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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
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    "chunk_id": "1926:abyssinia:67b395fdbbf5",
    "title": "ABYSSINIA",
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    "verified_text": "no diane was made in the interna- tional status of abyssinia between rg10 and 1925; but boundary commissions have in part delimited its sudanese and soma- liland frontiers. the area is about 350, 00 sq. m. and the pop- ulation approximately 10,000,000. y. political history . in the years under review abyssinia, owing to misgovernment and civil war, fell from a state of comparative prosperity to a condition bordering on chaos. the emperor menelek, who had converted a congeries of semi-independent kingdoms into a powerful state, died in 1913, but for some four or five years be- fore his death he had taken no active part in the government. although the stricken emperor had in 1908 nominated his grandson lej yasu, born in 1896, as his successor, under the regency of ras tessama, a step confirmed 12 months later by the council of ministers, no government worthy of the name was possible owing to the constant intrigue and strife between the empress taitu, the regent and other powerful nobles. in 1910 the empress taitu was finally driven into retirement, and in 1911 ras tessama died. lej yasu then took the reins of government into his own hands, although he was never crowned, and the state of the country became steadily worse. by his misgovernment, his tyran- nical and dissolute conduct, and particularly by his inclination to islam, he mortally affronted his own subjects, intensely proud as they were and are of their 15 centuries of chris- tian tradition. his support of the “ mad mullah ” of somaliland, who claimed him as a cousin, and his efforts to build up a feder- ation of moslem states, anti-ally in its sentiments, also estranged the sympathies of the three great powers with possessions bor- dering on abyssinia. in sept. 1916, he was excommunicated by the abouna, the head of the abyssinian church. the great rases, thus relieved of their oath of fealty, formally deposed him, and proclaimed zauditu, a daughter of the emperor menelek, born in 1876, as empress, and djazmach tafari, born july 17 1891, son of menelek’s nephew ras makonnen, as regent of the empire, heir to the throne and ras of rases. heavy fighting followed. lej yasu’s father, ras michael of wollo galla, raised large galla forces to aid his son, but the troops of the deposed ruler were defeated with great slaughter at sagalle on oct. 27 1916. ras michael was taken prisoner, and le} yasu became a wanderer, first of all in the dankali country and later in tigre. new rulers.—the coronation ceremonies of the new rulers took place in feb. 1917, but zauditu and tafari succeeded to a troubled heritage. ifreed from menelck’s iron rule and aban- doned to their own devices during lej yasu’s unfortunate tenure of office, the great rases and provincial governors had begun to fall back into semi-independence. sporadic fighting with the followers of lej yasu, who was not finally captured until r921, continued for some years. law and order were weakened, and the authority of the government hardly existed outside the central provinces. the dual nature of the governing regime, moreover, made it difficult to exercise really strong and effective control, and stimulated intrigue both domestic and foreign; it seemed indeed as though menelek’s impetus to development was spent. nevertheless, little by little the regent gathered together the reins of government, and improvements in administration, both central and local, were slowly achieved. during this difficult period, in which he was criticised by the more reactionary abyssinians for going too fast, and by euro- pean observers for not going fast enough, ras tafari exhibited many of the qualities of his father, ras makonnen, who had been not merely a fine soldier but a skilful diplomat, having con- ducted official missions to paris, london and rome. tafari was aided in his task by the completion, in 1918, of the railway from the coast of french somaliland to the capital, addis ababa. this link with the outside world undoubtedly played a consider- able part in maintaining and strengthening the regent’s position and in stimulating intercourse with europe, so much interrupted by the world war as well as by internal events. ras tafar1 married waizero manin, granddaughter of ras michael, in rg12, and by her has two sons and three daughters. his position was so far consolidated by 1922 that he was able to 4 accountancy—acting leave the country for a short visit to aden, and in 1924 he visited the principal countries of europe with an imposing retinue of over 20 rases and officials, his absence lasting nearly five months. his greatest triumph was the admission of abyssinia to the league of nations on sept. 28, 1923, subject to certain conditions as to the control of slavery and of the arms traffic. progress, though slow according to european ideas, has since been made; the regent opened a school at addis ababa into which he in- troduced european teachers, and a number of young abyssinians were sent to america, england, and france for their education to be completed. a large american hospital has been crected and many roads have been made in and around addis ababa. european enterprise is beginning to take an interest in