or extreme persecution", with North Korea considered the most hazardous nation for Christians. In 2019,

3042-535: A rotating seat. Along with Modibo Keïta of Mali, the Ethiopian leader would later help successfully negotiate the Bamako Accords, which brought an end to the border conflict between Morocco and Algeria . In 1964, Haile Selassie would initiate the concept of the United States of Africa , a proposition later taken up by Muammar Gaddafi . Student unrest became a regular feature of Ethiopian life in

3211-558: A significant role in awakening nationalists sentiments in urban areas until a major police crackdown. While the ELM had played a positive role in working towards self-determination, the organization proved incapable of escalating to armed struggle against the Ethiopian Empire. After the Eritrean Liberation Movement demonstrated it wasn't ready to engage in war, a new liberation organization that could fight back against

3380-844: A supposed direct descendant of Menelik I, was therefore claimed to have "restored" the Solomonic line. Throughout Yekuno Amlak 's reign he would enjoy friendly relations with the Muslims. He not only had established close ties with the neighboring Makhzumi dynasty but had also made contact with the Rasulids in Yemen and the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate . In a letter sent to the Mamluke Sultan Baybars , he would state his intention of friendly cooperation with

3549-541: A third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world. Christians have composed about 33 percent of the world's population for around 100 years. The largest Christian denomination is the Roman Catholic Church , with 1.3 billion adherents, representing half of all Christians. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western World , where 70% are Christians. According to

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3718-411: A unique significance. The term Christian used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches , or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in

3887-754: A unique significance." Michael Martin evaluated three historical Christian creeds (the Apostles' Creed , the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed ) to establish a set of basic Christian assumptions which include belief in theism , the historicity of Jesus , the Incarnation , salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as an ethical role model. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah

4056-527: A university degree in institutions of higher education (67%), followed by the Christians of Israel (63%), and the Christians of Georgia (57%). According to the study, Christians in North America , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and Asia Pacific regions are highly educated since many of the world's universities were built by the historic Christian denominations , in addition to

4225-646: A week of fighting in Asmara , leaving many dead soldiers on the streets unburied. In Massawa , the EPLF managed to hold off the Ethiopians in early 1977, despite Soviet assistance. Nonetheless, as a result of the fighting, over 90,000 Eritreans were homeless in 1977, leading the EPLF to provide medical and food assistance. The EPLF also allowed women to undergo military training in 1975. Between January 23 and 31, 1977,

4394-513: Is generally understood to be derived from Nazarenes , believers of Jesus of Nazareth through Syriac (Aramaic); Masīḥī ( مسيحي ) means followers of the Messiah. Where there is a distinction, Naṣrānī refers to people from a Christian culture and Masīḥī is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Naṣrānī tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners. Another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in

4563-578: Is growing in Africa , Asia, Eastern Europe , Latin America , the Muslim world , and Oceania . According to a study from 2015, Christians hold the largest amount of wealth (55% of the total world wealth), followed by Muslims (5.8%), Hindus (3.3%) and Jews (1.1%). According to the same study it was found that adherents under the classification Irreligion or other religions hold about 34.8% of

4732-567: Is known as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . The war lasted seven months before an Italian victory was declared. The Ethiopian Empire was occupied into the Italian colony of Italian East Africa . The invasion was condemned by the League of Nations , though not much was done to end the hostility. During the conflict, both Ethiopian and Italian troops committed war crimes. Ethiopian troops are known to have made use of Dum-Dum bullets (in violation of

4901-631: Is not accepted by Judaism. The term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוֹצְרִי ( Notzri ' Nazarene ' ), a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מְשִׁיחִיִּים ( Yehudim Meshihi'im ' Messianic Jews ' ). In Arabic-speaking cultures , two words are commonly used for Christians: Naṣrānī ( نصراني ), plural Naṣārā ( نصارى )

5070-459: Is ṣewa (ጼዋ) while the Amharic term is č̣äwa (ጨዋ). The normal size of a regiment was several thousand men. Each regiment was allocated a fief (Gult), to ensure its upkeep ensured by the land revenue. Christians A Christian ( / ˈ k r ɪ s tʃ ən , - t i ə n / ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on

5239-620: The Kebra Nagast , a 14th century text. According to this, the Queen of Sheba , who supposedly came from Aksum, visited Jerusalem where she conceived a son with King Solomon. On her return to her homeland of Ethiopia, she gave birth to the child, Menelik I . He and his descendants (which included the Aksumite royal house) ruled Ethiopia until overthrown by the Zagwe usurpers. Yekuno Amlak, as

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5408-717: The Americas , about 26% live in Europe , 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa , about 13% live in Asia and the Pacific , and 1% live in the Middle East and North Africa . Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories. 280 million Christians live as a minority . About half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic , while more than a third are Protestant (37%). Orthodox communions comprise 12% of

5577-575: The Arab countries to suspend their support for the ELF in June 1967. This resulted in Wolde Kahsai 's Christian fighters betraying the ELF in the summer of 1967. Another Christian group under Haile Woldetensae's leadership was executed by ELF Muslims after they surrendered to the Ethiopian consulate . Hostility between Christians and Muslims ensured even when the Christians did not deflect to

5746-666: The Battle of Chelenqo . In 1889 Menelik's general Gobana Dacche also defeated the Hadiya leader Hassan Enjamo and annexed Hadiya territory. The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa . Italy, seeking a colonial presence in Africa, was awarded Eritrea by Britain which led to the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889 and the scramble for Eritrea's coastal regions between King Yohannes IV of Tembien and Italy. After

5915-509: The EPLF had amassed the support of Eritreans living in the Christian highlands. Nonetheless, Selassie's fall from power enabled the ELF and the EPLF to put aside their differences and jointly invade Asmara in January 1975. This offensive was largely successful; it liberated 95% of Eritrea . Additionally, in May 1975, Idris Mohammed Adem was replaced by Ahmed Mohammed Nasser as the leader of

6084-592: The EPLF was formed in August 1973 from the ELF - PLF and other breakaway factions. Both men received their guerrilla warfare training in China and implemented stringent policies to quash rebellion movements. Inspired by Maoist ideology, the EPLF managed the Eritrean People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), which was a far left-wing political movement that Nur and Afwerki established in 1971. In September 1974,

6253-651: The Early Church Fathers from Ignatius and Polycarp onwards. The earliest occurrences of the term in non-Christian literature include Josephus , referring to "the tribe of Christians, so named from him;" Pliny the Younger in correspondence with Trajan ; and Tacitus , writing near the end of the 1st century. In the Annals he relates that "by vulgar appellation [they were] commonly called Christians" and identifies Christians as Nero 's scapegoats for

6422-599: The Eritrean War of Independence . The emperor declared Eritrea the fourteenth province of Ethiopia in 1962. In 1963, Haile Selassie presided over the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the continent-wide African Union (AU). The new organization would establish its headquarters in Addis Ababa . In May of that year, Haile Selassie was elected as the OAU's first official chairperson,

