In Odessa, Konstantin Uspensky would become an Archimandrite in 1834 and received the name of "Porphyrius" as he soon became attracted to learning about Oriental Orthodoxy as he was chose to become head of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem in 1847-48. In Palestine, Uspensky met with clerics of the Ethiopian community where he began to build up an interesting Russian Eastern Orthodox view of the Ethiopian Empire with the assistance of the Ethiopians and came to support those Ethiopian clerics who disagreed with their Armenian counterparts over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where the former did agree to welcome Russian support for Ethiopia. Uspensky proved to be quite adept at politicking in arguing that the spread of Eastern Orthodoxy throughout all of Africa would certainly decrease the influence of their traditional enemies in the Ottoman and British Empires as Uspensky declared the Ethiopians to be superior to their barbaric Islamic neighbors. Therefore, St. Petersburg should come to back Ethiopia as a leader in a largely non-Christian, non-Orthodox Africa that was to be civilized by the Eastern Orthodoxy of the Russian Empire and should receive support as a member of a potential anti-Ottoman alliance. Despite having never been in Ethiopia, Uspensky maintained a strange interest in this isolated Orthodox Christian African Kingdom that had been "an Island of Christianity" in "a Sea of Islam and Paganism" which would add to his writings on the subject as he outlined the model that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was to take in breaking away from the Egyptian Copts and entering into communion with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russian interests in Ethiopia weren't simply limited to religious matters as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society sent Lt.-Col. E.P. Kovalevsky in order to explore the Nile River where he managed to venture into Sudan and found himself in northwestern Ethiopia. Kovalevsky was surprised to find that Christianity had reached far into and was maintained in the Ethiopian Highlands, being received well by Ethiopian priests who were happy to welcome another of the Christian faith as he wrote about his experiences in Ethiopia to the IRGS. He was decorated by Tsar Nicholas I who became interested in Ethiopia as well upon learning about it through Kovalevsky's and Uspensky's writings which lead to a renewed Russian interest in Orthodox Christianity in the Horn of Africa. The subject of Ethiopia found particular interest in Russia's pan-Orthodox circles' as that faction argued for Russian protection of African Orthodoxy from the Islamic hordes, comparing it to the Russian experience with the Tatar yoke and other parallels in Russian history. However, St. Petersburg's interest was only further peaked with the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1828 which ended in Russian victory as the Treaty of Adrianople resulted in Russia gaining the eastern shore of the Black Sea and part of the Danube while also forcing Turkey to recognize Russian sovereignty over northwestern Armenia. The Treaty of Adrianople also assured Serbian autonomy as well as allowing for Russia to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia until Istanbul paid its indemnity back in full but this treaty would include another interesting clause that was added in by Nicholas - the Ottomans were to cede the Habesh Eyalet to Russian control.
With the Habesh Eyalet under de jure Russian control, St. Petersburg had established a foothold on the Dark Continent and was ready to extend Russian dominion to the besieged Orthodox Christian communities in the Kingdom of Prester John as Nicholas eagerly supported this colonial project. A few regiments from the Imperial Russian Army were dispatched to enforce the Russian claims to Eritrea, allowing for future Russian colonial administration to utilize these regiments not only for controlling the Eritrean coast but to expand ever-further into the Ethiopian interior. The Kingdom of Medri Bahri was unable to offer much resistance to this seemingly-unstoppable Russian advance and collapsed in the face of a modern army as Russian forces advanced on the city of Asmara where a Russian colonial government was established as the city was named to New Moscow by Imperial forces. Alongside members of the Ethiopian community in Palestine, Uspensky was recruited for the job of assisting in overseeing Russia's project in the Horn of Africa and encouraging a breakaway of the Eritrean Orthodox Church from the Egyptian Church in Alexandria - this was successful with some more "encouragement" from Imperial forces in Eritrea. The Imperial Russian force in Eritrea would be bolstered by a combination of reinforcements from the Russian heartlands and local legions that volunteered for service in the Imperial Russian Army which would later go on to spearhead the Russian advance in Northeastern Africa after the consolidation over the Eritrean coast as well as its Highlands.
