The Djibouti–Addis Ababa Railway and its Role in International Relations of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Drawing on a wide range of literature and sources, as well as Russian and British archival materials, the author of the article traces the influence of the rivalry between European countries for Ethiopia on the creation of transport communications in this country. An important role in granting the concession for the construction of the railway to the French company was played by the closest adviser to Emperor Menelik II, the Swiss engineer Alfred Ilg. Ethiopia was to be connected by railway to the coast of French Somalia, which would facilitate France’s political and economic expansion in this country. The railroad was to be extended to the White Nile, i.e., to Sudan, the territory of which France had laid claim to. After a diplomatic defeat by Great Britain, as well as numerous raids by nomadic tribes on the railway under construction, the railroad construction company faced a crisis. London’s policy concerning this transport project also became more active. Great Britain did not want to tolerate the damage from a possible French trade monopoly in the region, so it tried to financially subordinate the company building the Ethiopian railway. France’s retaliatory measures to effectively nationalize the road led to an open confrontation with the Emperor of Ethiopia. Under these conditions, and also under the influence of the 1904 Treaty of Cordial Entente, France and Great Britain were forced to coordinate their interests with each other, as well as with Italy. This led to the achievement of the Tripartite Agreement of 1906 on the division of spheres of influence in Ethiopia. The railway was completed only in 1917 on the basis of a new concession. The author of the article draws a connection between the political and economic processes in the changing balance of power of the European countries in Ethiopia and their influence on international relations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.