Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897
Encyclopedia
The Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897 (sometimes called the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1897) was an agreement negotiated between diplomat Sir Rennell Rodd
Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell
James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC , known as Sir Rennell Rodd before 1933, was a British diplomat, poet and politician...

 of Great Britain and Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 primarily involving border issues between Ethiopia and colonial British Somaliland
British Somaliland
British Somaliland was a British protectorate in the northern part of present-day Somalia. For much of its existence, British Somaliland was bordered by French Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa...

. It was signed on May 14, 1897 in order to, as the preamble to the treaty stated: to "strengthen and render more effective and profitable the friendship between the two kingdoms".

The treaty consisted of several articles, including:
  • Article I: allowed subjects from Ethiopia and British Somaliland to have full liberties in regards to commerce with each other.
  • Article II: defined the geographical boundaries between Ethiopia and British Somaliland.
  • Article III: specified keeping open the caravan route between Harar
    Harar
    Harar is an eastern city in Ethiopia, and the capital of the modern Harari ethno-political division of Ethiopia...

     and the colonial port of Zeila
    Zeila
    Zeila, also known as Zaila , is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.Located near the Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Landward, the terrain is...

    .
  • Article IV: Ethiopia granted Great Britain favoured rights in respect to import duties and taxes.
  • Article V: allowed Ethiopian import of military equipment through British Somaliland.
  • Article VI: dealt with problems concerning Sudanese Mahdists.


This treaty was one of several concerning the borders of Ethiopia which were negotiated and signed in the ten years that followed the Ethiopian victory at the Battle of Adwa.

The boundary defined in this treaty was not demarcated until 1932, in response to Ras Tafari Makonnen's desire, which he expressed during his visit to Europe in 1924, to demarcate all of the boundaries of Ethiopia. E.H.M. Clifford explains that "negotiations to this end proceeded slowly but on the whole surely, and at the end of 1930 reached the stage of definite preparations; but the Boundary Commission did not actually meet until 8 January 1932, at Berbera
Berbera
Berbera is a city and seat of Berbera District in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed Independent Republic with de facto control over its own territory, which is recognized by the international community and the Somali Government as a part of Somalia...

." Clifford afterwards participated in the subsequent demarcation, which extended from the Italian-British boundary demarcated in 1929-1930 at 9°N 44°E, west to the trijunction point
Tripoint
A tripoint, or trijunction , is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet....

 where the boundaries of French Somaliland
French Somaliland
French Somaliland was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. Established after the French signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 with the then ruling Somali Sultans, the colony lasted from 1896 until 1946, when it became an overseas territory of France....

 met Ethiopia and British Somaliland. Clifford describes the terrain and work of demarcation, with a map, in a paper he presented to the Geographical Society in 1935, yet strangely he omits any mention of the most significant event of this project—the Walwal Incident.
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