Assab colony

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Assab Colony (Eritrea)
Assab
Assab
Baylul
Baylul
Raheita
Raheita
The colony of Assab stretched from Raheita in the south to Baylul in the north

The colony of Assab ( Italian Colonia di Assab ) was the first colony (colonia primigenia) of the Kingdom of Italy . The trading post, built in 1870 in the Bay of Assab (Baia di Assab) on the East African south bank of the Red Sea , was connected to Massaua and Asmara to form the colony of Eritrea in 1890 . Italian rule lasted until 1941.

Assabbai

The Afar sultans could be selling Assabs with thousands Maria Theresa thaler pay

In the coastal region at the southern end of the Red Sea , on the eve of the opening of the Suez Canal, loose rule and property claims of various powers overlapped . South of Assab, France had already bought most of the Obock region from the sultans of Raheita and Tadjoura in 1862 for 10,000 Maria Theresa thalers (around 50,000 francs). North of Assab, in Baylul , Egypt had succeeded Ottoman rule in 1866 and was expanding. Sultan Abdallah of Buia (Buya, south of Assab) and his cousins, the brothers Hassan and Ibrahim of Mergebla (Margebleh, south of Buia) ruled the Bay of Assab. They claimed the title of Sultan of Assab , which has been handed down since the late Middle Ages , but for their part were more or less subject to the sovereignty of the sultans Burhan of Raheita and Mohamed Hanfari of Aussa . Raheita, Tadjoura and Aussa were three of the five Afar sultanates that emerged as the successor empires of the Adal Sultanate and from which Raheita, like Aussa, claimed sovereignty over the other sultanates. However, Shewa or Abyssinia (Ethiopia) claimed sovereignty over Aussa, while Egypt , which had also occupied Zeila south of the Gulf of Tadjoura in 1870 , over Raheita and Tadjoura . Abyssinia, on the other hand, was first overthrown by the British in 1868 , and from 1875 Abyssinians and Egyptians also fought against each other.

Rubattino property

Assab around 1880
European bases on the coasts of the Red Sea (1885), the detailed map of the Bay of Assab (top right) shows the geographical points relevant for land (sales) sales

In order to set up a trading branch and a coal station for their steamers, the Italian shipping company and shipping company Rubattino or its authorized representative Giuseppe Sapeto concluded five contracts with the various sultans in the region between 1869 and 1880 and leased or bought land for them.

  • on November 15, 1869 with the sultans Hassan and Ibrahim on the granting of an area six kilometers long and six kilometers wide between Ras (Cape) Loma (Lumah) and Mount Ganga (Janja); Rubattino paid 6,000 Maria Theresa thalers (around 30,000 lire) to the two sultans
  • on March 11, 1870 with Hassan, Ibrahim and Abdallah, who, as the representative of the Sultan of Raheita, confirmed the agreements made four months earlier and also consented to the surrender of Alela (Alala) or the adjacent coastal area between Ras Loma and Ras Buia; another 8,100 thalers were paid
  • on December 30, 1879 with Burhan across the islands of Um Ālbahār, Ras ar-Ramal (south of Um Ālbahār) and Darmachia in the Bay of Assab, Rubattino paid 2000 thalers to the sultan for this
  • on March 15, 1880 with Burhan over the entire coastal area bordering south of Assab between Ras Buia and Ras Sintian (north of Raheita), including all other offshore islands, for 13,000 thalers
  • on May 15, 1880 with Ibrahim and Hassan (confirmed by Burhan and Abdallah) over the entire coastal area bordering north of Assab between Ras Loma and Ras Darma (southeast of Baylul), including the island of Sennabor (Sanaburi) for 7,000 thalers

The fact that the Italian state advanced the funds and vouched for them or the entire economic viability of the colony was initially controversial in the mother country. Only after the agreements made in 1869 had also been approved by the Sultan of Raheita in 1870 (and further talers had flowed in), the area was handed over to the Rubattino Society. On March 13, 1870, the Italian flag was hoisted over Assab, and warehouse and port buildings were erected. Egypt protested, Italy initially held back. In view of the threatening attitude of Egypt, Rubattino was initially unable to actively use the station. It was not until December 1879 that Italy sent a small contingent of troops to protect the station and Assab was declared a protected area.

