Word: eritrea
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...General Emilio de Bono, one of the Big Four of the March on Rome and now Governor General of Italy's East African colonies, sent to Rome the first precise report on what has been done in the past six months to turn sleepy little ports in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland into deadly advance war bases...
Major Italian air bases have been increased from three to nine, air landing fields from ten to 26. At Massaua in Eritrea, the main Italian war base commanding Northern Ethiopia and uncomfortably close to British interests in the Sudan, war paraphernalia were being unloaded last week at the rate of 4,000 tons per day. Forty new Italian locomotives had just been unloaded and General de Bono was stepping up the strategic railway from Massaua to Asmara, increasing transportation facilities daily. Upland Asmara, few months ago a town of 4,500, last week was a teeming city...
...French Somaliland, next door to bristling Italian Eritrea, the French naval sloop Dumont d'Urville, mounting five and one-half inch guns, ominously arrived last week, anchored to command the French harbor of Djibouti, connected by rail with Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. All week freight cars from Addis Ababa were jam-packed with goods shipped out by frightened foreign merchants in Ethiopia who closed their stores, hoped to keep their goods in storage on French soil until better times. French Premier Pierre Laval, realizing the extreme delicacy of French Somaliland's situation, appointed last week...
...Paralysis." In 1896 Italy was, as she is today, attempting to wrest a colonial empire from Ethiopia. Then as now, domestic difficulties lay behind the military operations. After several years out of office, Francesco Crispi had staged a strong comeback as Premier of Italy. The new Italian colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland had just been established on the African coast. Though France and Russia were secretly negotiating with Haile Selassie's granduncle, the potent Emperor Menelik, many chiefs questioned his authority and seemed willing Italian allies. Early in the summer of 1895 Premier Crispi had called the new Governor...
...came their women brandishing long knives to mutilate the wounded. Killed were two of the five Generals, 4,600 Italian officers and soldiers. Two thousand were wounded, 2,000 taken prisoner. General Baratieri was court-martialed, finally acquitted. Premier Crispi resigned. The peace treaty returned a fine slice of Eritrea to Ethiopia, and the whole business cost Italy some $90,000,000 and a dirty splotch on her military escutcheon...