''The chiefs of Shawa did everything they could to block the smuggling of weapons into Oromoland. They kept the missionaries, such as Massaj and Krapf, in Shawa for the same purpose. According to Vivian:
Until recently the Abyssinians have taken great pains to prevent them (Oromo) from arming themselves, knowing very well that if once these (brave nation) came to realise their own strength, they would not acquiesce in further servitude. But now a certain French Count, whose acquiesce I was privileged to make, has been entrusted with the task of drilling them, and reducing them to discipline. He is very sanguine about success, and I certainly agree with him that he could not possibly have any finer material to work upon.
The Oromo ''have been conquered, and are held in subjection by the help of firearms which their conquerors, the Shawans, take care they do not obtain, and by this device they are kept in a position of distinct inferiority and abject servitude. Herbert Vivian also asserted of the Oromos: ''If once they could obtain guns, even to a small extent, I believe they would soon make themselves masters of the empire.''
Modern weapons were a major factor for European colonization of Africa; here we have an African country awash with modern weapons and European advisors annexing fellow neighbors who had only traditional weapons and were thus easy victims.''
[Integration and Peace in East Africa: A History of the Oromo Nation
By T. Etefa, Page 187-188]
Until recently the Abyssinians have taken great pains to prevent them (Oromo) from arming themselves, knowing very well that if once these (brave nation) came to realise their own strength, they would not acquiesce in further servitude. But now a certain French Count, whose acquiesce I was privileged to make, has been entrusted with the task of drilling them, and reducing them to discipline. He is very sanguine about success, and I certainly agree with him that he could not possibly have any finer material to work upon.
The Oromo ''have been conquered, and are held in subjection by the help of firearms which their conquerors, the Shawans, take care they do not obtain, and by this device they are kept in a position of distinct inferiority and abject servitude. Herbert Vivian also asserted of the Oromos: ''If once they could obtain guns, even to a small extent, I believe they would soon make themselves masters of the empire.''
Modern weapons were a major factor for European colonization of Africa; here we have an African country awash with modern weapons and European advisors annexing fellow neighbors who had only traditional weapons and were thus easy victims.''
[Integration and Peace in East Africa: A History of the Oromo Nation
By T. Etefa, Page 187-188]