Although there was anchorage at least 15 meters deep at Buia, the Italian military commander de Amazaga, who was sent to the colony, considered the port of Assab unsuitable for larger ships, and although Amazaga also considered the hinterland to be sterile due to its lack of water ( Danakil desert ), Rubattino could on March 10, 1882, sell the entire area to the Italian state for 416,000 lire. On July 5, 1882, it also formally became the Italian colony of Assab.

Italian colony

Local fishermen in the bay of Assab, in the background Mount Ganga (L'Illustrazione Italiana, 1885)
Italian colonial troops 1885

In view of the Egyptian expansionist drive, Sultan Abdallah von Buia and in September 1880 Sultan Burhan von Raheita had already placed themselves under Italian protectorate. Efforts by the Sultan Brothers of Mergebla to place themselves under British protectorate failed, but Italy first had to promise the British not to fortify Assab. While the Sultan of Baylul, who was still under Egyptian protection, opposed the Italian expansion (assassination of the Italian researcher Giuseppe Maria Giulietti † 1881), Sultan Mohamed Hanfari of Aussa concluded a friendship and trade treaty with Italy on March 15, 1883, recognized the Italian rule via Assab and ceded a small border area to the Italian colony. Despite Italian protests, French troops occupied the rest of the Obock region in October 1884 and thus the southern part of Sultan Raheita, who was under Italian protectorate. Raheita was thus limited to a residual area between Ras Sintian and Ras Doumeira. North of Assab, the Italians succeeded in occupying Baylul in January 1885 and annexing it to the colony according to an Italian-British-Egyptian secret agreement, which Sultan Mohamed Hanfari also contractually recognized in January 1887 (against payment of 18,000 thalers). By a further treaty in December 1888 he also submitted to the Italian protectorate.

From 1885 the colony stretched over a 130-kilometer stretch of coastline, on which just 1300 locals lived (mainly Afar, but also Somali and Arabs) - or 5400 people, the 266-strong Italian garrison and the crews of those in the port Ships included. In total, the colony covered an area of ​​632 km², of which 579 km² mainland and 53 km² islands.

Even further north the Italians occupied the port city of Massaua in February 1885 and founded another colony there. The attempted expansion of this colony led from 1886 to the First Italian-Abyssinian War , in which Italy initially suffered a defeat in January 1887 . At the same time, the Abyssinian emperor waged war against the Sudanese Mahdists , to whom he was defeated in 1889 and fell in battle. The Italians used this war on two fronts and the ensuing struggles within the Abyssinian territories to occupy Keren and Asmara . The new emperor (who had allied himself with Italy against the old emperor in 1887) became friends with Italy , and in 1890 the colony of Assab was finally amalgamated with Massaua, Keren and Asmara to form the new colony of Eritrea , the capital of which was initially Massaua, ten Years later then Asmara.

Spanish coal station

Spanish map of the Bay of Assab from 1887 (the promised area between Garibal and Marcana is marked in red)

In the meantime Italy had apparently tried to involve Spain, which had been allied since May 1887 (Italian-Spanish secret agreement within the framework of the Mediterranean Entente), in a possibly necessary defense of Assab against both the French and the Abyssinians. In September and December 1887, Spain had received from Italy the promise to hand over a small piece of the Eritrean Danakil coast in the Bay of Assab. Spain was supposed to lease the area (two miles south of Assab, between Buia and Mergabela / Margableh, near Alela, opposite the island of Um Ālbahār) for an initial 15 years and wanted to build a coal station there for the Spanish Navy on the sea route to the Philippines. In view of Great Britain's opposition to this plan, Italy delayed relinquishing the area and, after interim successes against the Abyssinians, incorporated it into its own newly formed colony of Eritrea in 1890. When the Spanish-Italian agreement was extended in 1891, the transfer to Spain was no longer mentioned, and in 1895 the expired agreement was no longer extended.

