Russian Nikolay Stepanovich and The Battle of Adwa



Nikolay Stepanovich Leontiev, Count of Abai, (Russian: Никола́й Степа́нович Леонтьев; 26 October 1862 – 1910) was a Russian military officer and adviser, geographer and traveler, explorer of Africa, writer, first Count of the Ethiopian Empire, and veteran of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Russo-Japanese War.
Leontiev, was born on 25 February 1862 to a noble family in Kherson Province . He studied in Nikolaev's Cavalry military school, then served in the Uhlan Leib Guard regiment. In 1891, he became esaul of a military reserve force of the Umansk regiment of the Kuban Cossack army.^[1][2]
Like Mashkov and Ashinov before him, Leontiev had dreamed of going to Ethiopia and for many years he collected information about the country. Finally, Leontiev was able to go to Ethiopia on a research trip. Famous scientists, the Science Academy and the Russian Geographical Society took great interest in this programme. But the main task of the Leontiev expedition was to establish friendly relations between Russia and Ethiopia.
Read moar:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Leontiev

THE BATTLE OF ADWA



The Battle of Adwa (also known as Adowa, or sometimes by the Italian name Adua) was fought on 1 March 1896 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, securing Ethiopian sovereignty.
As the 20th century approached, most of Africa had been carved up among the European powers. The two independent exceptions were the young Republic of Liberia on the west coast of the continent and the Ethiopian Empire in the strategic Horn of Africa. The newly unified Kingdom of Italy was a relative newcomer to the colonial scramble for Africa. Italy had two recently obtained African territories: Eritrea and Somaliland. Both were near Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa and both were impoverished. Italy sought to improve its position in Africa by conquering Ethiopia and joining it with its two territories.
Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Adwa