The Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928, also known as the Italo–Ethiopian Treaty of Friendship and Arbitration,Marcus, ''A history of Ethiopia'', p.126 was a treaty signed between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

on 2 August 1928. '' Nigiste Negest'' Zewditu I ruled Ethiopia at the time of this treaty, but it was the 36-year-old ''Ras'' Tafari Makonnen who represented the government of Ethiopia. Tafari, who was still in his minority, was

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

and Regent Plenipotentiary. Within two months, on 7 October 1928, ''Ras'' Tafari would be proclaimed ''Negus''. A little over two years later, on 2 November 1930, Zewditu had died and Tafari was proclaimed ''Nəgusä Nägäst''

Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

Background

In 1926,

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

attempted a joint commercial penetration of the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...

. By bringing joint pressure upon ''Ras'' Tafari, the Italians planned to exploit a railway, and the British hoped to construct a mighty water works for irrigating the

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

. Tafari yielded momentarily but made a protest to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

that was so potent that British public opinion turned against the water works scheme, and it was cancelled. That left the Italians in the lurch. Rather than giving up his own plans, the Italian

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, enlisted the aid of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Victor Emmanuel's cousin,

Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, (29 January 1873 – 18 March 1933) was an Italian mountaineer and explorer, briefly Infante of Spain as son of Amadeo I of Spain, member of the royal House of Savoy and cousin of the Italian King Vic ...

. In 1928, with pomp and panoply, the Duke and a following of royal proportions crossed the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, sailed down the eastern coast of Africa and then struck inland to Ethiopia and its remote capital,

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. The Duke thawed the suspicious Tafari's reservations by giving him a large

Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer, also producing trucks, as well as engines for marine and aviation use. Founded in Milan, Italy, in 1900 by Cesare Isotta and the brothers Vincenzo, Antonio, and Oreste Fraschini, in 195 ...

limousine, a luxurious Italian product that then sold in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for some $18,000 (), along with many other gifts.

Terms

The treaty declared a 20-year friendship between the two nations, access to the sea for Ethiopia, a road for Italy and an agreement to settle future disagreements through the League of Nations.Marcus, ''A history of Ethiopia'', p.126 Also, the treaty provided a concession to

at the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

port of Asseb in the Italian

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, called for both nations to co-operate in building a road between Asseb and

Dessie Dessie (; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the South Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it sits at a latitude and longitude of , with an elevation between 2,470 and 2,550 metres above sea level. Dessie ...

and made the border between

Italian Somaliland Italian Somaliland (; ; ) was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia, which was ruled in the 19th century by the Sultanate of Hobyo and the Majeerteen Sultanate in the north, and by the Hiraab Imamate and ...

and Ethiopia 21 leagues parallel to the Benadir coast (approximately 57.5 mi).

Aftermath

Both sides were at cross purposes when they approached the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928. Mussolini wanted the treaty to be a vehicle to allow Italy to penetrate Ethiopia economically and never intended to approach the League of Nations for arbitration. Meanwhile, ''Ras'' Tafari wanted arbitration but never intended to allow the Italian road from the sea to be built. He considered the road from Asseb to be a natural invasion route.

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* *

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723532,00.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121023021/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723532,00.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=November 21, 2010, title=Fascist New Year., work=Time Magazine, date=November 5, 1928, accessdate=January 19, 2010 1928 in Ethiopia Peace treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of the Ethiopian Empire Interwar-period treaties Treaties concluded in 1928 Treaties of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) Ethiopia–Italy relations Peace treaties of Italy 20th century in Addis Ababa

Background

Terms

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References

External links