WI Ethiopia developed in the manner of European nations?

Detroitman32

Banned
Looking at Axumite history, one notices that the civilization was quite advanced in comparison to its neighbours. It also had links to Rome and was on the southern leg of the major East-West trade routes. So what would it be needed for Ethiopia to develop as a "Western" "enclave" in Africa?
 

Tocomocho

Detroitman32 said:
Looking at Axumite history, one notices that the civilization was quite advanced in comparison to its neighbours. It also had links to Rome and was on the southern leg of the major East-West trade routes. So what would it be needed for Ethiopia to develop as a "Western" "enclave" in Africa?
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A continued contact with Medieval Europe I think, which is hard having the whole Muslim World in the middle.
 

Midgard

Detroitman32 said:
Looking at Axumite history, one notices that the civilization was quite advanced in comparison to its neighbours. It also had links to Rome and was on the southern leg of the major East-West trade routes. So what would it be needed for Ethiopia to develop as a "Western" "enclave" in Africa?
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Very simple. Defeat Islam in the VIIth century, radically alter it to where it does not have the militant streak, or make sure it does not essentially surround Aksum and force it to struggle for survival. The thing is, a world where Islam was never a major military force, or never developed would be vastly different from our own.

Another point is that the "West" as we know it now is more or less a Renaissanse and latter invention. During the Roman times, there was the Mediterranean world, and everything else. The "West" was created as a result of two things (separated by centuries, but nevertheless important in the creation of "West-vs-the-rest" mindset): shift of the centers of political power away from the Mediterranean, and further inland (which had much to do with the threat of Muslim invasion after the disintegration of Roman authority in much of the Mediterranean), and the rapid technological, social, and economic development that occurred between XVIth and XIXth centuries, which truly separated Western Europe from the rest of the world, and resulted in an essential conquest spree. Therefore, Aksum could not have been a part of something that did not quite exist yet, although it could have remained a part of the Mediterranean world... the existence of which as a unified whole (more or less) would have precluded the "West" as we know it from forming.
 

Matthais Corvinus

A little different history of the Crusades with a little different circumstances during the Third Crusade, leading to the successful Crusade against Egypt, which leads to the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Egypt, and re-establishment of contact between Ethiopia and the Latin West, Ethiopia keeps its own rites but pledges allegiance to the Pope (ala a few Middle Eastern sects during the Crusades).

Maybe a crusading order is founded down in Ethiopia, ala Teutonic Knights, to keep European knights coming down to Ethiopia (which the Italian merchant cities support to keep the Red Sea and Horn of Africa open to trade).

Ethiopia extends its control into the Horn of Africa, and with the aid of the Egyptian-Norman fleet takes Aden. Ethiopia is able to successfully unify with the added military help from Europeans and improved revenue from trade taxes.
 

rcduggan

There were also some attempts to modernize Ethiopia through contact with the Portuguese in the 16th-17th centuries, IIRC. One of the emperors converted to Catholicism, but it didn't work out because the tolerant missionary Pedro Paez died before conversion could be carried out elsewhere. If Paez had survived longer, maybe a Catholic Ethiopia could have modernized with Portuguese technology?
 

Riain

Banned
I had an idea that perhaps the Christians had their own version of the Haj where they have a compulsory annual pilgrimage to a centeral point. This would bring Christians from all over the world to a central point and serve to tie Christendom together, especially around it's most powerful component in the middle ages, Byzantium. Tying Ethiopia into the rest of Christendom could work wonders for it's development, just having a constant view of outside ideas would be useful let alone being a trading and sometime strategic partner to wider Christendom. For example how would a richer, more powerful and more closely tied Ethiopia interact with the Crusades?
 

Strategos' Risk

The existence of Islam is in part owed to King Negus of Ethiopia, who sheltered Muslim refugees after they were being persecuted by the pagan Arabs.

Perhaps the Muslim nations remember that and allow Axum to continue in its way?
 

Ran Exilis

Strategos' Risk said:
The existence of Islam is in part owed to King Negus of Ethiopia, who sheltered Muslim refugees after they were being persecuted by the pagan Arabs.

Perhaps the Muslim nations remember that and allow Axum to continue in its way?
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The thing is; they did remember that in OTL - and yet, it didn't stop them from occupying the Ethiopian coast.
 
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