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Primary sourceNewspaper article28 August 1898

Menelik - Adoua

F. Méaulle · 28 August 1898

A French newspaper illustration of Emperor Menelik II at the Battle of Adwa, published in Le Petit Journal.

This European newspaper illustration shows how the foreign press portrayed Menelik II after his victory at Adwa.

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Front page of the newspaper Le Petit Journal Supplément illustré, dated Sunday 28 August 1898. A colour illustration shows Emperor Menelik II on a white horse wearing a red cape and a feathered headdress, with armed followers behind him on rocky ground.
F. Méaulle, Menelik at Adwa, Le Petit Journal Supplément illustré, 28 August 1898.

About this source

What it is

This is the front page of the French newspaper Le Petit Journal Supplément illustré, dated 28 August 1898, illustrated by F. Méaulle. The colour illustration shows Emperor Menelik II on a white horse, wearing a red cape and feathered headdress, with armed followers behind him.

Why it matters

Adwa was the battle where Menelik's forces defeated an invading Italian army, a rare and striking victory of an African state over a European colonial power. This French illustration shows how the European popular press depicted Menelik: as a dramatic, almost exotic warrior-king, reflecting how Europeans struggled to fit his victory into their own ideas about Africa and empire.

Look closer

  • How is Menelik dressed and posed, and what impression does this create?
  • Why might a French newspaper choose to illustrate this battle in this way?
  • What might this image leave out about the actual events or Ethiopian perspectives on the battle?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Menelik II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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