6591-530: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and between them and the Muslims were often used as a pretext for mutual strife. The Princes Era ended with the reign of Emperor Tewodros II . In 1868, following the imprisonment of several missionaries and representatives of the British government, the British engaged in the punitive Expedition to Abyssinia against Emperor Tewodros. With the backing of most nobles in Ethiopia,

6760-635: The Franks and can be seen in the Arab history text Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ali ibn al-Athir . The most common Persian word is Masīhī ( مسیحی ), from Arabic . Other words are Nasrānī ( نصرانی ), from Syriac for ' Nazarene ' , and Tarsā ( ترسا ), from the Middle Persian word Tarsāg , also meaning ' Christian ' , derived from tars , meaning ' fear, respect ' . An old Kurdish word for Christian frequently in usage

6929-725: The Great Fire of Rome . Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes . Jesus is named as a Nazarene in Matthew 2:23 , while Paul is said to be Nazarene in Acts 24:5 . The latter verse makes it clear that Nazarene also referred to the name of a sect or heresy, as well as the town called Nazareth. The term Nazarene was also used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus ( Against Marcion 4:8), who records

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7098-421: The Greek Septuagint , christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ ( Mašíaḥ , ' messiah '), meaning "[one who is] anointed". In other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as chrétien in French and cristiano in Spanish. The abbreviations Xian and Xtian (and similarly formed other parts of speech) have been used since at least

7267-407: The Hague Conventions ) and mutilated captured soldiers (often with castration). Italian troops used sulfur mustard in chemical warfare , ignoring the Geneva Protocol that it had signed seven years earlier. The Italian military dropped mustard gas in bombs, sprayed it from airplanes and spread it in powdered form on the ground. 150,000 chemical casualties were reported, mostly from mustard gas. In

7436-405: The Red Sea and the Suez Canal . They also felt compelled to help their fellow Muslims attain independence from the Christian Ethiopians . Additionally, Sudan and Egypt worked together in attempt to prevent Ethiopian access to the Nile River . As a consequence, Sudan allowed the ELF to use their land to ship weapons to and organize military operations. However, despite the emergence of

7605-464: The Semien Mountains . The Emperor did not hesitate to take the offensive and won a major victory at the Battle of Wayna Daga when the fate of Abyssinia was decided by the death of the Imam and the flight of his army. The invasion force collapsed and all the Abyssinians who had been cowed by the invaders returned to their former allegiance, the reconquest of Christian territories proceeded without encountering any effective opposition. In 1559 Gelawdewos

7774-423: The Sultan of Egypt . One step Newaya Krestos took was to imprison the Egyptian merchants in his kingdom, the Sultan was forced to back down. In 1382, Dawit I succeeded the son of Newaya Krestos, Newaya Maryam , as Emperor of Ethiopia. The tributary state of the Ifat Sultanate had begun to resist Ethiopian hegemony and assert their independence under Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din II . Sultan Sa'ad as-Din would then raid

7943-406: The Tripartite Unity Forces . However, this unification did not resolve the ELF's internal division, which led to the Adobha conference between ELF leadership in August 1969. This conference abolished the Zonal Command system and instead redivided Eritrea into three regions. The ELF experienced significant military victories in the aftermath of the 1969 conference, the most prominent of those being

8112-483: The education of women , which led to the eradication of illiteracy among females in Protestant communities. Christian culture describes the cultural practices common to Christian peoples. There are variations in the application of Christian beliefs in different cultures and traditions. Christian culture has influenced and assimilated much from the Greco-Roman , Byzantine , Western culture , Middle Eastern , Slavic , Caucasian , and Indian cultures . Since

8281-478: The 16th and 17th centuries before the religion was banned by the Tokugawa shogunate . Today, Christians are referred to in Standard Japanese as キリスト教徒 ( Kirisuto-kyōto ) or the English-derived term クリスチャン ( kurisuchan ). Korean still uses 기독교도 ( RR : Gidokkyodo ) for ' Christian ' , though the Portuguese loanword 그리스도 (RR: Geuriseudo ) now replaced the old Sino-Korean 기독 (RR: Gidok ), which refers to Christ himself. In Thailand,

8450-457: The 16th century. These social groups consisted of the monks; the debtera ; lay officials (including judges); men at arms giving personal protection to the wives of dignitaries and to princesses; the shimaglle, who were the lords and hereditary landowners; their farm labourers or serfs; traders; artisans; wandering singers; and the soldiers, who were called chewa. According to modern thinking, some of these categories are not true classes. But at least

8619-494: The 17th century: Oxford English Dictionary shows a 1634 use of Xtianity and Xian is seen in a 1634–38 diary. The word Xmas uses a similar contraction. The first recorded use of the term (or its cognates in other languages) is in the New Testament , in Acts 11 after Barnabas brought Saul (Paul) to Antioch where they taught the disciples for about a year. The text says that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" ( Acts 11:26 ). The second mention of

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8788-466: The 1896 Battle of Adwa , in which Italy was decisively defeated by the numerically superior Ethiopians. As a result, the Treaty of Addis Ababa was signed in October, which strictly delineated the borders of Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize the independence of Ethiopia. Due to the Entoto Reforms, which provided the Ethiopian Military with modern rifles, many Italian Commanders expressed shock when seeing that some Ethiopians had more advanced rifles than

8957-455: The 1960s and 1970s. Marxism took root in large segments of the Ethiopian intelligentsia, particularly among those who had studied abroad and had thus been exposed to radical and left-wing sentiments that were becoming popular in other parts of the globe. Resistance by conservative elements at the Imperial Court and Parliament, and by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, made Haile Selassie's land reform proposals difficult to implement, and also damaged

9126-424: The 1973 Wollo famine, the growing discontent of urban interest groups, and high fuel prices due to the 1973 oil crisis led to a revolt in February 1974 by the army and civilian populace. In June, a group of military officers formed the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army also known as the Derg to maintain law and order due to the powerlessness of the civilian government following

9295-401: The ELF army grew to 2,000 members organized in seven platoons . This led the president of the ELF, Idris Mohamed Adem , to meet with the leaders of each platoon to restructure the ELF in May 1965. They agreed in dividing Eritrea into four Zonal Commands with the Revolutionary Command located in Kassala . Like the Egyptian-funded military training, the organization of the ELF was inspired by

9464-402: The ELF as a primary Pan Arab movement in Cairo , but the first act of armed resistance was led by Hamid Idris Awate . Over the course of the 1960s, the ELF was able to obtain support from Arab countries such as Egypt and Sudan . However, tensions between Muslims and Christians in the ELF along with the failure of the ELF to ward off Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive internally fractured

9633-400: The ELF established the Women's Union in 1967 to protest the inequalities they faced. Women were dissatisfied that they were unable to hold ranks within the ELF that were comparable to those held by men. Nonetheless, ELF leadership largely ignored these women until the 1971 first National Congress, which is when the ELF first recognized that women were vital to the operation of the ELF. By 1970,

