Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0127/01275.txt

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$Unique_ID{COW01275}
$Pretitle{228}
$Title{Ethiopia
Chapter 1C.   Italian Intervention}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Richard P. Stevens}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{emperor
italian
british
ethiopia
ethiopian
haile
tax
forces
government
selassie}
$Date{1980}
$Log{Figure 5.*0127501.scf
Haile Selassie*0127502.scf
}
Country:     Ethiopia
Book:        Ethiopia, A Country Study
Author:      Richard P. Stevens
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1980

Chapter 1C.   Italian Intervention

     Italy, a latecomer to the scramble for colonies in Africa, established
itself first in Eritrea (its name derived from the Latin, Mare Erythreum-the
Red Sea) in the 1880s and formally proclaimed its rule in 1890. Despite its
failure to penetrate Tigray in 1885, it retained control over, Eritrea. Under
a succession of Italian chief administrators or governors, the results were
the development of a degree of unity and public order in a region marked by
substantial cultural, linguistic and religious diversity (see Ethnic Groups,
Ethnicity, and Language, ch. 2). Eritrea also experienced material progress in
many areas before Ethiopia proper did so. The most important development
during the period after 1890 was the growth of an Eritrean public
administration. Local governments in the colony provided new district
administrations to serve as links between the population and the central
administration, particularly in the Tigray highlands extending into Eritrea.
In other areas respect was paid to indigenous political organization. To a
significant degree members of the indigenous Eritrean population were employed
in the public service-particularly the police and public works-and their
loyalties to their colonial rulers were fostered by granting them substantial
emoluments and symbols of status. The local population shared in the benefits
conferred under Italian colonial administration, especially through newly
created medical services, agricultural improvements, and the provision of
urban amenities in the cities of Asmera and Mitsiwa.

     After the government of Benito Mussolini assumed power in Italy, the
spirit of the colonial government in Eritrea changed. The new administration
stressed the racial and political superiority of the Italians; segregation
became the rule; and the local peoples were relegated to the lowest levels of
public employment. At the same time, agricultural improvements were carried
through, and a base was established for commercial agricultural products on
farms run by the Italians. These developments were carried out by
quasi-governmental agencies that controlled particular sectors of the country.

     State control in the economic sphere was matched by more control in the
political sphere. Attempts at improving the efficient management of the
colony, however, did not transform it into a self-sufficient entity. The
colony's most important function was to serve as a strategic base for Italian
interests.

Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935-36

     Charges made by the government in Rome that Ethiopia had failed to
fulfill treaty obligations or control border tribes in raids across frontiers
did not hide the intention, which fast matured in 1935, to round out Italy's
possessions in the Horn of Africa by taking over Ethiopia through military
force (see fig. 5).

     That intention was influenced by the situation in Europe. As late as
September 29, 1934, Rome affirmed the 1928 Treaty of Friendship with Ethiopia,
but the climate of international affairs at the time provided Italy with
assurance that aggression could be undertaken with impunity. The Italian
hope had been that Ethiopia might become an Italian protectorate and, thus
removed from the influence of other powers, would afford Italy special
political, economic, and social advantages. The Italian regime, determined
to provoke a casus belli, deliberately exploited the minor provocations
that arose in its relations with Ethiopia.

     In December 1934 an incident took place at Wal Wal in the Ogaden, the
site of wells used by Somali nomads regularly traversing the borders between
Ethiopia and British and Italian Somaliland. Although Wal Wal was at least
sixty miles inside Ethiopia, the Italians had built fortified positions
there in 1930 and, because there had been no protests, assumed that their
prescriptive rights had been recognized. Their claim was not challenged
until the Joint British-Ethiopian Commission visited Wal Wal in late
November 1934 on its way to set territorial boundary markers. On encountering
Italian belligerence, the commission's members withdrew but left behind its
Ethiopian military escort. A battle then took place between this force
and Italian units.

     In September 1935 the League of Nations took the expedient step of
exonerating both parties in the Wal Wal incident. The long delay and the
intricate maneuverings by Britain and France persuaded Mussolini that no
obstacle would be placed in his path. An Anglo-French proposal in August
1935-just before the League of Nations ruling-that the signatories of the
1906 Tripartite Treaty collaborate for the purpose of assisting in the
modernization and reorganization of Ethiopian internal affairs, subject to
the consent of Ethiopia, was flatly refused by the Italians. On October 3,
1935, Italy attacked Ethiopia from Eritrea and Somaliland without a
declaration of war. On October 7 the League unanimously declared Italy an
aggressor but took no effective action. The British government briefly
considered associating itself with Italian partition proposals.

[See Figure 5.: The Horn of Africa, 1935]

     In the war that lasted seven months, Ethiopia was outmatched by Italy
in armament-a situation exacerbated by the fact that a general arms
embargo was not enforced against Italy. Despite valiant defense efforts by a
majority of Ethiopians, the next six months saw them pushed back on the
northern front and in Harerge. Part of the Tigray forces, moved by
long-standing grievances, defected as did the Oromo in some areas. Moreover
the Italians made widespread use of poison gas and air power. On March 31,
1936, the Ethiopians were defeated in an attack on the main Italian force at
Maychew. By mid-April 1936 Italian forces had reached Lake Tana in the north
and Harer in the south. On May 2 Haile Selassie left for Djibouti and exile-a
move resented by some Ethiopians who were accustomed to a warrior-emperor. The
Italian forces entered Addis Ababa on May 5. Four days later Italy announced
the formal annexation of the country.

     On June 30, 1936, Haile Selassie made a powerful speech before the League
of Nations in Geneva in which he set forth two choices-support for collective
security or international lawlessness. The emperor stirred the conscience of
many and was thereafter regarded as a major international figure. Britain and
France, however, soon recognized Italy's control of Ethiopia. Among the major
powers, the United States and the Soviet Union refused to do so.

Ethiopia Occupied, 1936-41

     In early June 1936 a constitution was promulgated bringing Ethiopia,
Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland together into a single administrative unit
that was divided into six provinces. On June 11, 1936, Marshal Rodolfo
Graziani replaced Marshal Pietro Badoglio who had commanded the Italian forces
in the war. In December the Italians optimistically declared the whole country
to be pacified and under their effective control. Ethiopian resistance
nevertheless continued. An attempt to assassinate Graziani on February 19,
1937, was followed by widespread reprisals: 30,000 persons were executed
including about half of the younger, educated Ethiopians.

     Graziani's harsh policy, however, did not pacify the country, and the
Italian government appointed the Duke of Aosta as viceroy in November 1937,
directing him to adopt a more flexible line. Italian farmers were dispatched
to the country to improve agricultural production and to relieve population
pressures in Italy.