Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 28th December 2018, 02:21 PM

At the end of 19th century there was a sudden flood of Russians into Abyssinia: military men, Cossacks, intellectuals, physicians.
The point of attraction was that Abyssinian Christians were Orthodox. Russian government decided to enter Africa and to establish there not exactly a colony akin to West Europeans, but a “ brotherly” forepost. They sent medical personnel, their officers trained Abyssinian soldiers and were appointed as mid,- and high-level administrators. Pertinent to our discussion, Abyssinians were given Russian surplus weapons, including old sword blades. This is the origin of Teodor’s and my gurades.

In a way, Russian tactics and strategy in Abyssinia were identical to their later Communist assimilation of Castro’s Cuba. The locals were to remain nominally independent but fully beholden to and controlled by Russia.

The 1917 revolution put an end to Russia’s Abyssinian adventure. But in its aftermath there was a thin streak of Russian emigrees to Abyssinia, among whom BTW was Nazima Hanafi, a direct descendant of Shamil ( yes, the very same one) who converted to Orthodoxy and became one of the Grand Dames of Ethiopian beaumonde.

Currently, the only traces of Russian presence in Ethiopia are Balcha Hospital in Addis Ababa ( originally established by the Tzarist Russian Red Cross) where they still serve bliny and stuffed cabbage, and a small group of Russian women who married Ethiopian students.

Russia still conducts the same bottom-feeding attempts to influence certain pariah African countries such as Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Sudan and Erythrea. Despite her own economical catastrophes, Russia continues to send there military advisers and private security forces and provide them with loans ( with no hope of return) to buy outdated Russian military junk, akin to the Tzarist Russia shipments of decommissioned Zlatoust saber blades. Meanwhile, China builds industrial complexes all over Africa, buys land and natural resources there and floods the entire continent with China-made cheap goods.

But at least we have Ethiopian gurades with antique Zlatoust blades, a memento of yet another Russian attempt to become a world- class empire.

28th December 2018, 02:21 PM	#8
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	At the end of 19th century there was a sudden flood of Russians into Abyssinia: military men, Cossacks, intellectuals, physicians. The point of attraction was that Abyssinian Christians were Orthodox. Russian government decided to enter Africa and to establish there not exactly a colony akin to West Europeans, but a “ brotherly” forepost. They sent medical personnel, their officers trained Abyssinian soldiers and were appointed as mid,- and high-level administrators. Pertinent to our discussion, Abyssinians were given Russian surplus weapons, including old sword blades. This is the origin of Teodor’s and my gurades. In a way, Russian tactics and strategy in Abyssinia were identical to their later Communist assimilation of Castro’s Cuba. The locals were to remain nominally independent but fully beholden to and controlled by Russia. The 1917 revolution put an end to Russia’s Abyssinian adventure. But in its aftermath there was a thin streak of Russian emigrees to Abyssinia, among whom BTW was Nazima Hanafi, a direct descendant of Shamil ( yes, the very same one) who converted to Orthodoxy and became one of the Grand Dames of Ethiopian beaumonde. Currently, the only traces of Russian presence in Ethiopia are Balcha Hospital in Addis Ababa ( originally established by the Tzarist Russian Red Cross) where they still serve bliny and stuffed cabbage, and a small group of Russian women who married Ethiopian students. Russia still conducts the same bottom-feeding attempts to influence certain pariah African countries such as Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Sudan and Erythrea. Despite her own economical catastrophes, Russia continues to send there military advisers and private security forces and provide them with loans ( with no hope of return) to buy outdated Russian military junk, akin to the Tzarist Russia shipments of decommissioned Zlatoust saber blades. Meanwhile, China builds industrial complexes all over Africa, buys land and natural resources there and floods the entire continent with China-made cheap goods. But at least we have Ethiopian gurades with antique Zlatoust blades, a memento of yet another Russian attempt to become a world- class empire. Last edited by ariel; 28th December 2018 at 03:42 PM.