[Ethiopia AH] - Rise to Power?

I have a feeling that the Ethiopian highlands would be much more integrated with their surroundings if it was a Muslim nation.

It would destroy the coolness of the nation though - being isolate primitive Christians, heirs of King Solomon and Prester John surely adds some flavor...
 
Didn't Ethiopia have low levels of urbanization throighout history? You could probably fix that with an early enough POD.

Rastafarianism would not be a good example. Would make American Blacks (Though perhaps African-American is abetter term for that time period, as there weren't many Caribbean and African immigrants at that point.) seem like heretic. Actually wonder if Baptism and Methodism would go back the other way. And Italy got areas of Somalia and Eritrea that the Egyptians had been getting ports in when they were expanding their influence, but dropped around the time of... I dont know, when they got occupied due to defaulting on debts? That is one of the big things for Ethiopia to fear. Getting behind on payments and having Europeans use it as an excuse to occupy the area. But going back to those lands, I expect that if the Abynissians give some crucial support with dealing with the Mahdis in Sudan, then perhaps the British help them out in other areas. The Brits would still likely want most of the Nile, going up to Uganda, but them propping up an ancient kingdom and having it declare itself Ethiopia could plaay well in the popular press. Assimilating the Somalis or subjucating them could be an issue due to the desert between them and the amount of land they hold. I feel missionaries will be crucial in whatever happens. Mainly because the French, Americans, and British were rather keen on them as otherwise their own populations were less thrilled about tax dollars being poured into investing in the fortunates of the rich.

But Rastafarianism--or something like it since the OTL Rastafarians would be butterflied away--could help in that it could be used to draw immigrants. You could have some unholy alliance between the radical segregationist lobby (the kind that wanted to deport blacks), the Garveyists and similar movements (some were associated with people like Theodore Bilbo for this reason OTL), and the government of Ethiopia to get African Americans (and Caribbean blacks) to Ethiopia. You would ideally be able to draw some at least a few skilled blacks--business owners, teachers, etc. in the deportation/migrations. Though the radical segregationists wouldn't be able to get rid of too many blacks since the South needed them for labor.
 
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