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Italians of Ethiopia ((イタリア語:Italo-etiopici)) are the emigrants and colonists from Italy who moved to live in Ethiopia as far back as the 19th century, and their descendants. Most of the Italians moved to Ethiopia after the Italian conquest of Abyssinia in 1936. ==History== The 1880s were marked by the so-called "Scramble for Africa" which in several cases was an effort to secure the Mediterranean from pirates operating from various coastal areas, which included parts of what are now Eritrea and Eastern Africa, when the Italians began to vie with the British and French for influence in the area. Asseb, a port near the southern entrance of the Red Sea, was bought by in March 1870 from the local Afar sultan, vassal to the Ethiopian Emperor, by an Italian company, which by 1890 led to the Italian colony of Eritrea being established. From then on, the Kingdom of Italy had traded and set up large tracts of farm land up to the borders with Ethiopia. As the Italian colonists moved further inland from the agreed upon borders of Eritrea which had been agreed upon in the Treaty of Wuchale, Emperor Menelik II saw this as an invasion of his country, whereas the Italian King Umberto of Italy referred to Article 17 of the treaty to justify Italian claims to the land. King Menelik II did not allowed the sale of lands belonging to Ethiopia to Italians (Eritrea) and probably allow France (Djibouti) to solidify his centralized power and have external trading partners. There was a subsequent exchange of ideas, farming techniques, education and technology between the Italians and Ethiopians during most of this period, including transportation—most notably the Italian engineers who helped to architect an build the aqueducts and rail system for Ethiopia's railway system from the new capital, Addis Ababa to then French controlled Djibouti port. However, the relationship was often marked by the fact that under various treaties written in both Amharic and Italian, the Italian version always referred to Ethiopia as a protectorate of Italy. Conflicts between the two countries resulted in the Battle of Adwa in 1896, whereby the Ethiopians defeated Italy and remained independent, under the rule of Menelik II. It should be noted that at the time, Italy had only been unified for less than a few decades, and support for the war was minimal, especially among Southern Italians who were forcibly conscripted. Anti-war riots and demonstrations broke out across Italy and in the city of Pavia the population came out to blockade the railroad to prevent Italian troops from leaving for Ethiopia. While the Eritrean POWs captured at Adwa were mutilated, many Italian prisoners of war were treated well, and many given over to noble families for work on their estates, while others with specialized skills were used in the construction of the newly formed capital of Addis Ababa, such as St George's Cathedral. Italy and Ethiopia signed a provisional treaty of peace on 26 October 1896. Shortly after the Fascist government under Benito Mussolini forcibly came to power, he began a campaign to expand the African colonial possessions of Italy in the 1930s. In October 1935, Mussolini launched the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and invaded Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie fled the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on 2 May 1936 and the Fascists entered the city on 5 May, after several bloody battles which included the use by the Ethiopians of the banned Dum-Dum ammunitions〔(Milwaukee Journal: Dum Dum's use by the Ethiopians )〕 and by the Fascist army of mustard gas〔(Ethiopia and the United States: History, Diplomacy, and Analysis, Getachew Metaferia )〕 in battle against the Geneva Protocol〔(Geneva Protocol of 1925 )〕 of 1929 (of which Italy was a signatory). Victory was announced on 9 May 1936 and Mussolini declared the creation of the "Italian Empire".〔(Peace unknown agreements in 1936 Ethiopia )〕 The Italians merged Eritrea, Italian Somalia, and newly captured Ethiopia into Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, A.O.I.). Among the war crimes committed under the orders of Mussolini was the removal of one of the so-called Axum Obelisks〔("To Rome and back: The return of an obelisk", Lena Blosat, 2005 )〕(properly termed a 'stele' or, in the local Afro-Asiatic languages, hawelt/hawelti as its form is not topped by a pyramid). Although at the time it had been toppled for centuries, the Fascist army shipped it to Italy to be reassembled in front of the Ministry for Italian Africa (later the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) across from the Circus Maximus. It was officially unveiled on October 28, 1937 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Fascists' March on Rome. The operation was coordinated by Ugo Monneret de Villard. The Italian King Victor Emmanuel III added Emperor of Ethiopia to his titles.〔( Detailed map of Italian Ethiopia in 1936 (click to enlarge) )〕 Mussolini dreamed of sending millions of Italian settlers to Italian East Africa, and Italians had high hopes of turning the area into an economic asset: huge investments were made in the creation of needed infrastructures (roads, airports, hospitals, etc.). From 1936 to the start of World War II Mussolini controlled much of Ethiopia, but a guerrilla war raged in some areas of Ethiopia still controlled by partisans linked to Haile Selassie (who was exiled in Great Britain) and the royal family remaining in Ethiopia, including the efforts of Ras Imru Haile Selassie who was captured on December 19, 1936 and taken to prison on the Island of Ponza until freed after the Armistice of Cassibile〔(Armistice of Cassabile )〕 in September 1943. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Italians of Ethiopia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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