The Most Bonkers British Imperial War

Join this channel to get early access to episodes, ad-free watching, and priority access to our live events: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUYK0BJZF3yNb2fw1EdAXUQ/join Who was Emperor Tewodros II, the colourful and controversial Emperor of Abyssinia? Why did he brutally imprison a number of British emissaries, and how did Queen Victoria respond? And, how would this spark one of the most ambitious expeditions undertaken by the British Empire…? Join Dominic and Tom as they launch into one of the most extraordinary military expeditions in all world history. This episode is sponsored by Anthropic, the team behind Claude. Try Claude for free today at http://Claude.ai/restishistory. Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Social channels: https://www.instagram.com/theresthistory/ https://www.tiktok.com/@theresthistory https://x.com/TheRestHistory https://bsky.app/profile/theresthistory.bsky.social https://www.threads.com/@theresthistory Video Editor: Jack Meek, Harry Swan & Adam Thornton Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Aaliyah Akude & Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Callum Hill Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Head of Digital & Social: Sam Oakley 0:00 Ethiopia, Christianity & the mystery of Abyssinia 5:20 The rise of Tewodros II 9:57 Tewodros the moderniser 15:27 Tewodros descends into paranoia and violence 20:10 Britain sends a new envoy 23:19 The unanswered letter sparks a hostage crisis 28:13 Anthropic 29:28 Britain discovers its disastrous mistake 33:10 Hormuzd Rassam is sent to negotiate 37:47 The prisoners are taken to Magdala 41:51 Rassam meets Tewodros 49:54 Rassam is arrested 56:00 “I am mad. Goodbye.” 59:42 Britain sends an ultimatum