19th Century in Ethiopia - First Italo-Ethiopian War, Battle of Embabo, Battle of Debre Tabor, Battle of Debre Abbay, Battle of Amba Jebelli (Paperback)

Chapters: First Italo-Ethiopian War, Battle of Embabo, Battle of Debre Tabor, Battle of Debre Abbay, Battle of Amba Jebelli, Battle of Gur Amba, Battle of Takusa, Treaty of Addis Ababa, Battle of Ayshal, Battle of Derasge. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 34. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The First Italo-Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. Ethiopia's military victory over Italy secured it the distinction of being the only African nation to resist European colonialism with a decisive show of force. On March 25, 1889, the Shewa ruler Menelik II having conquered Tigray and Amhara, and with the support of Italy declared himself Emperor of Ethiopia (Abyssinia in the European parlance of the time). Barely a month later, on May 2, he signed a treaty of amity with the Italians, which apparently gave them control over Eritrea, the Red Sea coast to the northeast of Ethiopia, in return for recognition of Menelik's rule. Menelik II has prolonged policy of the Tewodros II about integration of Ethiopia. However, the bilingual Treaty of Wuchale did not say the same thing in Italian and Amharic. The former text established an Italian protectorate over Ethiopia, which Menelik discovered soon afterwards. The Amharic version, however, merely stated that Menelik could contact foreign powers and conduct foreign affairs through Italy if he so chose. Italian diplomats, however, claimed that the original Amharic text included the clause and Menelik knowingly signed a modified copy of the Treaty. Because of the Ethiopian refusal to honor this treaty and despite economic handicaps at home, the Italian government decided on a military solution to force Ethiopia to abide by the Italian version of the treaty. In doing so, they believed that they could exploit divisions with...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=1177