9802-403: The ELF grew in strength, Ethiopia increased military spending by 68.2%. Also, the relationship between Ethiopia and Sudan fractured as each country supported the liberation movements in the other country. This weakened both countries militarily and politically. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and President Nasser of Egypt also worked with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in

9971-477: The ELF held its first National Congress to determine the future of the movement. The ELF responded by instituting the ELF Revolutionary Council and structuring their troops into twelve battalions . The ELF also demanded that the breakaway factions rejoin the ELF. War between the ELF and the ELF - PLF was initiated in February 1972 on the directive of the ELF Revolutionary Council. Under the leadership of Osman Saleh Sabbe , Romadan Mohamed Nur , and Isaias Afwerki ,

10140-400: The ELF in 1963. That was also the year when military aid in the form of weapons from China , Iraq , and Syria intensified. The ELF then raided several Ethiopian bases and military establishments with this aid between 1961 and 1965. This era was also when women also began to play a role in the ELF: they sent messages, obtained weapons, and served as cooks and nurses to the soldiers. In 1965,

10309-438: The ELF in 1967. Also, there was the 1969 and 1970 massacre of Christian ELF soldiers and the assassination of prominent Christian ELF figures such as Wolde Ghiday and Kidae Kiflu . Therefore, in 1971, Abraham Tewoide and Isaias Afwerki founded a faction that broke away from the ELF that would eventually combine with other breakaway factions to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Additionally, women within

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10478-421: The ELF of working with the Arab countries to reach a peace agreement with Ethiopia . Therefore, in 1980, hostility between the EPLF and ELF reemerged after the ELF left Sahel . The EPLF reclaimed the northern Red Sea area of Eritrea in 1980 whereas the ELF fled to Sudan in the face of battle with Ethiopia and the EPLF. In Sudan, the ELF lost their weapons and consequently, dissolved. Therefore, in 1981,

10647-433: The ELF was estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 fighters strong. Although the Eritrean Liberation Forces - People's Liberation Forces (ELF - PLF) formally split from the ELF in 1971, the ELF was strictly divided since mid-1969. This division was a direct consequences of the defeats suffered by the ELF as a result of Ethiopia's 1967–1968 counter offensive. The PLF was frustrated that the ELF Revolutionary Command failed to maintain

10816-427: The ELF, causing it to split. By the mid 1970s, the ELF and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), an ideologically Maoist liberation movement, were the key liberation movements in Eritrea. The EPLF ultimately overtook the ELF as the primary Eritrean independence movement by 1977, and the ELF was subsequently defeated in 1981. After Italy was defeated in World War II , the fate of Ethiopia and Eritrea

10985-411: The ELF, the United States chose to remain loyal to Ethiopia as they signed a secret pact with Ethiopia affirming their opposition to Eritrean insurgency movements. Hamid Idris Awate was a former soldier when the Italians controlled Eritrea and Ethiopia who had not joined the ELM or ELF. The ELF had purchased rifles that were used during the colonial era, leading them to have Awate initiate

11154-419: The ELF. By the mid-1975, Ethiopia began to fight back against the Eritrean independence movements by using propaganda to counter the Arab countries' notion of a holy war . This crumbled Ethiopia's relationship with Egypt and Sudan . Consequently, Sudan continued to support Eritrean independence movements and amassed Egypt's as a military ally if Ethiopia were to invade Sudan . Furthermore, as Ethiopia

11323-399: The EPLF convened in Sahel for the meeting of its first congress. There, the EPLF proposed a plan for Eritrea's independent government, which included steps to resolve gender inequality. Nonetheless, Eritrea's first liberation came to a close, as Ethiopia's army grew to 40,000 troops, following the fall of the Massawa naval base in December 1977 and the fall of Barentu in April 1978. With

11492-405: The EPLF was the only Eritrean independence movement still afloat. The Eritrean War for Independence continued for another ten years, with the EPLF as the primary independence movement. Eritrea achieved full independence on May 24, 1991. Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire , historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia , was a sovereign state that encompassed

11661-409: The Egyptians and Mahdists before dying against the latter in 1889. Emperor Menelik II , now residing in Addis Ababa , subjugated many peoples and kingdoms in what is now western, southern, and eastern Ethiopia, like Kaffa , Welayta , Harar , and other kingdoms. Thus, by 1898 Ethiopia expanded into its modern territorial boundaries. In the northern region, he confronted Italy 's expansion. Through

11830-497: The Empire, and the country embarked on a development scheme and plans for modernization, tempered by Ethiopian traditions, and within the framework of the ancient monarchical structure of the state. Haile Selassie compromised when practical with the traditionalists in the nobility and church. He also tried to improve relations between the state and ethnic groups, and granted autonomy to Afar lands that were difficult to control. Still, his reforms to end feudalism were slow and weakened by

11999-414: The Empire. A contemporary account was recorded by the monk Abba Bahrey , from the Gamo region. Subsequently, the empire organization changed progressively, with faraway provinces taking more independence. A remote province such as Bale is last recorded paying tribute to the imperial throne during Yaqob reign (1590–1607). In 1636, Emperor Fasilides founded Gondar as a permanent capital, which became

12168-644: The Engineers, the Imperial Bodyguard and the Air Force , the Derg removed General Aman from power and executed him on 23 November 1974, along with some of his supporters and 60 officials of the previous Imperial government. Brigadier General Tafari Benti became the new chairman of the Derg and the head of state. The monarchy was formally abolished in March 1975, and Marxism-Leninism was proclaimed

12337-462: The Eritrean independence movement was religious in nature: by 1971, the majority of ELF army members were Muslim and the Ethiopian ruling class was Christian . Egypt helped organize Arab support for the ELF. The Arab League countries such as Syria , Iraq , Libya , Kuwait , and Yemen pledged their support for the ELF in April 1962. These countries saw the economic potential of Arab control of

12506-713: The Ethiopian Highlands would fall under the rule of the Zagwe Dynasty . The new rulers were Agaws that had come from the Lasta region, later ecclesiastical texts accused this dynasty of not having pure "Solomonic" stock and derided their achievements. Even at the zenith of their power, most Christians would consider them to be usurpers. However, the architecture of the Zagwe shows a connotation of earlier Aksumite traditions, among those can be seen in Lalibela ,

12675-482: The Ethiopian frontier at the Battle of Webi River . The Ottomans were checked by Emperor Sarsa Dengel's victory and sacking of Arqiqo in 1589, thus containing them on a narrow coastline strip. The Afar Sultanate maintained the remaining Ethiopian port on the Red Sea, at Baylul . Oromo migrations through the same period, occurred with the movement of a large pastoral population from the southeastern provinces of

12844-713: The Ethiopian frontier provinces capturing much loot and slaves, this resulted in Emperor Dawit I declaring all the Muslims of the surrounding region to be "enemies of the Lord" and invading the Ifat Sultanate , After a battle between Sa'ad ad-Din and the Emperor, in which the Ifat army was defeated and "no less than 400 elders, each of whom carried an iron bar as his insignia of office" were killed, Sa'ad ad-Din with his remaining supporters were chased to as far as Zeila on

