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Priests and Politicians: Protestant and Catholic Missions in Orthodox Ethiopia 1830-1868 byDonald CrummeyReview by: Edward SimoneThe International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1975), pp. 338-340Published by: Boston University African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/216676 .

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338 BOOK REVIEWS 338 BOOK REVIEWS

marking a clear break in the evolution of Yoruba warfare from a "medieval" into a "modern" form.

Because of his own interests, a reviewer of the papers in a sym- posium usually finds some papers more absorbing than others. The present writer found Oyin Ogunba's analysis of Yoruba ceremonies fascinating. Ogunba demonstrates that Yoruba ceremonies are rich as a source for Yoruba history, but he is quick to point out that ceremonies by themselves cannot provide full results in historical investigation unless they are compared with the ceremonies of some other West African groups. He questions whether the Yoruba have as much religion, as distinct from ritual, in their lives as has been claimed by some scholars. In wondering whether "the intense materialism evident in Yoruba ritual practice is not such as to limit seriously Yoruba religious pretensions," Ogunba will strike a responsive chord in many who are interested in the study of Yoruba religion. His call for an in- vestigation into the whole of Yoruba religion as a system of symbolism is quite appropriate.

The attempts of these twelve scholars to assess the various categories of source material available for the reconstruction of Yoruba history are impressive, and it appears to the reviewer that the problems dis- cussed and the methods suggested will be of value for the history of other nonliterate peoples.

No maps of Nigeria or of West Africa are included in this volume; such visual aids would be a welcome addition to the forthcoming volumes in this series.

GEORGE EATON SIMPSON Oberlin College

PRIESTS AND POLITICIANS: PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN ORTHODOX ETHIOPIA 1830-1868. By Donald Crummey. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. xii, 176. $13.00.

Donald Crummey's Priests and Politicians is a welcome contribution to the literature dealing with European missionary activity in nineteenth- century Africa. In Ethiopia the Protestant and Catholic missions were restricted to the highland plateau, where they attempted to reform an indigenous church whose members possessed a system of religious beliefs similar to their own. The Protestants achieved a small measure of success at first because of their willingness to utilize an indigenous approach to religious reform. Their later insistence upon the mainte- nance of European religious and secular standards in bringing about re-

marking a clear break in the evolution of Yoruba warfare from a "medieval" into a "modern" form.

Because of his own interests, a reviewer of the papers in a sym- posium usually finds some papers more absorbing than others. The present writer found Oyin Ogunba's analysis of Yoruba ceremonies fascinating. Ogunba demonstrates that Yoruba ceremonies are rich as a source for Yoruba history, but he is quick to point out that ceremonies by themselves cannot provide full results in historical investigation unless they are compared with the ceremonies of some other West African groups. He questions whether the Yoruba have as much religion, as distinct from ritual, in their lives as has been claimed by some scholars. In wondering whether "the intense materialism evident in Yoruba ritual practice is not such as to limit seriously Yoruba religious pretensions," Ogunba will strike a responsive chord in many who are interested in the study of Yoruba religion. His call for an in- vestigation into the whole of Yoruba religion as a system of symbolism is quite appropriate.

The attempts of these twelve scholars to assess the various categories of source material available for the reconstruction of Yoruba history are impressive, and it appears to the reviewer that the problems dis- cussed and the methods suggested will be of value for the history of other nonliterate peoples.

No maps of Nigeria or of West Africa are included in this volume; such visual aids would be a welcome addition to the forthcoming volumes in this series.

GEORGE EATON SIMPSON Oberlin College

PRIESTS AND POLITICIANS: PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN ORTHODOX ETHIOPIA 1830-1868. By Donald Crummey. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. Pp. xii, 176. $13.00.

Donald Crummey's Priests and Politicians is a welcome contribution to the literature dealing with European missionary activity in nineteenth- century Africa. In Ethiopia the Protestant and Catholic missions were restricted to the highland plateau, where they attempted to reform an indigenous church whose members possessed a system of religious beliefs similar to their own. The Protestants achieved a small measure of success at first because of their willingness to utilize an indigenous approach to religious reform. Their later insistence upon the mainte- nance of European religious and secular standards in bringing about re-

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:45:34 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

BOOK REVIEWS 339

form destroyed the effectiveness of their mission. Justin de Jacobis, a Lazarist missionary, deserves much of the credit for the early successes of the Catholic mission on the plateau. A man of tact, understanding, and deep piety, his sympathy and respect for the Ethiopian religious experience gained him many admirers and some converts. His suc- cessors were no wiser than their Protestant counterparts and were just as ineffective in the end.

As in other parts of Africa, missionaries in Ethiopia were the forerunners of European imperialism. They were in part responsible for the diplomatic climate which brought about British military interven- tion on the Ethiopian plateau. In attempting to consolidate his political position, Theodros sought the support of the abuna salama. The latter's friendship created a favorable atmosphere for the Protestant mission at the imperial court. Meanwhile Theodros's hostility to the Catholics, who identified their interests with those of France, deprived him of a possible counterbalance to Great Britain, with whom relations deterio- rated after 1860.

