Ch 2. The Making of Eritrea

Until the lion has his own historian, the tale of the hunt will always belong to the hunter.
~ An African Proverb

ኣንበሳ ናቱ ተራኺ ክሳብ ዚህሉዎ፡ እቲ ዛንታ ናይቲ ሃድን ወትሩ በቲ ሃዳናይ’ዩ ኪውነን።
– ኣፍሪቃዊ ምስላ

This chapter presents a brief profile of the land and the people of Eritrea, taking a glimpse at the ancient history of the region, and asserts that the Eritreans, like other African peoples, existed in history before the moment of their contact with Europe and the Europeans. It provides a bird’s eye view of the evolution of the region’s pre-colonial and traces the matrix of constant invasions, pollution movements, migrations and intermingling that forged the mosaic of peoples, cultures and languages that make up Eritrea. It describes the reality of a fragmented territory from the decline of the Kingdom of Axum, through the centuries, to the advent of the European scramble for Africa and the colonial era.

The Making of Eritrea describes the Italian conquest and subjugation and unification of the territory into a single entity under colonial rule. It recounts the forging of the Eritrean State and the rise of an overarching distinctive Eritrean national identity as a product of the dialectics of colonialism and the resistance of the colonised. It highlights the crucial regional and global ramifications of Italy’s defeat in Eritrea, signifying the dismantling of Mussolini’s Africa Orientale Italiana and the paving of the way to the reversal of fortunes of Rommel’s Deutsch Afrika Korps, the German surrender in North Africa and the ultimate Allied victory in World War II. Further, it underscores that Eritrea, having served as the crucial battleground in the ‘great fight’ between the forces of global ‘fascism and liberal democracy’ on African soil as a significant cornerstone in the construction of the Allied victory, was abandoned and betrayed by the Allied Powers.

ኣደዃዅና ኤርትራ፡ ብዛዕባ መሬትን ህዝብን ኤርትራ ሓጺር ሓፈሻዊ ስእሊ ተቕርብ። ኣብቲ ጥንታዊ ታሪኽ ናይቲ ዞባ ቈላሕታ ብምግባር ድማ፣ ኤርትራውያን፡ ከም ኵሎም ካልኦት ህዝብታት ኣፍሪቃ፡ቅድሚ’ታ ምስ ኤውሮጳን ኤውሮጳውያንን ንፈለማ እዋን ዚተራኸቡላ ህሞት፣ ኣብ ታሪኽ ነዊሕ ህላዌ ከም ዚነበሮም ተረጋግጽ። ብዛዕባ ኣመዓባብላ ቅድመ-መግዛእታዊ ታሪኽ ናይቲ ዞባ መባእታዊ መግለጺ ትህብ። ነቲ ንኤርትራ ዘቕውም ሞዛይክ ወይ ሕውስዋስ ናይ ህዝብታት፡ ባህልታትን ቋንቋታትን ዚሰነዐ ሜትሪክስ ናይ ቀጻሊ ወራራት፡ ምንቅስቓስ ህዝብታት፡ ስደታትን ምትሕውዋሳትን ትድህስስ። ንክዉንነት ናይቲ ድሕሪ ምንቍልቋል ንግስነት ኣዅሱም፡ ንሓያሎ ዘመናት ዚሰዓበ፡ ክሳብ ምቕልቃል ኤውሮጳዊ ምሽማው ንኣፍሪቃን መግዛእታዊ መዋእልን፡ ዚጸንሐ ቍርጽራጽ ስልጣናት ትገልጽ።

ኣደዃዅና ኤርትራ ብዛዕባ ኢጣልያዊ ወራር፡ ምንብርካኽን ምስማርን ናይቲ ቍርጽራጽ ስልጣናት ናብ ሓንቲ; ኣብ ትሕቲ ባዕዳዊ ግዝኣት ዚተቘርነት፡ ኣሃዱ ትዝርዝር። ንኣሰናንዓ ሃገረ ኤርትራን ኣመዓባብላ ፍሉይ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ መነንትን፡ ከም ውጽኢት ናይቲ ኣብ መንጎ ዓመጽ መግዛእትን ተቓውሞ ግዙኣትን ዚኽሰት ስነመጐት ወይ ዳያለክቲክስ፡ ተዘንቱ። ነቲ ምብትታን ናይ ሙሶሊኒ ኢጣልያዊ ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ ዘበሰረ፣ ንቅልበሳ ዕድላት ናይ ሮመል ጀርመናዊ ኣፍሪቃ ኮር፣ ንስዕረት ጀርመን ኣብ ሰሜን ኣፍሪቃን ፍጹም ዓወት ሓይልታት ኪዳን ኣብ 2ይ ኲናት ዓለምን መንገዲ ዚጸረገ፣ ወሳኒ ዞባውን ዓለምለኻውን ስንብራት ናይ ስዕረት ኢጣልያ ኣብ ኤርትራ፡ ተጕልሕ። ብተወሳኺ፡ ኤርትራ፡ ከም ወሳኒ ዓውደ ውግእ ናይቲ ‘ዓቢ ባእሲ’ ኣብ መንጎ ሓይልታት ዓለምለኻዊ ‘ፋሺስትነትን ሊበራላዊ ደሞክራስን’ ኣብ መሬት ኣፍሪቃን፡ ከም ኣገዳሲት እምነ-ኵርናዕ ናይቲ ምህናጽ ዓወት ሓይልታት ኪዳንን ኣገልጊላ ከተብቅዕ፣ ኣብ መወዳእትኡ፡ ብሓይልታት ኪዳን ከም ዚተራሕረሐትን ከም ዚተጠልመትን፡ ተድምቕ።

Eritrea at a crossroads

Ch 2. The Making of Eritrea