History of Addis Ababa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Royals

Barara was home to many members of African royalty, their families and advisors. Its founding date is unknown but it was sacked during the Ethiopian-Adal War in 1524, and completely destroyed a decade later when all of its gold and treasures were looted. In addition, Barara was one of the main commerce centers in the area.

Answer: Entoto

Mount Entoto stands just to the north of Addis Ababa. In 1884, Negus Menelik II founded a military outpost on Mount Entoto. A city called Finfinne was also founded at the base. This would later be called Addis Ababa and become the capital. Finfinne was allegedly established in the ruins of Barara that remained.

Answer: New flower

Addis Ababa loosely translates to new flower in Amharic. Melenik II's wife Taytu Betul was instrumental in the city's founding, as she opened a number of churches in the city and chose a location for their home near a hot springs. This house eventually became Melenik's imperial palace and the royal court moved into the surrounding area. Entoto was not ideal for a capital as it could not maintain a permanent establishment because of the lack of a water source, so the capital became Finfinne/Addis Ababa.

Answer: It grew too quickly

Addis Ababa had about 15,000 people in 1886, but by 1910, it had over 70,000 residents and roughly an equal number of temporary visitors. Addis Ababa was not intended to expand much beyond its original boundaries. New buildings were constructed quickly and unstable mostly from straw and mud. One reason for this was the 1896 Battle of Adwa, which saw Ethiopian forces defeat the Italians.

This left Ethiopia the only nation in the Horn of Africa free from Europeans. Many Africans moved to the city as a result, which was also partly responsible for a famine.

Answer: Coffee

Coffee production took off in Ethiopia in the 1920s, aided by an influx of wealthy Africans and Europeans into the city. Haile Selassie, who at the time was Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia, was influential in attracting the wealthy to see and working toward economic stability for the lower classes. Railways were are also essential as Addis Ababa was home to the only railways that traveled to other parts of the Horn of Africa such as Djibouti. Because this was the only rail passage, Ethiopia charged exorbitant rates which helped the city prosper.

Answer: True

The threat of Italian expansion into Abyssinia (the then name for Ethiopia) was a major concern in Europe as Mussolini and his allies grew more powerful. It was widely known that Italy would attempt to claim Abyssinia after its previous failure to do so. Emperor Haile Selassie sought help from Britain and France, but only received a few firearms, for which Ethiopia struggled to pay. On the eve of the invasion, called the March of the Iron Will, the emperor sent his family into exile and approached British diplomat Sidney Barton for assistance. Barton declined and Addis Ababa fell quickly.

Answer: Rodolfo Graziani

Rodolfo Graziani became Governor-General of Italian East Africa after the Italian invasion. During this tumultuous time, there were a number of assassinations of prominent Italian officials and their families. Two attempts on Graziani's life failed and, as retaliation, he ordered a massacre of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa. An estimated 30,000 people were slaughtered, including many religious monks who Graziani accused of shielding his would-be killers.

The massacre is referred to as Yekatit 12, the date on the Ethiopian calendar that killings took place.

Answer: It is the day Haile Selassie returned to the city after liberation

Haile Selassie's return to Addis Ababa on May 5, 1941, exactly five years to the day he went into exile, marked the symbolic and official end of Italian occupation of Ethiopia. The British led the liberation of Addis Ababa alongside the local Arbegnoch, or Ethiopian patriots, led by Abebe Aregai.

The Italians surrendered the city because it was clear they could not hold onto it any longer and hoped to spare the lives of Italian citizens who lived in the city.

Answer: Loyalists

The Council of the Revolution initially had much success in its attempt to oust Haile Selassie. By 1960, the Ethiopian economy was suffering and the Council hoped to replace Selassie with his son, Asfaw Wossen, to undue many of the reforms Selassie put in place.

The Council was able to quickly take control of most of Addis Ababa. However, the Council just as quickly lost that control when the Loyalists regrouped and the military turned on them. Many rank-and-file soldiers were under the impression they were fighting for the emperor and abandoned their positions once they learned otherwise.

Answer: It spread into the Finfinne Special Zone

Addis Ababa is entirely surrounded by the Oromia Region, specifically the Finfinne Special Zone, that was explicitly created to prevent urban sprawl into the nearby parts of the nation. However, the Master Plan completely ignored this (which is specified in the Constitution), which led to massive protests across the country.

The government violently suppressed these protests and an estimated 800 people died as a result. After nearly two years of debate, the Master Plan was shelved.