While the missionaries played a role in bringing about the Maqdala campaign, it is difficult to believe that they significantly affected politi- cal events in Ethiopia. Their activities were limited to areas which were strongholds of the indigenous church, such as Axum and Gondar. More than anything else, Maqdala had further demonstrated to the Ethiopian mind the superiority of European technology. They were not so overawed that they were willing to accept unquestioningly all that was foreign at the expense of their own culture. Both the missionaries and secular visitors were expected to provide technological expertise as well as to assist in gaining military armament from the European powers. Caught up in the whirlpool of political events which charac- terized the period between 1830 and 1868, the missionaries were the pawns of Ethiopian statesmen who looked upon them to supply tech- nological, not spiritual, assistance.

Donald Crummey has presented a brief but interesting outline of the doctrinal disputes which plagued the Ethiopian church and state during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In addition he sympathetically portrays the abuna salama, the head of the Ethiopian church. It is un- fortunate that the major emphasis of the book is placed upon the mis- sionaries and the politicians with whom they were forced to deal. In his preface the author notes that a lack of written material prevented an analysis of the indigenous church and society and their response to the Protestant and Catholic missions. Until work of that nature is done, no full assessment will be possible. Yet Donald Crummey's Priests and Pol- iticians should be recognized as a much needed study on the activity of the European missions which also provides the student of Ethiopian

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:45:34 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

340 BOOK REVIEWS 340 BOOK REVIEWS

history with a wealth of source material for the nineteenth century in its bibliography.

EDWARD SIMONE

Boston University

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS SUCCESSORS. By Peter Mansfield. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973. Pp. vii, 210.

Within the limits of only 174 pages of text Peter Mansfield has ably compressed the history of the twentieth-century Middle East. One of a lively series originally published by Macmillan in London entitled "The Making of the Twentieth Century" and intended for higher form students in England and lower division university and college students in North America, each work has been written by an authority in his or her respective area or topic. Mansfield has been ambitious in attempt- ing such a broad survey in so little space, yet I suspect that through the necessities of compression the fine brush strokes that might have high- lighted the historical landscape of the Middle East have been lost.

First of all, he seeks to cover too much material, and the result is an uneven narrative that does not sustain the reader's interest.1 In an ex- tended essay of this length either the topics or the themes must be limited, or the author should let his experience and considered opinions come through to give the text a bite and a focus. Secondly, the narrative lacks enlivening descriptions of the lands, their peoples, and, more im- portant, some of the individuals who profoundly affected events in the area in the twentieth century. This is particularly unfortunate since the vagaries of such leaders as Ataturk and Nasser, to mention only two, clearly influenced events in the region. Such information would have helped give life to the complex narrative.

Thirdly, recent scholarly literature indicates that more attention should be paid, even in surveys, to organizations that have emerged out of what is called the traditional society, such as the Sufi Turug, both rural and urban,2 the Ikwan of Saudi Arabia, the Muslim Brethren in Egypt, the Baath party, and the various secret political organizations gathered under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

A more successful example of the genre is Dana Adams Schmidt's Armageddon in the Middle East (New York, 1974).

2For example, see Albert Hourani, "Ottoman Reform and the Politics of Notables," in William R. Polk and Richard L. Chambers, Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East (Chicago 1968), 41-68, and Michael Gilsenan, Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt (Oxford, 1973).

history with a wealth of source material for the nineteenth century in its bibliography.

EDWARD SIMONE

Boston University

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS SUCCESSORS. By Peter Mansfield. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973. Pp. vii, 210.

Within the limits of only 174 pages of text Peter Mansfield has ably compressed the history of the twentieth-century Middle East. One of a lively series originally published by Macmillan in London entitled "The Making of the Twentieth Century" and intended for higher form students in England and lower division university and college students in North America, each work has been written by an authority in his or her respective area or topic. Mansfield has been ambitious in attempt- ing such a broad survey in so little space, yet I suspect that through the necessities of compression the fine brush strokes that might have high- lighted the historical landscape of the Middle East have been lost.

First of all, he seeks to cover too much material, and the result is an uneven narrative that does not sustain the reader's interest.1 In an ex- tended essay of this length either the topics or the themes must be limited, or the author should let his experience and considered opinions come through to give the text a bite and a focus. Secondly, the narrative lacks enlivening descriptions of the lands, their peoples, and, more im- portant, some of the individuals who profoundly affected events in the area in the twentieth century. This is particularly unfortunate since the vagaries of such leaders as Ataturk and Nasser, to mention only two, clearly influenced events in the region. Such information would have helped give life to the complex narrative.

Thirdly, recent scholarly literature indicates that more attention should be paid, even in surveys, to organizations that have emerged out of what is called the traditional society, such as the Sufi Turug, both rural and urban,2 the Ikwan of Saudi Arabia, the Muslim Brethren in Egypt, the Baath party, and the various secret political organizations gathered under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

A more successful example of the genre is Dana Adams Schmidt's Armageddon in the Middle East (New York, 1974).

2For example, see Albert Hourani, "Ottoman Reform and the Politics of Notables," in William R. Polk and Richard L. Chambers, Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East (Chicago 1968), 41-68, and Michael Gilsenan, Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt (Oxford, 1973).

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:45:34 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions