During his reign as emperor of Ethiopia (1889-1913), Minilik II proved to be a genial master of balance of powers successfully using the practices of European diplomacy to fend off European rule. He owed his skill to a combination of natural traits of character and skills of statesmanship acquired in long years of self-schooling during his reign as king of Shewa (1865-1889). It is this early period of ‘apprenticeship’ which the author examines. During this period, Minilik II was struggling to attract the interest of European governments in his part of Ethiopia. His policy of ‘guns for ivory’ depended for its success on arousing enough concern in European capitals for the future of commerce in southern Ethiopia to overcome the preference of European officials to deal with his rival in the north, Yohannes IV, and for maintaining an embargo on the import of munitions along all the coast. Minilik II’s conduct of foreign relations in these years was characterized as much by disappointment and blundering as by good fortune and an aptitude for negotiation. Notes, ref.
