Shewa Governorate

The Scioa Governorate (), also known as the Shewa Governorate, was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with its administrative capital being Addis Abeba.

History

It was originally founded as the Addis Abeba Governorate (), but on 11 November 1938 it was enlarged with parts of the Scioa region from the bordering Harar, Galla-Sidamo and Amhara Governorates, and the name was changed to the Scioa Governorate.

The Scioa Governorate was the only area of former Ethiopia fully pacified and rid of Ethiopian guerrilla in 1939, that allowed a huge development of infrastructures (roads like the ''Stada Imperiale'' between Asmara and Addis Abeba, buildings, dams, etc.) with the creation of a state-of-the-art "Addis Abeba Urbanistic and Architectural Plan" and a beginning of colonization in agricultural areas assigned to Italian colonists. Even some industrial facilities were developed in Addis Abeba and surroundings: for example at Addis Alem a huge factory for the production of slaked lime was established in 1938, and in its first year of production it turned out 30,000 hundredweights of the material.

The total area of the Scioa Governorate was initially in 1936 more than 7000 km² (with 300000 inhabitants), but in 1939 was increased to nearly 65000 km2 and the population was more than one million and half inhabitants. Up to 85% of the 40000 Italians of Ethiopia lived in this governorate when the Allies conquered in it spring 1941, along with the rest of Italian Ethiopia. In October 1939 the Italian population of Addis Abeba was 35,441 of which 30.232 were male (85,3%) and 5,209 female (14,7%): in 1939 nearly 800 Italo-Ethiopian children were born from them.

The last governor of Scioa was Agenore Frangipani, who found himself having to counter the Allied advance without any hope in early 1941, was forced to give the Ethiopian capital to the British on 6 April 1941 without a fight. Indeed, the Italian Viceroy Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta ordered him to surrender the city peacefully in order to forestall a massacre of Italian civilians such as what happened a few days before in Dire Dawa.War in Italian eastern Africa (in Italian)
/ref> Frangipani-who was prepared for a defensive battle-reluctantly accepted the order to surrender. But having on him the responsibility and dishonor of surrender, Frangipani committed suicide during the retreat from the city. His family honored his old-aristocracy feelings about not accepting surrender without combat.

See also

* List of Governors of the Scioa Governorate
*Italians of Ethiopia
*History of Addis Ababa

Notes

Bibliography

*Beltrami, Vanni. "Italia d'oltremare. Storie dei territori italiani dalla conquista alla caduta." Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Roma, 2013

*Del Boca, Angelo. La nostra Africa. Neri Pozza Editore. Vicenza, 2003

{{Italian Ethiopia

Governorates of Italian East Africa