(Uspensky in New Moscow, circa. 1829-31)
Following its consolidation, New Moscow observed the internal affairs of Ethiopia in order to report back to St. Petersburg about Russian penetration into Ethiopia and was surprised to discover the ongoing Era of the Princes that had divided the Ethiopian Empire into the feuding fiefdoms of the nobility as the Ethiopian Emperor remained a figurehead in Gondar. This disgusted the New Moscow administration of whom many of the officials were loyal absolutists to the Russian Tsar as the colonial government worked towards collecting more information on the ongoing situation in Ethiopia through sending diplomats to the Ethiopian Court as their superiors in St. Petersburg watched with interest. However, events in Europe would ultimately take prominence over Russian events in Africa where Russian forces had promptly answered the Eastern Question by an invasion of the Danubian Principalities which sparked war not only with Istanbul but with London and Paris, both of whom had become allies of the Ottomans to offset the balance of power in Europe. This would have ramifications that didn't only reverberate throughout Russia proper but with effects on Russian Eritrea which suffered naval attacks from the Royal Navy but was saved by the fact that the main action was ongoing in a Eastern European setting that exposed the problems in the Imperial Russian Army which had been perceived as invincible by Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Britain made an attempt at landing in the Russian colony in Eritrea but this attempt was successfully repelled by Russo-Eritrean forces as the Crimean War came to an end in 1855 with the death of Tsar Nicholas I and succession of Tsar Alexander II.
However, Tsar Alexander II wasn't the only Monarch to rise to power in his country as the Era of Princes came to an end in Ethiopia with the rise of Kassa Hailu after the young Ethiopian commander had won a series of victories from Ras Ali II of Gondar and captured Empress Menen Liben Amede in his campaigns against Ras Ali. Emperor Yohannes III abdicated in favor of Kassa who was crowned Emperor Tewodros II by Abuna Salama III in February of 1855 as apart of legitimizing his rule through proving an Ethiopian prophecy correct and went on to reincorporate former Ethiopian territories into his Empire as well as conquering newer lands such as the Kingdom of Shewa that had nominally been apart of Christian Ethiopia. After successfully centralizing Ethiopia from Gondar, Tewodros turned to Eritrea where he approached the New Moscow government with offers of establishing formal relations with St. Petersburg and acquiring support in modernizing Ethiopia to ensure that Ethiopia would not only remain stable internally but protect herself from foreign threats as the new Tsar of Russia received the Ethiopian Emperor's regards shortly after coming to power.
Russian interests in Ethiopia weren't simply limited to religious matters as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society sent Lt.-Col. E.P. Kovalevsky in order to explore the Nile River where he managed to venture into Sudan and found himself in northwestern Ethiopia. Kovalevsky was surprised to find that Christianity had reached far into and was maintained in the Ethiopian Highlands, being received well by Ethiopian priests who were happy to welcome another of the Christian faith as he wrote about his experiences in Ethiopia to the IRGS. He was decorated by Tsar Nicholas I who became interested in Ethiopia as well upon learning about it through Kovalevsky's and Uspensky's writings which lead to a renewed Russian interest in Orthodox Christianity in the Horn of Africa. The subject of Ethiopia found particular interest in Russia's pan-Orthodox circles' as that faction argued for Russian protection of African Orthodoxy from the Islamic hordes, comparing it to the Russian experience with the Tatar yoke and other parallels in Russian history. However, St. Petersburg's interest was only further peaked with the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1828 which ended in Russian victory as the Treaty of Adrianople resulted in Russia gaining the eastern shore of the Black Sea and part of the Danube while also forcing Turkey to recognize Russian sovereignty over northwestern Armenia. The Treaty of Adrianople also assured Serbian autonomy as well as allowing for Russia to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia until Istanbul paid its indemnity back in full but this treaty would include another interesting clause that was added in by Nicholas - the Ottomans were to cede the Habesh Eyalet to Russian control.