13013-521: The Ethiopian side of the conflict as proven by the September 1967 massacre of 50 Christians in zone four. The internal political conflicts and recent military losses experienced by the ELF in the late 1960s convinced members that the ELF had to be restructured. The resulting movement became known as the Eslah movement. The Eslah movement first merged zones three and five together in September 1968, forming

13182-624: The Ethiopians was formed in order to fill the gap. In 1960, Egypt began to fund military training for Eritreans in Alexandria . Future revolutionary leaders such as Idris Muhammad Adam were trained at the Alexandria military camp. The tactics that this camp used were influenced by those of the national liberation front in Algeria . In addition to military training, Egypt also provided media resources for Eritreans to use to gain support for

13351-482: The Great (1682-1706) was a major period of consolidation. It also saw the dispatching of embassies to Louis XIV's France and to Dutch India . The Early Modern period was one of intense cultural and artistic creation. Notable philosophers from that area are Zera Yacob and Walda Heywat . After the death of Iyasu I the empire fell into a period of political turmoil. From 1769 to 1855, the Ethiopian empire passed through

13520-497: The Muslims at bay and Emperor Yeshaq was soon killed fighting the Adalites in 1429. Yeshaq's death was followed by several years of dynastic confusion during which 5 emperors succeeded each other in 5 years. However in 1434, Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia would establish himself on the throne. During his first years on the throne, Zara Yaqob launched a strong campaign against survivals of pagan worship and "un-Christian practices" within

13689-482: The Muslims of Arabia, and described himself as being a protector of all Muslims in Abyssinia. A devout Christian, he would order the construction of the church of Genneta Maryam, commemorating his work with an inscription that reads, "By the grace of God, I king Yekuno Amlak, after I had come to the throne by the will of God, built this church." In 1285 Yekuno Amlak was succeeded by his son Yagbe'u Seyon , who wrote

13858-559: The Orthodox Church as he promised to make the church a semi independent institution, he had also enjoyed support from the neighboring Muslim Makhzumi dynasty . Yekuno Amlak then rebelled against the Zagwe king and defeated him at the Battle of Ansata . Taddesse Tamrat argued that this king was Yetbarak , but due to a local form of damnatio memoriae , his name was removed from the official records. A more recent chronicler of Wollo history, Getatchew Mekonnen Hasen, states that

14027-525: The Russian term крестьяне ( khrest'yane ) acquired the meaning ' peasants of Christian faith ' and later ' peasants ' (the main part of the population of the region), while the term Russian : христиане ( khristiane ) retained its religious meaning and the term Russian : русские ( russkie ) began to mean representatives of the heterogeneous Russian nation formed on the basis of common Christian faith and language, which strongly influenced

14196-575: The UN's decision to place Eritrea under Ethiopian control. Early independence movements can be traced back to 1949, when some Muslims living in Eritrea formed a group that would grow into the Eritrean Liberation Front. Nonetheless, in the early 1950s, this group remained relatively inactive. Discontent with the Ethiopian government ensured as Emperor Haile Selassie took actions to destabilize Eritrea's autonomous government. As Ethiopia

14365-618: The Western world, Christians has had an influence and contributed on various cultures, such as in Africa, the Near East, Middle East, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Christians have made noted contributions to a range of fields, including philosophy, science and technology , medicine , fine arts and architecture , politics , literatures , music , and business . According to 100 Years of Nobel Prizes

14534-572: The aftermath of the war Italy annexed Ethiopia, uniting it with Italy's other colonies in eastern Africa to form the new colony of Italian East Africa, and Victor Emmanuel III of Italy adopted the title "Emperor of Abyssinia ". On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France, as France was in the process of being conquered by Nazi Germany at the time and Benito Mussolini wished to expand Italy's colonial holdings. The Italian conquest of British Somaliland in August 1940

14703-436: The assassination of Ethiopian General Tshomi Ergetu in late 1970. Nonetheless, Ethiopia struck back with the bombing of Keren on Christmas Eve, 1970. Hundreds of women and children died, leading French newspaperman Andre Fontaine of Le Monde to remark that the Ethiopians had successfully destabilized the Eritrean independence movement. Moreover, internal divisions ensured within the ELF during this time period regarding

14872-513: The assistance of the USSR , Ethiopia successfully took back most of Eritrea by the middle of 1978. Consequently, the EPLF withdrew to Sahel and Nakfa . There, they engaged in sporadic raids of Ethiopian strongholds. The ELF mustered support from the Arab world to attempt a counter offensive on the Ethiopian army. However, the attack failed and the ELF placed the EPLF at fault for not aiding their counter offensive. The EPLF also suspected

15041-479: The average Italian Infantryman. Beginning in the 1890s, under the reign of the Emperor Menelik II , the empire's forces set off from the central province of Shewa to incorporate through conquest inhabited lands to the west, east and south of its realm. The territories that were annexed included those of the western Oromo (non-Shoan Oromo), Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta, and Dizi. Among the imperial troops

15210-465: The building of rock hewn churches first appeared in the late Aksumite era and reached its peak under the Zagwe. The Zagwe were not able to stop squabbling over the throne, diverting men, energy and resources that could have been used to affirm the dynasty's authority. By the late 13th century, a young Amhara nobleman named Yekuno Amlak rose to power in Bete Amhara . He was strongly supported by

15379-505: The burdens were often passed by the landowners to the peasants. Despite his wishes, the tax burden remained primarily on the peasants. Between 1941 and 1959, Haile Selassie worked to establish the autocephaly of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church . The Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by the abuna , a bishop who answered to the Patriarchate in Egypt. Haile Selassie applied to Egypt's Holy Synod in 1942 and 1945 to establish

15548-792: The campaign was a success for Britain and the Ethiopian Emperor committed suicide rather than surrender. From 1874 to 1876, the Empire expanded into Eritrea , under Yohannes IV King of Tembien , whose forces led by Ras Alula won the Ethiopian-Egyptian War , decisively beating the Egyptian forces at the Battle of Gundet , in Hamasien . In 1887 Menelik king of Shewa invaded the Emirate of Harar after his victory at

15717-542: The central role of the Western world and Western culture . Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western Hemisphere can be described as practicing or nominal Christians. The notion of "Europe" and the "Western World" has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom". Outside

15886-579: The church. He also took measures to greatly centralize the administration of the country, bringing regions under much tighter imperial control. After hearing about the demolition of the Egyptian Debre Mitmaq monastery, he ordered a period of national mourning and built a church of the same name in Tegulet . He then sent envoys to Egyptian Sultan, Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq strongly protesting against

16055-666: The coast of Somaliland . There, the Ethiopian army besieged Zeila, finally capturing the city and killing Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din, ending the Ifat Sultanate . After Sa'ad ad-Din's death "the strength of the Muslims was abated", as Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi states, and then the Amhara settled in the Muslim territories "and from the ravaged mosques and they made churches". The followers of Islam were said to have been harassed for over twenty years. Following this victory, Ethiopian power would reach its zenith and this era would become legendary as

