Italo–Ethiopian Treaty of 1928
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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 the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
( ''Regno d'Italia'') and the
Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that histori ...
(
Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
) on 2 August 1928. '' Nigiste Negest''
Zewditu I , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Zewditu ( gez, ዘውዲቱ, born Askala Maryam; 29 April 1876 – 2 April 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 19 ...
ruled Ethiopia at the time of this treaty. But it was 36-year-old ''Ras'' Tafari Makonnen who represented the government of Ethiopia. Tafari, while still in his minority, was
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
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 ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...
.


Background

In 1926, Italy and
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
attempted a joint commercial penetration of Ethiopia. By bringing pressure jointly 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 ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...
. While Tafari yielded momentarily, he subsequently made a protest to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) 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 that ...
so potent that British public opinion turned against the water works scheme and it was cancelled. This left the Italians in the lurch. Rather than give up his own plans, Italian
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...
Benito Mussolini enlisted the aid of
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Victor Emmanuel's cousin, the Duke of Abruzzi. In 1928, with pomp and panoply, the Duke and a suite 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 north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, sailed down the eastern coast of Africa, and then struck inland to Ethiopia and its remote capital,
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
. The Duke thawed the suspicious Tafari's reservations by giving him a large
Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini () was 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 19 ...
limousine, a luxurious Italian product which at that time sold in the
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for some $18,000 () along with many other gifts.


Details

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 did this: *Provide a concession to
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
at the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
port of
Asseb Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches ...
in the Italian
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...
of Eritrea. *Call for the two nations to co-operate in building a road between Asseb and
Dessie Dessiè City which is politically oppressed by the past Ethiopian government systems due to the fact that most of the population follow Islamic religion. Dessie ( am, ደሴ, Däse; also spelled Dese or Dessye) is a town in north-central Ethiopia ...
. *Make the border between
Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...
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 that allowed Italy to penetrate Ethiopia economically. He 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.


See also

*
Italian Colonial Empire The Italian colonial empire ( it, Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (''Impero Italiano'') between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century and comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencie ...
*
Abyssinia Crisis The Abyssinia Crisis (; ) was an international crisis in 1935 that originated in what was called the Walwal incident during the ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Ethiopia (then commonly known as "Abyssinia"). The Le ...
*
Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...
*
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) 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 that ...
*
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 ...


Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations


References

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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