With the Habesh Eyalet under de jure Russian control, St. Petersburg had established a foothold on the Dark Continent and was ready to extend Russian dominion to the besieged Orthodox Christian communities in the Kingdom of Prester John as Nicholas eagerly supported this colonial project. A few regiments from the Imperial Russian Army were dispatched to enforce the Russian claims to Eritrea, allowing for future Russian colonial administration to utilize these regiments not only for controlling the Eritrean coast but to expand ever-further into the Ethiopian interior. The Kingdom of Medri Bahri was unable to offer much resistance to this seemingly-unstoppable Russian advance and collapsed in the face of a modern army as Russian forces advanced on the city of Asmara where a Russian colonial government was established as the city was named to New Moscow by Imperial forces. Alongside members of the Ethiopian community in Palestine, Uspensky was recruited for the job of assisting in overseeing Russia's project in the Horn of Africa and encouraging a breakaway of the Eritrean Orthodox Church from the Egyptian Church in Alexandria - this was successful with some more "encouragement" from Imperial forces in Eritrea. The Imperial Russian force in Eritrea would be bolstered by a combination of reinforcements from the Russian heartlands and local legions that volunteered for service in the Imperial Russian Army which would later go on to spearhead the Russian advance in Northeastern Africa after the consolidation over the Eritrean coast as well as its Highlands.
(Uspensky in New Moscow, circa. 1829-31)
Following its consolidation, New Moscow observed the internal affairs of Ethiopia in order to report back to St. Petersburg about Russian penetration into Ethiopia and was surprised to discover the ongoing Era of the Princes that had divided the Ethiopian Empire into the feuding fiefdoms of the nobility as the Ethiopian Emperor remained a figurehead in Gondar. This disgusted the New Moscow administration of whom many of the officials were loyal absolutists to the Russian Tsar as the colonial government worked towards collecting more information on the ongoing situation in Ethiopia through sending diplomats to the Ethiopian Court as their superiors in St. Petersburg watched with interest. However, events in Europe would ultimately take prominence over Russian events in Africa where Russian forces had promptly answered the Eastern Question by an invasion of the Danubian Principalities which sparked war not only with Istanbul but with London and Paris, both of whom had become allies of the Ottomans to offset the balance of power in Europe. This would have ramifications that didn't only reverberate throughout Russia proper but with effects on Russian Eritrea which suffered naval attacks from the Royal Navy but was saved by the fact that the main action was ongoing in a Eastern European setting that exposed the problems in the Imperial Russian Army which had been perceived as invincible by Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Britain made an attempt at landing in the Russian colony in Eritrea but this attempt was successfully repelled by Russo-Eritrean forces as the Crimean War came to an end in 1855 with the death of Tsar Nicholas I and succession of Tsar Alexander II.
However, Tsar Alexander II wasn't the only Monarch to rise to power in his country as the Era of Princes came to an end in Ethiopia with the rise of Kassa Hailu after the young Ethiopian commander had won a series of victories from Ras Ali II of Gondar and captured Empress Menen Liben Amede in his campaigns against Ras Ali. Emperor Yohannes III abdicated in favor of Kassa who was crowned Emperor Tewodros II by Abuna Salama III in February of 1855 as apart of legitimizing his rule through proving an Ethiopian prophecy correct and went on to reincorporate former Ethiopian territories into his Empire as well as conquering newer lands such as the Kingdom of Shewa that had nominally been apart of Christian Ethiopia. After successfully centralizing Ethiopia from Gondar, Tewodros turned to Eritrea where he approached the New Moscow government with offers of establishing formal relations with St. Petersburg and acquiring support in modernizing Ethiopia to ensure that Ethiopia would not only remain stable internally but protect herself from foreign threats as the new Tsar of Russia received the Ethiopian Emperor's regards shortly after coming to power.