16224-451: The compromises he made with the entrenched aristocracy. The Revised Constitution of 1955 has been criticized for reasserting "the indisputable power of the monarch" and maintaining the relative powerlessness of the peasants. On 13 December 1960, while Haile Selassie was on a state visit to Brazil , his Imperial Guard forces staged an unsuccessful coup , briefly proclaiming Haile Selassie's eldest son Asfa Wossen as emperor. The coup d'état

16393-523: The country's legal code. Largely based on biblical principles, it codified the legal and social ideas of the time and remained in use until the early 20th century. The warlike emperor of Amda Seyon I conducted many campaigns in Gojjam , Damot and Eritrea , but his most important campaigns were against his Muslim enemies to the east, which shifted the balance of power in favour of the Christians for

16562-526: The country's rich history of early Christianity during the Spanish colonial era . Some Protestants in the Philippines use the term Kristiyano (before the term born again became popular) to differentiate themselves from Catholics ( Katoliko ). The region of modern Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia has a long history of Christianity and Christian communities on its lands. In ancient times, in

16731-477: The death of Emperor Yohannes IV, Italy signed a treaty with Shewa (an autonomous kingdom within the empire), creating the protectorate of Abyssinia. Due to significant differences between the Italian and Amharic translations of the treaty, Italy believed they had subsumed Ethiopia as a protectorate , while Menelik II of Shewa repudiated the protectorate status in 1893. Insulted, Italy declared war on Ethiopia in 1895. The First Italo-Ethiopian War resulted in

16900-630: The deaths of Emperor Iyasu II (1755) and Iyoas I (1769) the realm eventually entered a period of decentralization, known as the Zemene Mesafint where regional warlords fought for power, with the emperor being a mere puppet. Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868) put an end to the Zemene Mesafint , reunified the Empire and led it into the modern period before dying during the British Expedition to Abyssinia . His successor Yohannes IV engaged primarily in war and successfully fought

17069-552: The dominant force in the Horn of Africa . The Ethiopian Empire would reach its peak during the long reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob (1434–1468). He consolidated the conquests of his predecessors, built numerous churches and monasteries, encouraged literature and art, centralized imperial authority by substituting regional warlords with administrative officials, and significantly expanded his hegemony over adjacent Islamic territories. The neighboring Muslim Adal Sultanate began to threaten

17238-402: The early 1960s to ease hostility between the two nations. However, Egypt did not terminate its support for the ELF; they just moved their operations to Syria . In 1966, the ELF began to incorporate Christians into the movement. This resulted in an increasing amount of military confrontations in the highlands near Sudan . As a result, a fifth Zonal command that covered the Eritrean highlands

17407-562: The east. Most of the Muslims in the Horn would become tributaries to the Ethiopian Empire, among them being the Ifat Sultanate . Amda Seyon was succeeded by his son Newaya Krestos in 1344. Newaya Krestos would put down several Muslim revolts in Adal and Mora . Towards the end of his reign he aggressively helped the Patriarch of Alexandria Mark IV , who had been imprisoned by As-Salih Salih ,

17576-628: The empire by repeatedly attempting to invade it, finally succeeding under Imam Mahfuz . Mahfuz's ambush and defeat by Emperor Lebna Dengel brought about the early 16th-century jihad of the Ottoman-supported Adalite Imam Ahmed Gran , who was defeated in 1543 with the help of the Portuguese . Greatly weakened, much of the Empire's southern territory and vassals were lost due to the Oromo migrations . In

17745-527: The empire maintained a kingdom centered on its ancient Christian heritage . Founded in 1270 by Yekuno Amlak , who claimed to descend from the last Aksumite king and ultimately King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba , it replaced the Agaw kingdom of the Zagwe . While initially a rather small and politically unstable entity, the Empire managed to expand significantly under the crusades of Amda Seyon I (1314–1344) and Dawit I (1382–1413), temporarily becoming

17914-415: The first battle in the Eritrean independence movement. In August 1961, Awate had been hiding from Ethiopian authorities on Mount Abal. On September 1, 1961, Awate came into confrontation with the Ethiopian government, which is when he used guerilla war tactics to continue the ELF's struggle. The September 26, 1961 issue of the Ethiopian newspaper Zemen reported Awate's attacks for the first time, labeling him

18083-735: The first centuries after the birth of Christ, when this region was called Scythia, the geographical area of Scythians – Christians already lived there. Later the region saw the first states to adopt Christianity officially – initially Armenia (301 AD) and Georgia (337 AD), later Bulgaria ( c. 864) and Kyivan Rus ( c. 988 AD). In some areas, people came to denote themselves as Christians ( Russian : христиане, крестьяне ; Ukrainian : християни , romanized :  khrystyiany ) and as Russians ( Russian : русские ), Ruthenians ( Old East Slavic : русини, руснаки , romanized:  rusyny, rusnaky ), or Ukrainians ( Ukrainian : українці , romanized :  ukraintsi ). In time

18252-500: The first time questioned the power of the king to rule without the people's consent". Student populations began to empathize with the peasantry and poor, and to advocate on their behalf. The coup spurred Haile Selassie to accelerate reform, which was manifested in the form of land grants to military and police officials. The emperor continued to be a staunch ally of the West, while pursuing a firm policy of decolonization in Africa, which

18421-486: The highest numbers of years of schooling among Christians were found in Germany (13.6), New Zealand (13.5) and Estonia (13.1). Christians were also found to have the second highest number of graduate and post-graduate degrees per capita while in absolute numbers ranked in the first place (220 million). Between the various Christian communities , Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain

18590-534: The highlands as a hero. In 1527 a young imam by the name of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi would rise to power in Adal after years of internal strife. The Adal Sultanate would stockpile on imported firearms, cannons and other advanced weaponry from Arabia and the Ottoman Empire . He invaded Ethiopia in 1529 and inflicted a heavy defeat on Emperor Dawit II , but later withdrew. He returned two years later to begin

18759-528: The historical evidence that "Christian monks built libraries and, in the days before printing presses, preserved important earlier writings produced in Latin, Greek and Arabic". According to the same study, Christians have a significant amount of gender equality in educational attainment, and the study suggests that one of the reasons is the encouragement of the Protestant Reformers in promoting

18928-494: The history and development of the region. In the region, the term Orthodox faith ( Russian : православная вера , pravoslavnaia vera ) or Russian faith ( Russian : русская вера , russkaia vera ) from the earliest times became almost as common as the original Christian faith ( Russian : христианская, крестьянская вера khristianskaia, krestianskaia ). Also in some contexts the term cossack ( Old East Slavic : козак, казак , romanized:  kozak, kazak )

19097-509: The independence movement. For instance, Woldeab Woldemariam used his Radio Cairo radio program to publicize anti-Ethiopian propaganda and encourage Eritreans to join the uprising against Ethiopia . In July 1960, the ELF was openly established in Cairo by Idris Muhammad Adam and other Eritrean intellectuals and students. The founders of the ELF were primarily Muslim and the movement thus adopted Pan-Arabic beliefs. Some scholars argue that

