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their respective kingdoms; Her
Majesty Queen Victoria having appointed as her Special Envoy and Representative to His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II, James Rennell Rodd, Esq., Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, whose full powers have been found in due and proper form, and His Majesty the Emperor Menelek, negotiating in his own name as King of Kings of Ethiopia, they have agreed upon and do conclude the following Articles, which shall be binding on themselves, their heirs and successors:
47:
175:'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
43:. The treaty primarily focused on border issues between the two empires in Somali inhabited regions that they had expanded into over the previous decade. Signed in May 1897, the agreement saw the British cede large tracts of Somali territory to Ethiopia, without the consent or knowledge of Somalis that were legally under their protection.
261:
Article VI. His
Majesty the Emperor Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of Her Britannic Majesty to do all in his power to prevent the passage through his dominions of arms and ammunition to the Mahdists, whom he declares to be the enemies of his Empire. The
242:
Article II. The frontiers of the
British Protectorate on the Somali Coast recognized by the Emperor Menelek shall be determined subsequently by exchange of notes between James Rennell Rodd, Esq., as Representative of Her Majesty the Queen, and Ras Maconen, as Representative of His Majesty the Emperor
291:
As a matter of law and fact, the 1897 treaty was void because it presumed an authority which the
Somalis had never accorded to Great Britain. The Somalis gave no authority to the British to transfer Somali territory to another state. Ironically the British had committed themselves to protect Somali
304:
Despite the
British transfer of large expanses of land belonging to the Somalis, the existence of the treaty was concealed from them and none had participated in the treaty. Largely due to the minimal presence and activity of Ethiopian forces in the region, Somalis remained largely unaware of the
234:
Her
Majesty Victoria, by the grace of God, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Majesty Menelek II, by the grace of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia, being desirous of strengthening and rendering more effective and profitable the ancient friendship which has existed between
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Article V. The transit of fire-arms and ammunition destined for His
Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia through the territories depending on the Government of Her Britannic Majesty is authorized, subject to the conditions prescribed by the General Act of the Brussels Conference, signed the 2nd July,
238:
Article I. The subjects of or persons protected by each of the
Contracting Parties shall have full liberty to come and go and engage in commerce in the territories of the other, enjoying the protection of the Government within whose jurisdiction they are; but it is forbidden for armed bands from
265:
In faith of which His
Majesty Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, in his own name, and James Rennell Rodd, Esq., on behalf of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, have signed the present Treaty, in duplicate, written in the English and Amharic languages
218:
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, although he omitted any mention of the most significant event of this project—the Italo-Ethiopian
292:
territory and this was the manifest reason for the Protectorate. In attempting to transfer the land to Ethiopia, the British were acting without competence, exceeding their jurisdiction and concluding an agreement without the participation of the central party.
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present Treaty shall come into force as soon as its ratification by Her Britannic Majesty shall have been notified to the Emperor of Ethiopia, but it is understood that the prescriptions of Article VI shall be put into force from the date of its signature.
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Menelek, at Harrar. These notes shall be annexed to the present Treaty, of which they will form an integral part, so soon as they have received the approval of the High Contracting Parties, pending which the status quo shall be maintained.
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accepted English protection. The agreements dictated the protection of Somali rights and the maintenance of independence. In exchange for commercial privileges for British merchants in Ethiopia and the neutrality of Menelik II in the
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Article IV. His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia, on the one hand, accords to Great Britain and her Colonies in respect of import duties and local taxation, every advantage which he may accord to the subjects of other nations.
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On the other hand, all material destined exclusively for the service of the Ethiopian State shall, on application from His Majesty the Emperor, be allowed to pass through the port of Zeyla into Ethiopia free of duty.
100:. The large scale importation of European arms to Menelik completely upset the balance of power between the Somalis and the Ethiopian Empire, as the colonial powers blocked Somalis from receiving firearms under the
117:, the British signed a major agreement ceding large parts of Somali lands to Ethiopia, despite being a legal breach of the legal obligation made by the protectorate.
555:
296:
Reisman further notes that even had the treaty originally been valid, it would have been invalidated by Ethiopia's failure to commit to key legal obligations.
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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
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Article III. The caravan route between Zeyla and Harrar by way of Gildessa shall remain open throughout its whole extent to the commerce of both nations.
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570:
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179:." Clifford afterwards participated in the subsequent demarcation, which extended from the Italian-British boundary demarcated in 1929–1930 at
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either side to cross the frontier of the other on any pretext whatever without previous authorization from the competent authorities.
