Compare the contribution of Theodor and Johannes IV to the unity and modernization of

Ethiopia(25)

Theodor and Johannes IV contribute more to unite and modernization of Ethiopia through
reform its administration and church, reunited the other provinces and thawed rebellions just to
mention a few. The following paper will compare the contribution of both emperors.

Theodor reunify the various Ethiopian Kingdoms into an empire. He sought to re-establish a
cohesive Ethiopian state and to reform its administration and church. He moved the capital city
of the Empire from Gondar, first to Debre Tabor, and later to Magdala. Tewodros ended the
division of Ethiopia among the various regional lords and princes that had vied among each other
for power for almost two centuries.

Tewodros II's first task after having reunited the other provinces was to bring Shewa under his
control. During the Era of the Princes, Shewa was, even more than most provinces, an
independent entity, and its ruler even styling himself Negus (Neguece), the title for King. In the
course of subduing the Shewans, Tewodros took with him a Shewan prince, Menelik II who he
brought up as his own son, who would later become Emperor (or Atse) himself. Despite his
success against Shewa, Tewodros faced constant rebellions by stiffnecked Nobles in other
regions not understanding the benefits of modernization.

In the first six years of his reign, the new ruler managed to put down these rebellions, and the
empire was relatively peaceful from about 1861 to 1863, but the energy, wealth, and manpower
necessary to deal with regional opposition limited the scope of Tewodros's other activities.He
salutes his meanest (poor) subjects with courtesy, is sincerely though often mistakenly religious,
and will acknowledge a fault committed to his poorest follower in a moment of compassion with
sincerity and grace. He is generous to excess, and free from all cupidity, regarding nothing with
pleasure or desire but munitions of war for his soldiers. He has exercised the utmost clemency
towards the vanquished, treating them more like friends than enemies.

His faith is signal: without Christ I am nothing. During this era, regional princes, and noble lords
of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds vied with each other for power and control of the
Gondarine Emperor. A puppet Emperor of the Solomonic dynasty was enthroned in Gondar by
one nobleman, only to be dethroned and replaced by another member of the Imperial dynasty
when a different regional prince was able to seize Gondar and the reins of power. Regions such
as Gojjam and Shewa were ruled by their own branches of the Imperial dynasty and, in Shewa,
the local prince went as far as assuming the title of King.

In Wollo, competing royal powerful Oromo and Muslim dynasties also vied for power.
Nevertheless, a semblance of order and unity was maintained northern Ethiopia during the era of
the Princes by the powerful Rases of the Were Sheik dynasty of Wollo such as Ras Ali the Great
and Ras Gugsa who controlled Gondar and the Emperor.

Johannes IV (1836-1889) was an Ethiopian emperor who thwarted Egyptian, Italian, and
Sudanese attempts to overrun Ethiopia and took important steps to unify the country. The
principle of Yohannes's internal policy was to unite and aggrandize Ethiopia, a traditional ideal
which had been revived by Tewodros II after almost a century of dissension and decline. To
ensure the realization of this policy, he toured each region and appointed governors, usually from
the local nobility, regardless of their former attitudes toward him, as long as they submitted and
expressed to him their unflinching loyalty.
Furthermore he thus managed, as the contemporary English vice-consul put it, to hold the scales
of justice with a firm and even hand. It was in 1884 the boast of King Yohannes that a child
could pass through his dominions unharmed. In the first six years of his reign, he succeeded in
achieving the unity of the predominantly Christian provinces, including Wag and Lasta, Semien
and Begemder, Sayint, Gojjam, Wollo and Shewa.

In his religious policy Johannes inherited the empire encumbered with three religious questions
which provoked him to seek a solution: the internal dissensions of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church (EOC), Islam, and Christian foreign missionary activities. He regarded all of
them as menaces to the unity and stability of the state.

By 1878, Johannes was ready to tackle the problems by summoning a council at Boru Meda,
Wollo. Most of the high dignitaries and notables of Ethiopia were present at the council. The
leading theologians of the three major disputing groups of the EOC Karra (predominant in the
north), Sägga or Śost Lədät (prevalent in Begemeder and Shewa) and Qəbat (based in Gojjam
and Lasta) tried to defend their respective doctrines. Johannes readily accepted corrections made
by a notable on procedural matters. Apparently, he had a long-prepared plan for the council, as
he had a letter from the patriarch of Alexandria read out at the end of the disputation which
endorsed the imperial tenet. The policy transcended Johannes’s reign, though there were
indications that the suppressed tenets had by no means been eradicated.

In conclusion Theodor and Johannes IV played important role to unite and modernize Ethiopia
through their domestic policy as compared above presentation.