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Emperor Menelik II observed the ongoing conflict in Eastern Asia between Russia and Japan, expecting the Russians to overwhelm the Japanese with sheer numbers and force of arms once the Russo-Japanese War finally broke out in 1904 but was surprised to see the Japanese secure a decisive victory in the Battle of Tsushima. It had reminded him of Ethiopia's own decisive victory at Adwa, his curiosity encouraging him to find out more about this seemingly powerful Asian nation through Ethiopian contacts in St. Petersburg and Moscow where he found out that Japan was a modernizing power. Ethiopia's diplomatic overtures were noticed by the Japanese government who sent their own emissaries to St. Petersburg where they gradually came to know more about Empire of Ethiopia, being pleasantly surprised at learning of the Ethiopian victory against the Italians in 1896 and established diplomatic relations with Addis Ababa. Some in Tokyo suggested that the establishment of an Afro-Asiatic alliance against European expansionism but this was promptly rejected by the Ethiopian Emperor and his government who feared it could be used as a casus belli by the surrounding European countries to preemptively invade Ethiopia. The idea of a Japanese-Ethiopian alliance was shelved as newer proposals were made for joint economic cooperation and Japanese assistance in the Ethiopian modernization process as educated Ethiopian intellectuals studied Japanese modernization, wishing to emulate it in Ethiopia's case. Japanese advisors soon begun arriving in the Imperial Court where they made somewhat good impressions upon the Ethiopian nobility which largely remained suspicious of these foreigners and the growing influence of Japan in Ethiopia which was supplemented by a small group of Japanese technological advisors that Menelik had requested. However, Menelik hadn't wanted to remain reliant on the Japanese for assistance in Ethiopian modernization but he wouldn't hesitate to accept advisors but he would turn towards what he perceived as two of Europe's greatest Empires - Russia and Germany.

Despite the recent Russian loss against Japan, Menelik recognized that the Russians could provide Ethiopia with a large pool of much-needed advisors and material support that could come along with better relations between the two as Menelik successfully appealed to Tsar Nicholas II's pan-Orthodox sentiments. Nicholas was all-too happy to accept Menelik's requests for more Russian advisors and arms that came along with the possibility of expanding Russian influence in Africa, especially against Anglo-Italian influence in the Horn of Africa and alongside France. There was potential for convincing the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to enter into communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church and recognize the true Humanity of Christ himself, as opposed to the Coptic Orthodox belief of Christ's divine and human natures being unified. Menelik commanded the Imperial Guard, his personal force of 12,000 Ethiopian troops that were relatively well-equipped in comparison to the various feudal militias under the control of the nobility and sought to transform it into a force on par with that of the Great Powers'. The Russian Military Mission to Ethiopia arrived in 1906 where it set to work in training the Imperial Guard into a professional infantry force that would not only protect Ethiopian territorial sovereignty but suppress the revolts that were to inevitably come with Menelik's planned reforms. The Menelik II Military Academy was opened at Ankober, staffed by Russian officers who continued to teach Ethiopian troops and provided much assistance in the formation of a professional officer corps that was to lead the Imperial Ethiopian Army that the Emperor had in mind. Despite the harshness of Russian training and discipline issues in the Ethiopian ranks, the RMME had managed to transform the Imperial Guard from a force of poorly-trained feudal levies to the most professional well-trained and well-equipped force in all of Ethiopia. Russia accepted young Ethiopian students who showed promise in the eyes of Menelik, receiving education in St. Petersburg and Moscow in order to come back as apart of an Ethiopian class that was to become the basis of a reformist and state-oriented, centralized bureaucracy.



(Troops of the Russian-trained Imperial Guard march from Ankober to Addis Ababa, circa. 1906-07.)

