Addis Abeba

**Addis Abeba** is the Italian name for the capital of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), during the more than six years when Ethiopia was in the Italian Empire (from early 1935 to the end of 1941).

## History

The name "Addis Abeba" is related to the capital of Ethiopia during the more than five years of Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Addis Abeba grew from less than 45,000 in 1936 to nearly 150,000 inhabitants in spring 1941, when the Italians were defeated and the Allies (with emperor Selassie) returned to the city.

Soon after the conquest in early 1936, the city was improved with many structures, from paved roads to sewage systems. A new urban masterplan was studied for the city, that was approved in 1938 and by late 1940 Addis Abeba (where the Italian were more than one third of the inhabitants) was full of constructions (that were blocked because of WW2).

Addis Abeba was the administrative capital of the _Scioa governorate_ in the Italian East Africa.

Because the Italian rule lasted just less than six years, only a few of the many Italian buildings & projects were completed: one was the Addis Abeba Stadium, inaugurated in spring 1940. Originally in 1937 it was called "Campo sportivo Littorio", while in 1940 it was enlarged with a tribune and the athletic lanes section.

In spring 1941 ceased to exist the Italian administration of Addis Abeba and most of the nearly 50,000 Italians living in the city were forced to leave in the next years.

_Italian improvements_

The city, that looked in 1935 like a medieval town (also because of thousands of slaves living in dire conditions) in just five years was transformed into a modern capital where more than 40,000 Italians lived in a city with a typical XX century society, free of slavery and full of developments & improvements.

Indeed during Italian rule, the Italians abolished slavery in all Ethiopia, issuing two laws in October 1935 and in April 1936 by which they declared to have freed 420,000 people. After Italian defeat in Second World War, Emperor Haile Selassie, who returned to power, abandoned his previous ideas about a slow and gradual abolition of slavery in favor of one that mirrored Italy's civilized abrogation

So, the first thing the Italians did in the just conquered city was to proclaim the end of slavery and to make nearly 10,000 slaves free in all the Scioa region.

The British Lady Kathleen Simon of the "Anti-Slavery Protection Society" was one of the first to appreciate this action and the definitive end of slavery in Ethiopia.

Indeed in Addis Ababa the situation was full of expectations after the Mussolini proclamation of the "Italian Empire" in May 9, 1936.

The capital of the empire was due to become, in Mussolini's opinion, the most beautiful and futuristic city in Africa, the beacon of the new fascist civilization. The preparation of the new town planning scheme was very long and problematic, involving top professional people like Giò Ponti, Enrico Del Debbio, Giuseppe Vaccaro and even Le Corbusier, who personally asked Mussolini to be allowed to design the plan for the new city.

However the city in May 1936 had no major infrastructures: there was no electricity in many areas, there were no sewers at all, only a few roads were asphalted and the city lacked a road network connecting with other Ethiopian urban centers. But there was an aqueduct in operation, which supplied only some areas, while fast transport was provided only by the Djibouti-Addis Ababa railway line, built by the French and inaugurated in 1917. The Italians solved all these infrastructure problems in only a few years of hard work.

The famous "Villa Italia" in the outskirts of the city was improved in late 1936, as a residence of the main Italian authorities).

In autumn 1937, the result of the initial works managed by the Governorate of Addis Ababa in a year and a half of activity was, all in all, positive: the repaving of the main roads, the restoration of existing health facilities, the expansion of some hotels and the restructuring of the natives market. Moreover six buildings of the I.N.C.I.S (housing institution for government employees) were built. And also the "Casa del Fascio", both inaugurated on 28 October; while the Regulatory Plan Office had expropriated property in the industrial zone and some areas had been given in concession to institutions and private individuals

However work started on a full scale only in 1939. The fourth and last definitive Addis Ababa urban plan -approved by Mussolini in late 1938- provided for a clear separation between the European and indigenous areas. This would have meant transferring the African population and building tens of thousands of new homes.

Italian settlers had increased from a few thousands in early 1937 (with 150 families) to over 40,000 in March 1940 (33,059 men, 6,998 women and about 4,000 families) whilst the African population had practically doubled and was estimated at about 100,000 people.

The "Health Corps of Italian Africa" was created only in 1936, and it was made up of about 200 doctors and health inspectors, by organizing a special public competition which took place between 1937 and 1938. Three centers were gradually built in Addis Ababa, but also in Asmara and Mogadishu, specialized in the cure of malaria, as well as numerous hospitals and clinics. Following direct orders from Mussolini, since 1936 special attention was naturally given to the prevention and cure of venereal diseases (since the authorities could not prevent contact between Italian men and African women), by rounding up and imposing forced hospitalization on thousands of native women.

_Infrastructures_

The Italians invested substantially in Ethiopian infrastructure development, mainly in the capital region. The construction of many roads connecting all Ethiopia was done with huge expenses. They also created the "Imperial Road" between Addis Ababa and Massawa, the Addis Ababa - Mogadishu and the Addis Ababa - Assab. 900 km of railways were reconstructed or initiated (like the railway between Addis Ababa and Assab), dams and hydroelectric plants were built, and many public and private companies were established in the underdeveloped country.

The most important -with their headquarters in Addis Ababa- were: "Ethiopian cotton companies" (Cotton industry); "Cement factories of Ethiopia" (Cement industry); "Ethiopian Mining Company" (Minerals industry); "Ethiopian electricity companies" (Electricity industry); "Ethiopian Explosives Company" (Armament industry); "Automotive transport (Citao)" (Mechanic & Transport industry).

Italians even created and enlarged new airports and in 1936 started the worldwide famous "Linea dell'Impero", a flight connecting Addis Ababa to Rome. The line was opened after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia and was followed by the first air links with the Italian colonies in Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East Africa), which began in a pioneering way since 1934. The route was enlarged to 6,379 km and initially joined Rome with Addis Ababa via Syracuse, Benghazi, Cairo, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum, Kassala, Asmara, Dire Dawa.

## Related pages

- Italian Mogadiscio
- Piccola Roma

## Bibliography

- Antonicelli, Franco. _Trent'anni di storia italiana 1915 - 1945_. Mondadori ed. Torino, 1961