Téwodros II’s relations with Britain deteriorated as diplomatic misunderstandings, missionary disputes and competing Anglo-Egyptian interests convinced him that Britain was abandoning Ethiopia. The arrest of C. D. Cameron and his party in January 1864 followed reports that British representatives had declined to support Ethiopian claims concerning the ancient Ethiopian convent in Jerusalem. When Hormuzd Rassam eventually reached the emperor’s camp in February 1866, Téwodros initially welcomed him and released several European prisoners.

The release was temporary. Téwodros soon detained Rassam and other foreigners in the hope of compelling the British government to provide technical specialists, including gunsmiths and an artillery officer, together with machinery for a foundry and gunpowder mill. His position was already weakening: contemporary reports described rebellion throughout the country, while his remaining authority was largely confined to Bagemder, Waala, Dalanta and nearby areas.

In 1867 Britain decided on military intervention. Sir Robert Napier’s expedition landed at Zulla in October 1867 and advanced inland with about 12,000 fighting men. Téwodros abandoned Dabra Tabor, destroyed it, and concentrated his artillery at Magdala, where he intended to confront the invading force. At Arogé, below Magdala, on Good Friday, 10 April 1868, British troops inflicted heavy casualties on his army, whose artillery was poorly employed.

Napier demanded submission to Queen Victoria and the delivery of the European captives. Téwodros answered with a defiant letter that connected his defeat to the flight of his followers, the weakness of his artillery and opposition from subjects who resisted taxation and military discipline. He imagined a future in which Ethiopia’s enemies would be subdued and Jerusalem taken from the Turks, revealing the scale of his political and religious ambitions.

After attempting to take his own life, Téwodros released Rassam, Cameron and the missionaries, while continuing briefly to hold other hostages. He then offered Napier 1,000 cows and 500 sheep as a peace gift. When Napier rejected the gift, Téwodros returned to Magdala. During the assault on 13 April 1868, he recognized that resistance was futile, dismissed his followers and killed himself rather than surrender.

The British expedition destroyed Magdala fortress and most of its cannon before withdrawing. It also removed Téwodros’s young son Alamayehu, at his mother’s request, and carried away approximately four hundred manuscripts from the emperor’s intended library. Arms and ammunition were distributed to Kassa of Tigré, strengthening the forces that would shape the subsequent struggle for power in Ethiopia.