Menelik's Japanese advisors had been pressuring him into utilizing Germany as a model for which to base Ethiopian modernization off of and he had rejected this due to the increasing prominence that Russia played in the modernization of Ethiopia which had shown successful results. Tokyo feared that Ethiopia was to cast them aside in favor of Russia as an ally, continuing to send pro-Ethiopia advisors who played their own role in the modernization of Ethiopia but it was not in the military sector, rather being in the economic and technological sectors where Menelik had recruited them. The Japanese held a large pool of technical know-how in stark comparison to the Ethiopians who were desperate for the knowledge of how to manufacture her own arms and thus, become less reliant on the European Powers for exports of the aforementioned arms. Japan soon got its wish when the Emperor suffered a stroke in 1906, showing that his health was degrading as time passed and this convinced Menelik to establish a European-esque Cabinet that took care of the day-to-day affairs of the Ethiopian Empire but this had also encouraged the surrounding European colonial empires to take advantage of it. Great Britain, France and Italy had written up the Tripartite Pact of 1906 that essentially divided Ethiopia into different spheres of influence to the respective members involved whilst angering Menelik who had finally made good on Japan's advice on considering Germany. Menelik presented Germany with investment opportunities in Ethiopia's economic sector as young Ethiopians were sent to Berlin to receive an education, Berlin accepting an opportunity to expand its influence in Africa and decrease the influence that Britain, France and Italy possessed. The Emperor's Japanese advisors had also pointed out the inevitable issue of succession, something that would render Menelik's attempts at modernizing Ethiopia useless if some royal or noble that was either reactionary enough or too weak came to the throne. However, one of Menelik's candidates would soon show himself in the aftermath of Ras Makonnen Wolde-Mikael's death in 1906 and thanks to the promise that Menelik had made to the Ras on his deathbed, he was to be adopted by the Royal Family - Lij Tafari Makonnen.

Following his father's death, Lij Tafari Makonnen was relocated to Addis Ababa where he finished his traditional Christian education before being sent to Berlin in order to receive a more formal education where he had shown himself to be brilliant in his studies. Tafari also made a trip to St. Petersburg where he and Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariam met with the Romanov Family who received them warmly in the capital, becoming friends with Olga and Tatiana Romanov which sparked rumors of a secret marriage that was to be arranged with one of the Grand Duchesses. Despite this, Tafari became popular amongst the people of St. Petersburg with its pan-Orthodox elements being excited by a part of one of Tafari's speeches in which he declared that the Orthodox Christian world to be united as brothers and sisters in arms. He presented himself as an able diplomat in ongoing negotiations of a potential Franco-Russo-Ethiopian alliance in economic terms and a potentially military alliance that was to be activated if one of the members was attacked, designed along the lines of their Triple Entente agreement between the UK, France and Russia. In 1908, Tafari arrived back in Ethiopia with a reformist outlook that characterized the views of Ethiopian intellectuals and became determined to reform the Ethiopian Empire so that it could match the European Empires that controlled large swathes of the African Continent. Tafari took his first steps in doing so in the city of Harar where a series of reforms gained favor amongst the citizens of the city but sat ill with the small number of nobles who possessed dominance over Harar's economy and complained to Menelik. To their surprise, Menelik simply shrugged and told them it was out of his hands as he praised Tafari who had become a de-facto advisor of the Emperor, raising him to the rank of Dejazmach in 1909 when it seemed the young man was ready. Tafari was pro-Japan, capitalizing on the similarities between Ethiopia and Japan in conversations with Japanese diplomats as he expressed a desire to meet with Emperor Meiji, the man who was responsible for modernizing Japan in his eyes. Ethiopia's relations with Japan had gotten warmer and warmer once closer contact had been established in 1905-06, beginning with closer commercial cooperation and trade agreements throughout the years but the topic of an Afro-Asiatic alliance remained in the thoughts of many Japanese military commanders - especially those who visited Ethiopia.

In 1912, Emperor Meiji died and this marked the end of an era in a modernized Japan that had come far since Commodore Matthew Perry's forcible opening up of Japan to foreign influence in 1853, the news of Meiji's death spreading to Addis Ababa where many in the educated community mourned his death. This included Dejazmach Tafari Makonnen who had sent his regards to the Japanese Royal Family but another monarch's death would have a much more devastating impact on not only Tafari but the whole of the Empire of Ethiopia - the death of Emperor Menelik II. In 1913, Menelik had been found to have died peacefully in his sleep and his will had dictated that Tafari become Emperor of Ethiopia once he died which was soon read out to the inhabitants of Addis Ababa during Menelik's funeral. Only a few days after Menelik's funeral, Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I in Addis Ababa where he announced that he would bring Ethiopia to the glory of the Aksumite Empire and protect Ethiopia from foreign powers as Menelik had done. However, the outbreak of the World War in 1914 would interfere with his plans as an originally European War expanded beyond the Continent and into the European Powers' Colonial Empires as the Ethiopian government had observed.
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