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Article I: allowed subjects from Ethiopia and British Somaliland to have full liberties in regards to commerce with each other.
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region. This coincided with British, Italian and French colonial advances into the Somali inhabited lands of the
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Menelik had managed to become a part of the Brussels General Act of 1990 regulating the arms trade in Africa
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rested on the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897. International law professor W. Michael Reisman observes:
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71:
580:
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Article IV: Ethiopia granted Great Britain favoured rights in respect to import duties and taxes.
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identically, both texts being considered as official, and have thereto affixed their seals.
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127:
Article II: defined the geographical boundaries between Ethiopia and British Somaliland.
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517:
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Article V: allowed Ethiopian import of military equipment through British Somaliland.
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Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland: Betrayal and Redemption 1899–1921
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going into the 20th century rested on the treaty, which was rejected by the
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Facing the Ethiopian threat, many Somali clans accepted British protection.
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Edward Ullendorff, "The 1897 Treaty Between Great Britain and Ethiopia",
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Examining Colonial Wars and Their Impact on Contemporary Military History
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114:
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denounced the treaty from the moment it was established in July 1960.
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Excerpts from the "British Embassy, Addis Ababa" by Richard Pankhurst
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104:, which Ethiopia was a signatory to. In response to the threat of
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93:
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Article III: specified keeping open the caravan route between
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An overview of these treaties is provided by Harold Marcus,
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Nationalism & Self Determination in the Horn of Africa
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The treaty consisted of several articles, including:
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Clifford, "The British Somaliland-Ethiopia Boundary"
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The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844–1913
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Miguel, Madueño; Alberto, Guerrero (28 March 2023).
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Article VI: dealt with problems concerning Sudanese
477:
16:
1897 treaty between the United Kingdom and Ethiopia
50:Arrival of the Rennell Rodd mission at Addis Ababa
433:(Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), pp. 179–190
269:Done at Adis Abbaba, the 14th day of May, 1897.
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108:, many clans in what became the protectorate of
275:(Seal of His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II.)
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444:"The British Somaliland-Ethiopia Boundary",
162:The boundary defined in this treaty was not
556:Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)
586:Bilateral treaties of the United Kingdom
386:Political Conflict on the Horn of Africa
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571:Treaties extended to British Somaliland
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382:
54:Ethiopia's legal claim to much of the
27:) was an agreement signed between the
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483:
417:
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62:when it gained independence in 1960.
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35:, negotiated between diplomat Sir
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566:Ethiopia–United Kingdom relations
551:Treaties of the Ethiopian Empire
80:During the 1880s, the armies of
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474:, Vol. 22 (1966), pp. 128–130.
231:English version of the treaty:
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436:
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359:. IGI Global. pp. 59–60.
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326:Irons, Roy (4 November 2013).
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21:Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897
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332:. Pen and Sword. p. 16.
272:(Signed) James Rennell Rodd.
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166:until 1932, in response to
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561:Treaties concluded in 1897
546:1897 in the United Kingdom
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472:Rassegna di Studi Etiopici
383:Gorman, Robert F. (1981).
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510:Lewis, I.M., ed. (1983).
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134:and the colonial port of
76:Ethiopian–Somali conflict
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283:Ethiopia's claim on the
214:where the boundaries of
576:Ethiopia–Somalia border
389:. Praeger. p. 29.
88:began pushing into the
72:Menelik II's expansions
305:change in status. The
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41:Menelik II of Ethiopia
23:(sometimes called the
289:
49:
446:Geographical Journal
106:Menelik's expansions
102:Brussels Act of 1890
442:E. H. M. Clifford,
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420:, p. 157–159.
110:British Somaliland
82:Emperor Menelik II
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591:Boundary treaties
523:978-0-903729-93-2
396:978-0-03-059471-7
366:978-1-6684-7042-8
339:978-1-78346-380-0
216:French Somaliland
212:trijunction point
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541:1897 in Ethiopia
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516:. Ithaca Press.
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115:Mahdist War
25:Rodd Treaty
535:Categories
484:Lewis 1983
418:Lewis 1983
164:demarcated
92:inhabited
66:Background
279:Legality
227:Contents
198:9°N 44°E
149:Mahdists
86:Ethiopia
494:Sources
177:Berbera
29:British
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300:Impact
285:Ogaden
258:1890.
94:Ogaden
90:Somali
56:Ogaden
313:Notes
203:9; 44
136:Zeila
132:Harar
518:ISBN
391:ISBN
361:ISBN
334:ISBN
189:44°E
74:and
31:and
19:The
186:9°N
169:Ras
84:of
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