the country, and the infiltration of european ideas, though very slow and gradual, is real. much yet remains to be done. the illiteracy of the people, very few of whom can read or write, the existence of slavery, the authority and bigotry of the priesthood, and most of all the power of the great provincial chicf, are obstacles to progress; the financial and general administration and also that of justice leave much to be desired, while the general condition of the peasantry, especially in those parts inhabited by conquered races, is far from satisfactory. but the guarantee of independence in- volved by admission to the league of nations should tend to set at rest internal fears of foreign international rivalries and as- pirations, and thus facilitate domestic reform. ii. economic conditions and trade the small progress in the economic and commercial develop- ment of abyssinia during the years 1910-25 may in part be attributed to the disturbed political condition of the country, and in part to the world war and the trade depression which followed it. other causes which have retarded development are lack of communications, bad methods of taxation, suspicion of foreign enterprise and currency difficulties. the principal industries are agriculture and cattle-raising, but in spite of the fertility of the soil (in places three crops a year are raised) and the vast herds of cattle, estimated at from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 head, production is only sufficient to feed the pop- ulation and provide a few thousand tons of coffee and hides for export. manufacture and industrial enterprise are almost non- existent. some european commercial enterprises have been started, and there are indications that the govt. will be able to give more sympathetic attention in the future to this aspect of the country’s welfare. a belgian company has acquired the alcohol monopoly, a franco-belgian company has been formed for cotton cultivation, two belgian companies are developing coffee plantations on a large scale, and an english company com- menced trading operations in 1925. the total trade of the country approximates £2,500,000 in value annually. the chief exports are coffee and hides, and the principal imports salt, cotton fabrics, and hardware. the main channel of trade is the franco-ethiopian railway, from addis ababa to the port of jibuti in french somaliland. the principal trade routes with the sudan are via gambela, gallabat, and roseires: the total annual value of the trade along these routes increased from about £50,000 in 1910 to £372,000 in 1924. other trade routes are through the italian colony of eritrea to massawa, and through harar to berbera in british somaliland. bipiiocrarny.—c. h. stigand, to abyssinia through an unknown land (1910); e. de felcourt, l’adbyssinie (19t1); e. m. chiovenda, etiopia, osservaziont betaniche, agrarie, el tndustrialt fatte nell’ abissinia (1912); c. citerni, ai confint meridionali del? etiopia (milan 1913); e. littmann, die deutsche aksum-expedition (1913); g. montandon, au pays ghimirra (neuchatel 1913); c. annaratone, in abissinia (1914); l. de castro, nella terra dei negus (milan 1915); p. alype, l’ethiopie et les convoitises allemandes (1917); g. h. rein, abessinien (3 vols., 1918-20); c. f. rey, unconquered abyssinia as it is to-day (1923); p. alype, l’empire des negous (1924); major h. c. maydon, simen, its heights and a bysses (1925). see also articles by a. hodson, major l. f. i. athill, c. f. rey, geog. jour. (feb., 1919; nov., 1920; sept., 1922); c. f. rey, jour. of african soc. (july and oct., 1922; jan., 1923); g. e. underhill, ouarterly rev. (jan., 1922); m. de coppet, la geographie (nov., 1923); c. f. rey, jour. of african soc. (jan., 1924). (c. f. re.) accountancy: see bookkeeping; cost accounting. acetylene, in medicine.—acetylene, which when pure loses its usual offensive smell, is an anaesthetic when inhaled and was first used as such in 1924. like ethylene (q.v.) it is in the experimental stage at present. its efficiency is between that of gas-oxygen and ether, ether may be used with it to deepen the anaesthesia. it has the advantage that far greater amounts of oxygen can be given with it, up to about 50%, than with ethylene or nitrous oxide. see anaesthetics. (w.52 5) achenbach, andreas (1815-1910), german painter (see 1.142), died march 31 1910. acheson, edward goodrich (18s6- ), american in- ventor, was born at washington, pa., march 9 1856. he was compelled to earn his living at an early age, but devoted his leisure to mechanical invention and experiment. becoming interested in electricity, he entered the employ of thomas a. edison. in 188z he assisted in the preparation of the edison exhibit at the paris international exposition and later, for the edison interests, installed the first electric lights in italy, bel- gium and holland. on returning to the united states, he re- sumed his experiments. he discovered a new abrasive substance of great cutting power, which he named carborundum. invent- ing a method of producing a remarkably pure synthetic graphite, he organised in 1899 the acheson graphite co. to handle the patent therefor. this company met with great success. his numerous patents cover methods of producing metallic silicon cheaply; the lubricants known as oildag, aquadag and gredag; the treatment of clay to increase plasticity (egyptianised clay). acoustics: see sound.",
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