19266-608: The independence of Ethiopian bishops, and when his appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with the See of St. Mark . Finally, in 1959, Pope Kyrillos VI elevated the Abuna to Patriarch-Catholicos. The Ethiopian Church remained affiliated with the Alexandrian Church. In addition to these efforts, Haile Selassie changed the Ethiopian church-state relationship by introducing taxation of church lands, and by restricting

19435-526: The larger category as Christian. Most Baptists and fundamentalists ( Christian Fundamentalism ), for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. Linda Woodhead attempts to provide a common belief thread for Christians by noting that "Whatever else they might disagree about, Christians are at least united in believing that Jesus has

19604-420: The last Zagwe king deposed by Yekuno Amlak was Na'akueto La'ab . Yekuno Amlak would rise to the throne by 1270 AD. He was allegedly a descendant of the last king of Aksum , Dil Na'od , and hence the royal kings of Aksum. Through the Aksumite royal lineage, it was also claimed that Yekuno Amlak was a descendant of the biblical king Solomon . The canonical form of the claim was set out in legends recorded in

19773-630: The legal basis of slavery throughout the empire and imposed severe penalties, including death, for slave trading. After World War II, Ethiopia became a charter member of the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden , a region disputed with Somalia , was granted to Ethiopia. On 2 December 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V), establishing the federation of Eritrea (the former Italian colony) into Ethiopia. Eritrea

19942-540: The legal privileges of the clergy, who had formerly been tried in their own courts for civil offenses. During the celebrations of his Silver Jubilee in November 1955, Haile Selassie introduced a revised constitution , whereby he retained effective power, while extending political participation to the people by allowing the lower house of parliament to become an elected body. Party politics were not provided for. Modern educational methods were more widely spread throughout

20111-627: The life and teachings of Jesus Christ . Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words Christ and Christian derive from the Koine Greek title Christós ( Χριστός ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach ( מָשִׁיחַ ) (usually rendered as messiah in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has

20280-484: The merger of his group with the ELF. That, with the combination of the Ethiopian government's discovery and subsequent suppression of the ELM, led to the ELF emerging as the main independence movement in Eritrea. On November 14, 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie annexed Eritrea after the Assembly was figuratively held "at gun point" to vote for annexation. Selassie remarked that "We thank our people of Eritrea who, guided by

20449-590: The monarch's various campaigns against his Muslim enemies. This was the first of a series of royal chronicles which were written for the Ethiopian Emperors until modern times. These royal chronicles provided an unbroken chronological record of the entire medieval period in the Horn of Africa . A no less important work produced during his reign was the Fetha Nagast or "Law of the Kings," which served as

20618-646: The most common terms are คนคริสต์ ( RTGS : khon khrit ) or ชาวคริสต์ (RTGS: chao khrit ) which literally means ' Christ person/people ' or ' Jesus person/people ' . The Thai word คริสต์ (RTGS: khrit ) is derived from Christ . In the Philippines , the most common terms are Kristiyano (for ' Christian ' ) and {{lang[fil|Kristiyanismo}} (for ' Christianity ' ) in most Philippine languages ; both derive from Spanish cristiano and cristianismo (also used in Chavacano ) due to

20787-406: The new ideology of the state. Emperor Haile Selassie died under mysterious circumstances on 27 August 1975 while his personal physician was absent. It is commonly believed that Mengistu Haile Mariam killed him, either by ordering it done or by his own hand although the former is more likely. According to Bahrey , there were ten social groups in the feudal Ethiopia of his time, i.e. at the end of

20956-653: The next two centuries. Around 1320, Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad of the Mamluk Sultanate based in Cairo began persecuting Copts and destroying their churches. Amda Seyon then threatened to divert the flow of the Nile if the sultan did not stop his persecution. Haqq ad-Din I , sultan of Ifat, seized and imprisoned an Ethiopian envoy on his way back from Cairo . Amda Seyon responded by invading the Sultanate of Ifat , killing

21125-410: The nobility, and only a flat tax was passed; in 1951, he agreed to reduce this as well. Ethiopia was still "semi-feudal", and the emperor's attempts to alter its social and economic form by reforming its modes of taxation met with resistance from the nobility and clergy, which were eager to resume their privileges in the postwar era. Where Haile Selassie actually did succeed in effecting new land taxes,

21294-576: The north, in what is now Eritrea, Ethiopia managed to repulse Ottoman invasion attempts, although losing its access to the Red Sea to them. Reacting to these challenges, in the 1630s Emperor Fasilides founded the new capital of Gondar , marking the start of a new golden age known as the Gondarine period . It saw relative peace, the successful integration of the Oromo and a flourishing of culture. With

21463-524: The organization of the Algerian national liberation front . The first zone was located in western Eritrea and was populated by Muslims and Beni Amer . Their leader was Mahmoud Dinni . The second zone consisted of Eritrea's northern highlands, which was populated by Muslim nomads and led by Omer Hamed Ezaz . The third province included Eritrea's central plateau, which was populated by Tigrinya -speaking farmers and Muslim Saho pastoralists. Abdelkerim Ahmed

21632-724: The past, the Malays used to call Christians in Malay by the Portuguese loanword Serani (from Arabic Naṣrānī ), but the term now refers to the modern Kristang creoles of Malaysia . In the Indonesian language , the term Nasrani is also used alongside Kristen . The Chinese word is 基督 徒 ( jīdū tú ), literally ' Christ follower ' . The name Christ was originally phonetically written in Chinese as 基利斯督 , which

21801-681: The persecution of Egyptian Copts and threaten to divert the flow of the Nile. The Sultan would then encourage the Adal Sultanate to invade the province of Dawaro to distract the Emperor, however this invasion was repulsed by the Emperor at the Battle of Gomit . The Egyptian sultan then had the Patraich of Alexandria severely beaten and threaten to execute him, Emperor Zara Yaqob decided to back down and did not move in to Adal territory. Zara Yaqob persecuted many idolaters who admitted to worshipping pagan gods, these idolators were decapitated in public. Zara Yaqob later founded Debre Berhan after seeing

21970-536: The phrase "the Jews call us Nazarenes." While around 331 AD Eusebius records that Christ was called a Nazoraean from the name Nazareth , and that in earlier centuries "Christians" were once called "Nazarenes". The Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes , Notzrim , occurs in the Babylonian Talmud , and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices are found across

22139-493: The present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea . It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak around 1270 until the 1974 coup d'état by the Derg , which ended the reign of the final Emperor, Haile Selassie . In the late 19th century, under Emperor Menelik II , the empire expanded significantly to the south, and in 1952, Eritrea was federated under Selassie's rule. Despite being surrounded by hostile forces throughout much of its history,

