Precolonial History Eritrea
1918-1939






Benadir Stamps overprinted Eritrea



Early Colonial History, 1882-1918



In 1869-1880, the RUBATTINO NAVIGATION COMPANY acquired coastal stretches near ASSAB. In 1882, these were transferred to the Italian state, who proclaimed the Colonia di Asseb. The murder of the travellers Giuletti (1881) and Bianchi (1883) provided the excuse for Italian military occupation; the British, facing the MAHDIYYA in the Sudan, welcomed the Italian occupation of the Red Sea shore. In 1885, Italy acquired the Ottoman-Egyptian 'Habesh'; the capital was established at MASSAWA, occupied by Italian troops in 1885. Italy found herself in an open conflict with Abyssinia (Ethiopia); in 1887 the Abyssinians destroyed an Italian column at DOGALI. In 1889 - the Ethiopians were distracted by a Mahdiyya attack on Gondar - Italian forces occupied ASMARA and the surrounding highland. The war was ended in a pact of amity and alliance in 1889.
In 1890, the area was declared the COLONY OF ERITREA. In 1896, the Italians attempted to conquer Ethiopia, but were defeated in the BATTLE OF ADOWA. In 1897, the capital of Eritrea was moved to Asmara. The southern borders of Eritrea were fixed by treaty in 1904. From 1890 to 1893 and from 1894 to 1897 the Italians held the city of Kassala in Eastern Sudan.

In 1894 the Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea was created and entrusted to the Capuchins.
Italian settlers came into the country; the economy began to shift from self-sufficiency to export-oriented. The Italians, by building roads and railway lines (Massaua-Asmara, begun in 1888, completed in 1911), developed the infrastructure.
Improved sanitary conditions and medical facilities contributed to an accelerated population growth. In 1904 the area of Eritrea was given as 247,000 square km, the population as 330,000. At that time the railway, gauge width 1 m, starting at Massawa, had reached Guinda (77km).






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles History of Eritrea : Italian Colonialism, Eritrea : Colonialism, Asmara : History, Massawa : Italian Colonization, Assab, Kassala, Eritrean Ascari, Battle of Adwa, First Italo-Ethiopian War, Italian Eritreans, from Wikipedia
Articles Storia dell Eritrea, Eritrea - Periodo Coloniale Italiano, Asmara : Colonizzazione Italiane dell Eritrea, Massaua : Storia, Assab, Cassala, Raffaele Rubattino, Guerra d'Eritrea, Guerra di Abissinia, Battaglie di Agordat, Battaglia di Adua, Campagna d'Africa Orientale, from Wikipedia Italian edition
Links to Eritrean History, BUBL
Italian-Eritrean Railway and Tramway
Danny Yee, 2005 review of Tekeste Negash, Italian Colonialism in Eritrea, 1882-1941 : Policies, Praxis and Impact (1987)
History of Eritrea, from eritrea.be
Pauline Boerma, Assessing Forest Cover Change in Eritrea - a Historical Perspective, 2006
Rena Ravinder, Eritrean Education, Retrospect and Prospect (2004), from MPRA
Jacky Sutton, Eritrean Currency through the Ages
The National Agricultural Research System of Eritrea, WANA NARS study 1999
Storia dell Eritrea, from Africa.it
Africana Periodical Literature Bibliographic Database, Eritrea
Virtual Library History : Eritrea
R.S. O'Fahey, Sudanese (and some other) Sources for Eritrean History, a Bibliographical Note
DOCUMENTS Map of Eritrea, from UPenn, African Studies, Italian map ca. 1910, from Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage
Coin : Eritrea 1 Taleru 1918, from Edward Beech Collection Highlights
Map of Massaua, 1914, from Mappe di Citta ed Alltra Mappe Antiche Diverse
Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict Webpage, posts 1 map and 9 documents 1891-1908
Eritrea, from World Statesmen; List of Colonial Heads of Eritrea, from Wikipedia
Article : Eritrea, Massawa, Asmara, from Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 edition, posted by Classic Encyclopedia
Articles Erythräa, Asmara, Massaua, Assabbai, Arkiko, Arafale, Rubattino, from Meyers Grosses Konversationslexikon 1902-1909, in German, posted by Zeno
Atlas of Eritrea, from Wikimedia
REFERENCE L.V. Bertarelli, Guida d'Italia del Touring Club Italiano : Possedimenti e Colonie. Isole Egee, Tripolitania, Cirenaica, Eritrea, Somalia. Milano 1929, pp.519-686 [G]
Article : Eritrea, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p.1049 on events of 1912) [G]
Article : Italy, Foreign Dependencies, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.714-715, 1898 pp.712-713, 1901 pp.801-802, 1905 pp.863-864, 1910 p.970 [G]
Article : Eritrea, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.306-307, 1899 pp.309-310, 1900 p.333 [G]
Article : Eritrea, in : New International Year Book 1907 p.249, 1908 p.231, 1909 p.231, 1913 p.234, 1914 pp.231-232, 1916 p.208, 1918 p.196 [G]
F. Casanova, I nostri errori. Tredici anni in Eritrea: note storiche e considerazioni (1898, in Italian), posted on Internet Archive
Giotto Dainelli, In Africa : lettere dall'Eritrea (1908, in Italian), posted on Internet Archive
G.B. Gioli, Le attitudini della colonia eritrea all'agricoltura, (1902, in Italian), posted on Internet Archive
B. Melli, La colonia Eritrea dalle sue origini fino al 1. marzo 1899, (1899, in Italian), posted on Internet Archive
B. Melli, L'Eritrea dalle sue origini a tutto l'anno 1901, 1901, in Italian, posted on Internet Archive
R. Paoli, F. Martini, Nella colonia Eritrea: studi e viaggi, 1908, in Italian, posted on Internet Archive
M. Schoeller, Mittheilungen über meine Reise in der Colonia Eritrea (Nord-Abyssenien) (1895, in German), posted on posted on Internet Archive



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 7th 2009

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