Governors of Assab

The administration of the colony of Assab was initially left in the hands of the civil commissioner Giovanni Branchi following Sapeto († 1881), but was then transferred to the military commander Giulio Pestalozza in 1885.

  • Carlo de Amezaga

  • Giulio Pestalozza

  • Giovanni G. Frigerio

  • Giuseppe Sapeto

Civil commissioners

  • 1869–1881 Giuseppe Sapeto
  • 1881–1885 Giovanni Branchi

Military commanders

  • 1879–1880 Carlo de Amezaga
  • 1880–1884 Giovanni Galeazzo Frigerio
  • 1884–1890 Giulio Pestalozza

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Nikolaos Mavropoulos: The Japanese expansionism in Asia and the Italian expansion in Africa - A comparative study of the early Italian and Japanese colonialism , pp. 101-115. Dissertation at the University of Rome 2019 ( PDF )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Didier Morin: Dictionnaire historique afar 1288-1982 , pages 56f, 87-80, 230-235 and 264f. KARTHALA Editions, Paris 2004
  3. ^ Andrzej Bartnicki, Joanna Mantel-Niećko: History of Ethiopia - From the beginnings to the present , part 2, page 380. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1978
  4. ^ A b Andrzej Bartnicki, Joanna Mantel-Niećko: History of Ethiopia - From the Beginnings to the Present , Part 1, Pages 266–270, 286–289 and 303–311. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1978
  5. ^ Mohamed Kheir Omer: The Dynamics of an Unfinished African Dream - Eritrea: Ancient History to 1968 , pp. 20f and 38-44. Lulu.com, Raleigh 2020
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Smithsonian Libraries: The map of Africa by treaty , pages 446ff. Harrison and Sons, London 1909
  7. ↑ a b Dan Connell, Tom Killion: Historical Dictionary of Eritrea , p. 101.Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2010
  8. ↑ a b Sven Rubinson (Ed.): Internal Rivalries and Foreign Threats 1869-1879 - Acta Aethiopica , pages 27 and 47-57. Addis Ababa University Press, Addis Ababa 2009
  9. ↑ Awkir: The Italian Landing at Asseb and the Founding of the Colony of Eritrea
  10. ^ A b c d Carlo Schanzer: L'acquisto delle Colonie , pages 61–69 and 99–115. Ermanno Loescher, Rome 1912
  11. ^ A b Arthur William Moore: Italian Proceedings on the African Coast of the Red Sea , pp. 1-6, British Library India Office Records and Private Papers, London 1881
  12. ↑ Dietmar Stübler: Italy 1789 to the present , page 62. Akademie-Verlag Berlin 1987
  13. ↑ a b c Italian East Africa . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 17, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 464.
  14. ↑ Simon Imbert-Vier: Tracer des frontières à Djibouti - des territoires et des hommes aux XIXe et XXe siècles , page 96f. KARTHALA Editions, Paris 2011
  15. ↑ Assabbai . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 1, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 951.
  16. ↑ Douglas M. Gibler: International Military Alliances , Volume 2 (1648-2008), page 192f. CQ Press, Washington 2008
  17. ↑ José Fernández Gaytán: Proyecto Frustrado , In: Revista de Historia Naval , number 66, page 65. Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, Madrid 1999 ( PDF )
  18. ↑ Juan Ortega Rubio: Historia de España , Part VII, page 36.De Bailly-Bailliere é Hijos, Madrid 1909
  19. ↑ Sir E. Hertslet: The Map of Africa by Treaty , Part III, pages 1161 and 1168ff. Routledge, London / New York 2006
  20. ^ Ron M. Carden: German Policy Toward Neutral Spain 1914-1918 , page 13f. Routledge, London / New York 2014
  21. ↑ Fernando García Sanz: Historia de las relaciones entre España e Italia - imágenes, comercio y política exterior 1890–1914 , pages 48ff and 76. Editorial CSIC - CSIC Press, Madrid 1994
  22. ↑ worldstatesmen.org: Eritrea