22308-416: The shimaglle, the serfs, the chewa, the artisans and the traders constitute definite classes. Power was vested in the Emperor and those aristocrats he appointed to execute his power, and the power enforcing instrument consisted of a class of soldiers, the chewa. From the reign of Amde Tseyon , Chewa regiments , or legions, formed the backbone of the Empire military forces. The Ge'ez term for these regiments

22477-413: The south-east. During World War II , the Italians were driven out of Ethiopia with the help of the British army. The Emperor returned from exile and the country became one of the founding members of the United Nations . However, the 1973 Wollo famine and domestic discontent led to the fall of the Empire in 1974 and the rise of the Derg . After the fall of the Kingdom of Aksum in the 10th century AD,

22646-407: The spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa and Horn of Africa during the early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, different versions of the Christian cultures arose with their own rites and practices, centered around the cities such as Rome ( Western Christianity ) and Carthage , whose communities

22815-413: The standing of the government, costing Haile Selassie much of the goodwill he had once enjoyed. This bred resentment among the peasant population. Efforts to weaken unions also hurt his image. As these issues began to pile up, Haile Selassie left much of domestic governance to his Prime Minister, Aklilu Habte Wold , and concentrated more on foreign affairs. The government's failure to adequately respond to

22984-416: The success of the Portuguese, Gragn would send a petition to the Ottoman Empire and would receive 2,900 musket armed reinforcements. Together with his Turkish allies Gragn would attack the Portuguese camp at Wofla killing 200 of their rank and file including their commander, Cristóvão da Gama . After the catastrophe at Wofla, the surviving Portuguese were able to meet up with Gelawdewos and his army in

23153-540: The sultan, sacking the capital and ravaging the Muslim territories, taking livestock, killing many inhabitants, destroying towns and mosques, and taking slaves. The Ifat sultan was succeeded by Sabr ad-Din I who rallied the Muslims and waged a rebellion against the Ethiopian occupation. Amda Seyon responded by launching another campaign against his Muslim adversaries to the east, killing the Sultan and campaigning as far as Adal , Dawaro and Bali in present day eastern Ethiopia. Amda Seyon's conquests significantly expanded

23322-409: The support of many Christian fighters during Ethiopia's counter offensive . The PLF also felt that the Revolutionary Command was guilty of insubordination to ELF military leadership, leading Othman Sabbe to call for the complete removal of the Revolutionary Command. The Revolutionary command, on the other hand, felt that PLF members had violated the ranks of the ELF. After the formal split in 1971,

23491-402: The tension between Muslims and Christians and Eritrea's interactions with Arab countries . The government of the Arab countries released propaganda since 1964 that stressed the homogeneous Arab nature of Eritrea . Also, prominent Christian revolutionary leaders like Woldeab Woldemariam had uneasy relations with the Arab world . This even caused Saudi Arabia to cease its support for

23660-494: The term follows in Acts 26 , where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle , "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." ( Acts 26:28 ). The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4 , which exhorts believers: "Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." ( 1 Peter 4:16 ). Kenneth Samuel Wuest holds that all three original New Testament verses' usages reflect

23829-429: The territory of the Ethiopian Empire, more than doubling it by size and establishing complete hegemony over the region. Relations between the Muslims of the Horn and the Ethiopian Empire seems to have broken down completely around this era, with the chronicler referring to the Muslims in the east and along the coast as "liars, hyenas, dogs, children of evil who deny the son of Christ." Following Amda Seyon's campaigns to

23998-410: The total global wealth. A study done by the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth found that 56.2% of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world were Christians. A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that Christians ranked as the second most educated religious group around in the world after Jews with an average of 9.3 years of schooling, and

24167-450: The western lowlands were close to Sudan , the movement's safe haven. Awate's movement gained momentum when Eritrean members of the Sudan Defense Force joined his movement. By March 1962, the Ethiopian police force were no longer able to suppress Awate's movement, leading Ethiopian authorities to publicly announce that anyone supporting Awate or withholding information regarding Awate would be imprisoned. In June 1962, Awate died, which led to

24336-404: The widespread mutiny . In July, Emperor Haile Selassie gave the Derg key concessions to arrest military and government officials at every level. Soon both former Prime Ministers Tsehafi Taezaz Aklilu Habte-Wold and Endelkachew Makonnen , along with most of their cabinets, most regional governors, many senior military officers and officials of the Imperial court were imprisoned. In August, after

24505-444: The world among those who call themselves Christian. Denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of "Christianity". For example, Timothy Beal notes the disparity of beliefs among those who identify as Christians in the United States as follows: Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian, many would not identify others within

24674-713: The world's Christians. Other Christian groups make up the remainder. By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, Christianity will remain the world's largest religion in 2050, if current trends continue. In recent history, Christians have experienced persecution of varying severity, especially in the Middle-East , North Africa, East Asia , and South Asia . The Greek word Χριστιανός ( Christianos ), meaning ' follower of Christ ' , comes from Χριστός ( Christos ), meaning ' anointed one ', with an adjectival ending borrowed from Latin to denote adhering to, or even belonging to, as in slave ownership. In

24843-433: The year that Amharic replaced Arabic and Tigrinya as the official language of Eritrea . The coming years also saw the suppression of insurgency movements against Ethiopia , the arrests of newspaper editors who spoke against the Ethiopian crown, the seizure of private Eritrean businesses, and the removal of the Eritrean flag. The United States remained inactive despite the UN Resolution being fragrantly violated. This

25012-451: Was felle ( فەڵە ), coming from the root word meaning ' to be saved, attain salvation ' . The Syriac term Nasrani ( ' Nazarene ' ) has also been attached to the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala , India. In northern India and Pakistan , Christians are referred to ʿĪsāʾī ( Hindi : ईसाई , Urdu : عیسائی ). Masīhī ( Hindi : मसीही , Urdu : مسیحی ) is a term Christians use to refer to themselves as well. In

25181-545: Was Ras Gobena 's Shewan Oromo militia. Many of the lands that they annexed had never been under the empire's rule, with the newly incorporated territories resulting in the modern borders of Ethiopia. Delegations from the United Kingdom and France  – European powers whose colonial possessions lay next to Ethiopia – soon arrived in the Ethiopian capital to negotiate their own treaties with this newly-proven power. In 1935 Italian soldiers, commanded by Marshal Emilio De Bono , invaded Ethiopia in what

25350-411: Was allied with the Soviets , Egypt provided aid to Eritrean independence movements out of fear of the Nile River being controlled by the USSR . By 1977, the EPLF was the primary independence movement in Eritrea . The EPLF captured Keren in late 1976, establishing an efficient city administration and filling the markets with food. The liberation movements also forced an Ethiopian retreat after

25519-413: Was called Western or Latin Christendom , and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity ), Antioch ( Syriac Christianity ), Kerala ( Indian Christianity ) and Alexandria , among others, whose communities were called Eastern or Oriental Christendom. The Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization . From the 11th to 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to

