Cyber Ethiopia

In Praise of Ethiopian Craftsmen will be resumed in a few weeks’ time European conceptions of Ethiopia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and during the first years of the twentieth century, underwent several significant changes. The Treaty of Wechale One of the first resulted from the conclusion, in the Wallo province of north-central Ethiopia, of the Treaty of Wechale. This agreement was signed by Menilek, then King of Shawa, and the Italian envoy, Count Antonelli, on 2 May 1889.  This was followed by the conclusion of an Additional Convention to the Treaty, signed by Ras Makonnen, on behalf of Ethiopia, and the Italian Foreign Minister, Francesco Crispi, in Naples, on 1 October of the same year. One of the articles in this latter document, Article 3, specified

that the frontier between Ethiopia and the area under Italian occupation should be based on Italy's "actual possession" at that time. This formula worked to the advantage of the Italians, who, unbeknown to the Ras, had, during his absence from his native land, advanced further into Ethiopian territory. This caused the present-day Swedish historian of Ethiopia, Sven Rubenson, to comment that the Convention's "actual possession" clause probably represented "the highest level of duplicity reached by the Italians in their dealings with Ethiopians". Having concluded this Convention, the Italian Government proceeded ten days later, as you will recall dear reader, to rush forward with a claim to a Protectorate over all Ethiopia. The Italian Protectorate Claim This they did on 11 October 1889. Crispi, basing himself on a dubious interpretation (or should we say misinterpretation?) of Article 17 of the Wechale Treaty (the details of which we have gone into so often that we can afford to ignore them today) accordingly wrote a circular letter to Italian diplomatic representatives in Europe, the United States, and Turkey. In this famous epistle he requested the Italian diplomats concerned to inform the Governments to which they were accredited that "in accordance with Article 34 of the General Act of Berlin, of 1885, Italy served notice that "under Article 17 of the perpetual treaty between Italy and Ethiopia [i.e. the Wechale treaty]... it is provided that His Majesty the King of Ethiopia consents to avail himself of the Government of His Majesty the King of Italy for the conduct of all matters he may have with other Powers or Governments". This was, we must admit, a tortuous and roundabout method of saying things. The reference to Article 34 of the General Act of Berlin was, however, significant, for that was the article in that Act providing for the creation of European Protectorates in Africa. The Italian Minister's letter made no mention of establishing any Protectorate, but that, it was evident to the then diplomatic world, was what Crispi in fact intended. And Italy's Protectorate claim, dubious as it was, won immediate acceptance from the main European powers, the most important of which were, so to speak, ploughing the same furrow. Gerald H. Portal Symptomatic of foreign thinking on Ethiopia in the post-Wechale (and pre-Adwa) period was writings of the British envoy Gerald H. Portal, who had gone to the country, in 1887-8, to negotiate - largely on behalf of the Italians - with Emperor Yohannes IV. Portal subsequently wrote an important account of his travels, with the title "My Mission to Abyssinia". Published in London in 1892, it contains a "Postscriptum", or postscript, in which its author surveys the position of Ethiopia in the aftermath of the Wechale Treaty. He takes it for granted that "an Italian Protectorate over the whole of Abyssinia" had been "officially proclaimed", and notes that Italy had given notice of this to the "Powers of Europe", who had "all notified their acquiescence". For Portal, who wrote half a decade prior to the Battle of Adwa (1896), the creation of an Italian Protectorate over the whole of Ethiopia, was an established fact. Commenting on the creation of this Protectorate, Portal therefore wrote, in a justly famous passage: "No Other European Can Ever Grasp the Hand..." "Thus has ended the independence of Abyssinia... Although the benefits of a civilized Protectorate are very evident, it is, I confess, with a feeling almost of sadness that I reflect that since I said farewell to Johannis [i.e. Emperor Yohannes] at Afgol, on December 16, 1887, no other European can ever grasp the hand of an Independent Emperor of Ethiopia". That, putting to mildly, was a premature prophesy! The Battle of Adwa The second, no less important, event influencing European conceptions of Ethiopia toward the close of the century, was the Battle of Adwa, of 1 March 1896, in which Emperor