The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-10-27
iTALY'S LAST
PREVIOUS WAR
II Was In AbySSlnia, and She
Suffered Heavy Losses.
FIGHTING LASTED FOR YEARS.
Her Army Was Overwhelmed, and
Thousands Of Dead Were Left on the
FieId--Defeat Caused Downfall Of
the Italian Ministry. IE 'r ....

Italy has transported her soldiery to
the northern coast of Africa before in
| ages past. for all Mauretania, the land
Of the Moors. was once Roman prov
ince Tripoi was originally Roman
colony, although there were inhabit-
ants before that epoch Of occupation
who were akin to the Berbers. It was
Greek at one time, and its name, which
means ''three cities" reveals its Hell
lenic origin. In it's early days it relied
for protection on Carthage, later de-
stroyed by Rome, which was in the
neighboring Tunis. The Italians in
their desire to maintain the balance of
power in the Mediterranean have al
ways held that they should have a
sphere Of influence in the realms which
lie across the sea from their own lands
Fortune did not smile upon the last
war in which Italy participated. When
England was engaged in 1884 in paci-
Tying the Sudan, Italy was invited to
take part and to lay claim to an influ-
ence in Abyssinia. A large Italian ex-
pedition was sent there q year later,
and the red, white and green flag was
carried bravely into remote parts of
the kingdom beyond the desert Two
years later the Italian forces were
overwhelmed by the army of the ne
gus of Abyssinia, and 500 men were
left dead upon the field.
The defeat caused the downfall of
the italian ministry, and the whole ma
tion was aroused. Within a short time
credit Of the equivalent of $5,00O,OO0
had been voted and Italy was pledged
to extensive military operations. Re-
endorsements were hurried to Abys-
sinia, and no expense was spared to
retrieve the losses.
With Menelik was concluded n
treaty between Abyssinia and Italy
which contained clause which later
was to be the subject of much discus
sion. 1t was concluded in 1889 at
Acc1alli and contained the clause, "His
majesty the king Of kings Of Ethio-
pia consents to make use of the gov
ernment OF his majesty the king of
Italy for the treatment of all uues-
tions concerning other powers or gov
ernments."
On the strength of this Italy an
nounced that she had a protectorate
over Abyssinia. She established
colony in certain territory given to
her under this treaty by Menelik and
gave it the name of Eritrea. Coins
bearing the image of the Italian ruler
We're prepared for this new colony.
Menelik, however, became suspicious
and soon regretted the signing of the
treaty. He had addressed communi-
cations to both Germany and England
that he was emperor of Ethiopia, and
in reply had been told that his notifi-
the Italian government. 1t occurred
to the monarch that the translation of
his treaty had been faulty and that
he did not intend to say consent, but
merely meant to imply that he might
use the Italian government in his
foreign relations. He had these mis-
givings first in 1893, and the question
of Interpretation puzzled him and the
Italians greatly. General Baratieri
arrived in the territories in 1895, about
the time that General Toselli's force
Of 1000 men had been practically cut
to pieces by a force Of Abyssinians
twenty times its size. General Bara-
teri found opposed to him a force of
100000 under Menelik, most of whom
were armed with rifles. The force had
plentv of artillery. The Italians had