Ethiopian Empire - Scramble For Africa and Modernization

Scramble For Africa and Modernization

In 1868 following the imprisonment of several missionaries and representatives of the British government Britain launched a punitive expedition into Ethiopia. The campaign was a success for Britain and the ruler of Ethiopia committed suicide. The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa. Italy, seeking a colonial presence in Africa, invaded Ethiopia and following a successful conquest of some coastal regions, forced the Treaty of Wuchale upon Shewa (an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire), creating the colony of Eritrea.

Due to significant differences between the Italian and Amharic translations of the treaty of Wuchale, Italy believed they had subsumed Ethiopia as a client-state. Ethiopia repudiated the treaty in 1893. Insulted, Italy declared war on Ethiopia in 1895. The First Italo-Ethiopian War resulted in the Battle of Adowa in 1896, in which Italy was decisively defeated. As a result the Treaty of Addis Ababa was signed in October, which strictly delineated the borders of Eritrea and forced Italy to recognize the independence of Ethiopia.

Delegations from the United Kingdom and France —European powers whose colonial possessions lay next to Ethiopia— soon arrived in the Ethiopian capital to negotiate their own treaties with this newly proven power.