25688-421: Was crushed by the regular army and police forces. The coup attempt lacked broad popular support, was denounced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church , and was unpopular with the army, air force and police. Nonetheless, the effort to depose the emperor had support among students and the educated classes. The coup attempt has been characterized as a pivotal moment in Ethiopian history, the point at which Ethiopians "for

25857-466: Was due to a 1953 agreement signed between the United States and Ethiopia, which guaranteed access to the Kagnew Radiomarina in Asmara . This Red Sea military base was vital for the United States military since it enhanced overseas communication. Nonetheless, higher unemployment rates and taxes caused tens of thousands of Eritreans to emigrate to Saudi Arabia and Sudan . The Ethiopian army successfully suppressed protests that arose in Eritrea, including

26026-470: Was established by Osman Idris Galadewos . Concerned about the growing strength of the ELF, Ethiopia procured military support from Israel and the United States to launch a counter-offensive movement against the ELF. The goal of this counter offensive was to internally fracture the ELF between Christians and Muslims , which proved effective by the summer of 1967. Ethiopia first decimated hundreds of villages in Eritrea in early 1967, which caused

26195-489: Was killed attempting to invade Adal Sultanate at the Battle of Fatagar , and his severed head was paraded in Adal's capital Harar . The Ottoman Empire occupied parts of Ethiopia, from 1557, establishing Habesh Eyalet , the province of Abyssinia, by conquering Massawa , the Empire's main port and seizing Suakin from the allied Funj Sultanate in what is now Sudan . In 1573 the Adal Sultanate attempted to invade Ethiopia again however Sarsa Dengel successfully defended

26364-464: Was later abbreviated as 基督 . The term is Kî-tuk in the southern Hakka dialect ; the two characters are pronounced Jīdū in Mandarin Chinese. In Vietnam, the same two characters read Cơ đốc , and a "follower of Christianity" is a tín đồ Cơ đốc giáo . In Japan, the term kirishitan (written in Edo period documents 吉利支丹 , 切支丹 , and in modern Japanese histories as キリシタン ), from Portuguese cristão , referred to Roman Catholics in

26533-530: Was later stipulated on 2 December 1950 in resolution 390 (V). Eritrea would have its own parliament and administration and would be represented in what had been the Ethiopian parliament and would become the federal parliament. However, Haile Selassie would have none of European attempts to draft a separate Constitution under which Eritrea would be governed, and wanted his own 1955 Constitution to apply in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 1961, tensions between independence-minded Eritreans and Ethiopian forces culminated in

26702-522: Was left to the United Nations . A 1948 UN commission failed to agree on whether Eritrea would be independent. In 1952, Eritrea became officially part of Ethiopia under UN Resolution 390 A, which was passed on December 2, 1950. However, Eritrea would remain an autonomous government, meaning that the country could have their own government structures, flag, and official language. Ethiopia was also prohibited from forcibly intervening in Eritrea's domestic occurrences. However, some Eritreans were not satisfied with

26871-419: Was more authoritarian than Eritrea , Selassie felt that increased freedom in Eritrea would destabilize Ethiopia . Consequently, the same year that the UN resolution went into effect, Selassie disposed of Eritrea's constitution. In 1953, the Eritrean Trade Union was outlawed. By 1955, Eritrea's president was removed and a year later, the Eritrean National Assembly ceased to exist. The year 1956 also marked

27040-418: Was of age, he invaded Adal and sacked its capital, Dakkar but was killed in an ambush returning home. His successor, Emperor Na'od was eventually killed defending Ethiopian territory from Adalite raids. In 1517 Mahfuz invaded the Ethiopian province of Fatager , but was killed and ambushed by Emperor Dawit II (Lebna Dengel). His chronicles state that the Muslim threat was finished and the Emperor return to

27209-400: Was pending the return of Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen from medical treatment in Europe when he would assume the throne as a constitutional monarch. However, General Aman Andom quarrelled with the radical elements in the Derg over the issue of a new military offensive in Eritrea and their proposal to execute the high officials of Selassie's former government. After eliminating units loyal to him:

27378-457: Was proved to be an effective member of the royal family, and Paul B. Henze comments that she "was practically co-monarch" during his reign. After the death of Baeda Maryam in 1478 he was succeeded by his 7 year old son Eskender , to whom Eleni would serve as his regent. She would attempt to establish peace with the Adal Sultan Muhammad , but could not prevent the Emir of Harar , Mahfuz from making raids into Ethiopian territory. When Eskender

27547-415: Was still largely under European colonial rule. The United Nations conducted a lengthy inquiry regarding the status of Eritrea, with the superpowers each vying for a stake in the state's future. Britain, the administrator at the time, suggested the partition of Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia, separating Christians and Muslims. A UN plebiscite voted 46 to 10 to have Eritrea be federated with Ethiopia, which

27716-526: Was succeeded by his 18 year old son, Gelawdewos , who faced a desperate situation but rallied his soldiers and people to resist the Muslim invasion. By 1540 Gelawdewos led a small force of around 70 men resisting in the highlands of Shewa . However, in 1541 four hundred well armed Portuguese musketeers had arrived in Massawa where they were reinforced by small contingents of Ethiopian warriors, this modest force made their way across Tigray where they would defeat much larger contingents of Adalite men. Alarmed by

27885-411: Was succeeded by his sons in 1294 but this agreement immediately broke down, by 1299 one of his sons Wedem Arad seized the throne. Wedem Arad seems to have been in conflict with the neighbouring Sultanate of Ifat who were trying to expand in eastern Shewa . Wedem Arad was succeeded by his son, Amda Seyon I , whose reign witnessed the composition of a very detailed and seemingly accurate account of

28054-404: Was successful, but the war turned against Italy afterward. Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia from England to help rally the resistance. The British began their own invasion in January 1941 with the help of Ethiopian freedom fighters, and the last organized Italian resistance in Italian East Africa surrendered in November 1941, ending Italian rule. On 27 August 1942, Haile Selassie abolished

28223-450: Was the leader of zone three. The fourth zone was the central and southern coast, consisting of Muslim nomads and led by Mohammed Ali Omero . As a consequence of this restructuring, the ELF was strong enough to prevent Ethiopia from entirely controlling Eritrea . They also maintained control through their "belief that they had the sole mandate of representing the Eritrean people." Therefore, they suppressed any other liberation movement. As

28392-434: Was to have its own constitution, which would provide for ethnic, linguistic, and cultural balance, while Ethiopia was to manage its finances, defense, and foreign policy. Despite his centralization policies that had been made before World War II, Haile Selassie still found himself unable to push for all the programs he wanted. In 1942, he attempted to institute a progressive tax scheme, but this failed due to opposition from

28561-543: Was used to denote "free" Christians of steppe origin and East Slavic language. Nominally "Christian" societies made "Christian" a default label for citizenship or for "people like us". In this context, religious or ethnic minorities can use "Christians" or "you Christians" loosely as a shorthand term for mainstream members of society who do not belong to their group – even in a thoroughly secular (though formerly Christian) society. As of 2020, Christianity has approximately 2.4 billion adherents. The faith represents about

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