The Italian Invasion of Ethiopia and Its Impact on Education Essay Example
Ethiopia, is one of the very few African nations that was never a European colony, nonetheless it was still a victim of colonial greed: as it endured five oppressive years of Italian fascist occupation between the years of 1936 and 1941. The Invasion of Ethiopia by the fascist leader Benito Mussolini was one of “the greatest colonial wars ever fought on the African continent,” paving the way for this five year occupation a “turning point in the country’s millennium-old history”. In fact it could even be considered the dark ages of Ethiopian education as all existing attempts to modern education came to a complete standstill, in short it was a negative period in the history of Ethiopian education. Overall the educational policies that were instilled during this time had a considerable social impact on the Ethiopian population and in some ways are the foundations of the educational structure we have today.
Ever since their defeat at Adwa the Italians always had a secret lust for revenge. The advancement to power of the Fascist in Italy in 1922 greatly fueled this feeling. At first, Mussolini veiled his true intentions about Ethiopia, to colonize Ethiopia like they did with neighboring Somalia, and today’s Eritrea. As a result when Ethiopia was seeking admission to the League of Nations in the 1920s it appeared like Italy was one of their main supporters.
For instance, during his European tour in 1924, Emperor Haile Selassie was welcomed very enthusiastically in Italy with shouts of “Viva Ethiopia! Viva Tafari!”. This in future led the way to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the two nations on August 2, 1928 where a binding treaty was signed. Unfortunately, after the treaty it was as if everything went downhill: the treaty, which was meant to last over twenty years, didn’t even make it to ten.
The Italians were again pursuing a rather aggressive approach; an approach of supervision, the British seemed to support Italian ambitions in Ethiopia (via
Ever since their defeat at Adwa the Italians always had a secret lust for revenge. The advancement to power of the Fascist in Italy in 1922 greatly fueled this feeling. At first, Mussolini veiled his true intentions about Ethiopia, to colonize Ethiopia like they did with neighboring Somalia, and today’s Eritrea. As a result when Ethiopia was seeking admission to the League of Nations in the 1920s it appeared like Italy was one of their main supporters.
For instance, during his European tour in 1924, Emperor Haile Selassie was welcomed very enthusiastically in Italy with shouts of “Viva Ethiopia! Viva Tafari!”. This in future led the way to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the two nations on August 2, 1928 where a binding treaty was signed. Unfortunately, after the treaty it was as if everything went downhill: the treaty, which was meant to last over twenty years, didn’t even make it to ten.
The Italians were again pursuing a rather aggressive approach; an approach of supervision, the British seemed to support Italian ambitions in Ethiopia (via