Menilek, as we all know, decisively defeated the Italians. This victory was followed by the Italo-Ethiopian Peace Treaty, signed in Addis Ababa on 26 October of the same year. In this document Italy accepted the annulment of the Wechale Treaty, and of the Makonnen-Crispi Additional Convention thereto; and, in addition, recognised the absolute independence of Ethiopia. Count Gleichen Characteristic of post-Adwa foreign thinking on Ethiopia are the remarks of Count Gleichen, a member of the subsequent British diplomatic mission. which signed the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty in 14 May 1897. Gleichen, in his book "With the Mission to Menelik", published in London in 1898, discussed the battle of Adwa, from an essentially European angle. He observes that: "Upset the Apple-Cart" "Up to this time all Europeans had been looked up to in Abyssinia with respect, if not fear. Adua to use a vulgarism, upset the apple cart, and entirely altered the views of the natives. The body of the Abyssinian people even now imagines that their victory has laid not only Italy, but the whole of Europe, at their feet and their heads are proportionately elevated. "It stands to reason, therefore, that they include England in this category... As we had up till now never entered into political relations with Menelik, - and indeed could not do so long as he was considered to be under the protection of, or was at war with, our friends the Italians - and as the idea is firmly rooted in Abyssinia that it was we who supplied the Italians with money to carry on their campaign, our prestige in the country had somewhat diminished, and may be said to have reached its lowest point by the beginning of 1897. Hence our mission". Gleichen's visit to Ethiopia nevertheless gave him a somewhat more sympathetic view of Ethiopia, as a result if which he wrote: "Abyssinia has now - at all events for as long as Menelik is on the throne - entered into the domain of practical politics... "Menelik's character and individuality are so strong, and his ideas for the well-being and development of his country so sensible and 'up-to-date', that he may well be termed a genius... He has recognised that the only way of bringing his country into line with the other Powers of the world is to keep in touch with them, and as far as possible to imitate their mode of progress and civilisation. His 'line', therefore, is to make friends with European nations, and with their help, to develop his country. But, in order to carry out his purpose, he is obliged to let in Europeans, who, to push their own selfish projects, political as well as commercial, try to fasten their claws into the country, and to turn to their or their country's advantage the opening thus given to them. Another, and perhaps a still more important difficulty, is that his own people are dead against allowing the white man to get a footing, and are quite happy, now that they have got rifles, to remain in their present inactive life..." Looking at the international situation, before the establishment, we should recall, of the League of Nations and the United Nations, Gleichen continued: "Verily, Menelik is a Great Man" "If Menelik could but get a genuine guarantee that his territories would not be attacked and occupied by Foreign Powers, his path would be a comparatively easy one; but that is of course impossible. Over him hangs the perpetual, and not unreasonable, dread that if he flings open his doors to a stranger, that stranger will of course become a permanence. "Under the circumstances, he has to proceed very delicately, with his eyes and ears open to every advantage to be reaped by intercourse with Europeans, and at the same time with one hand on the door, ready to slam it in their faces if their zeal should exceed their discretion. Woe betide them if they should presume on their position: they would be gently but firmly requested to quit. He has also made use of the European merchants who have resided for years in his capital to get him an outlet for his trade, and having got it, he draws all the trade into his own hands, and the merchants find their profits dwindling through his customs dues and his imperial monopolies. Verily, Menelik is a great man". Turning to the future of Ethiopia, as he saw it at the close of the nineteenth century, Gleichen continued: "The future of Abyssinia, as long as Menelik is on the throne, may be (barring accidents) predicted with, I think, some confidence... As long as foreign nations keep their hands off, Menelik will proceed in security with his task, for he has no intention of further expansion for the present... Whether his objects will be attained under these conditions depends entirely on the length of his reign".