Haile M. Larebo THE MYTH AND REALITY OF EMPIRE BUILDING: ITALIAN LAND POLICY AND PRACTICE IN ETHIOPIA, (1935-1941) A Thesis Submitted To University Of London In Fulfilment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy School Of Oriental And African Studies February 1990 ProQuest Number: 11010607 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010607 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 TO ADAMA, IY ANN A, MANITO, PAULINE AND BELOVED PARENTS ABSTRACT Apart from being Italo-centric, the vast majority of scholarly work on the short-lived period of Italian occupation of Ethiopia is mainly preoccupied with political events and particularly with their repercussions on international diploma­ cy. With the exception of a few pioneering studies, Italian rule and its impact on Ethiopia is given marginal importance. The present thesis confines itself to one specific key area of Italian policy - land. Search for an outlet to settle Italy’s excess population and deploy its surplus capital, had sustained Italian imperialist ambitions from the 19th century and justified the conquest of Ethiopia against quasi universal international opposition. With the conquest of Ethiopia, Italy claimed to have become one of the ’satisfied’ nations. Unlike the older Italian colonies that were described as a useless "collection of sand", Ethiopia, with its varying climate and fertile soil, was portrayed as an El Dorado where Italy’s 1ong-standing imperial aspirations could be effectively fulfilled. Yet impressive land colonization programmes, aiming at settling Italian colonists with a mission to transform, within a short time, the agricultural sector into "the granary of Italy" and the Ethiopian Empire into an extension of a Magna Italia, were an unmitigated failure. The building of the Empire proved extremely difficult, largely because realities on the ground had vastly hampered practical results. Nevertheless, the attendant policies accelerated the process of change already set in motion and had a lasting effect on traditional Ethiopian social structure. Each chapter discusses key aspects of these policies, highlighting the forces contributing to the great contrast between their formulation and their actual achievement and, particularly in the conclusion, their impact on an independent Ethiopia. TABLE OF CONTENTS A B S T R A C T .......................................................iii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................. viii ABBREVIATIONS ................................................ xv GLOSSARY .................................................... xviii CHAPTER I. THE EVOLUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIAL POLICY . 1 MISSIONARIES, ADVENTURERS AND COLONIZERS ........... 1 THE ROLE OF THE ITALIAN S T A T E ......................... 7 ERITREA AS A MODEL COLONY: "CAPITALIST" FARMING VERSUS "DEMOGRAPHIC" SETTLEMENT 11 CHAPTER II. ETHIOPIAN LAND TENURE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT BEFORE 1935 ............................................. 32 NORTHERN LAND TENURE PATTERNS ....................... 33 THE FORMATION OF SOUTHERN TENURES .................. 47 DEVELOPMENTS UP TO 1935 ................................ 50 CHAPTER III. THE CONTOURS OF LAND P O L I C Y ................ 59 THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ......... 59 DEBATE OVER STRATEGIES ................................ 64 LIMITS AND NATURE OF LAND P O L I C Y .................... 81 CHAPTER IV. MILITARY SETTLEMENT: O N C .................... 88 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS ....................... 88 LAND P R O B L E M ........................................... 92 FARM ORGANIZATION AND SETTLEMENT PROGRAMMES ......... Ill PROBLEM OF SELECTION .................................. 118 ACHIEVEMENTS AND LIMITATIONS ......................... 122 CHAPTER V. DEMOGRAPHIC COLONIZATION: REGIONAL SETTLEMENTS................................................135 HISTORICAL SKETCH ...................................... 135 SETTLEMENT AREAS: PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE ................ 141 OLD IDEAS IN NEW CLOTHING: STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS 150 THE QUESTION OF FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS ............. 158 PLANS VERSUS R E A L I T Y .................................... 162 CHAPTER VI. COMMERCIAL FARMING ........................... 193 THE POLICY IN ITS HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ........... 193 ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN ................................ 198 STATE ASSISTANCE AND CONTROL..............................211 MECHANISMS OF CONTROL: MEASURES, EFFECTS AND TRENDS . 221 EFFECTS OF LAND ALLOCATION POLICY: THE CASE OF CFA FARMERS.................................................... 236 THE ORGANIZATION OF L A B O U R ..............................250 CHAPTER VII. IMPROVING ETHIOPIAN PEASANT AGRICULTURE ?. 270 THE DIMENSIONS OF C H A N G E ................................272 THE CHALLENGES OF RESTRUCTURING THE GABBAR SYSTEM . 272 DEMOGRAPHIC VILLAGES 282 AGRICULTURAL CAMPAIGNS ................................ 286 'COMMERCIALIZING PEASANT AGRICULTURE’: THE CASE OF COTTON ..................................................293 CONCLUSION ..................................................323 APPENDIX I ..................................................335 APPENDIX I I ..................................................336 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 338 -v- TABLES TABLE I. SETTLER CONCESSIONS IN ERITREA............ 24 TABLE II. ITALIAN COLONIES’ NINE YEAR BUDGET .... 25 TABLE III. TASANAY COTTON FARM’S CULTIVATED AREA . 26 TABLE IV. ERITREA AS DEMOGRAPHIC O U T L E T ............ 30 TABLE V. BISHOFTU’S EOC POPULATION AND REVENUES. 46 TABLE VI. LAND ALLOCATION AT HOLATTA F A R M .......... 96 TABLE VII. TYPE OF CROPS SOWN AT ONC’S FARMS .... 128 TABLE VIII. ONC FARMER’S IN CREDIT........................133 TABLE IX. CROP ROTATION AT ENTE PUGLIA FARM .... 178 TABLE X. LAND OWNED BY DEMOGRAPHIC AGENCIES. 191 TABLE XI. COMMERCIAL CONCESSION AREAS................... 202 TABLE XII. CONCESSIONAIRES ACCORDING TO THEIR FARM S I Z E .................................... 203 TABLE XIII. TRACTORS OWNED BY VARIOUS GROUPS .......... 205 TABLE XIV. ANNUAL PRODUCTION AT A MEDIUM-SIZED FARM OF SCAGLIARINI ROBERTO & S O N S ..............206 TABLE XV. YEARLY PRODUCTION AT MEDIUM-SIZED FARM OF BISACCHI UGO AT A M B O ......................... 207 TABLE XVI. COST OF PRODUCTION AND REVENUE.............. 207 TABLE XVII. AGRICULTURAL PERSONNEL AS IN 1940 .... 215 TABLE XVIII. SIMBA CONCESSIONS ......................... 236 TABLE XIX. LAND HOLDINGS AND TRACTORS OF CFA .... 249 TABLE XX. SHARE-CROPPING CONTRACTS BETWEEN ITALIANS AND ETHIOPIANS................................265 TABLE XXI. COMMERCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC CONCESSIONS . 269 TABLE XXII. SETTLER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND ANNUAL CONSUMPTION NEEDS AS IN 1941............... 269 TABLE XXIII. ITALY’S COTTON IMPORT, 1929-1938........... 296 TABLE XXIV. COTTON PRODUCTION IN THE METROPOLIS AND COLONIES........................................297 TABLE XXV. COTTON PRODUCTION IN 1938-39 CAMPAIGN . 322 TABLE XXVI. SCALE OF UNGINNED COTTON PRODUCTION . 322 TABLE XXVII. ITALIAN POPULATION IN ETHIOPIA ............ 325 -vi- ILLUSTRATIONS I. MAP OF IEA EMPIRE ........................... 58 II. ONC SETTLEMENT CENTRES .................... 100 III. ONC SETTLEMENT SCHEME........................ 101 IV. A MODEL SETTLER HOUSE........................ 102 V. ONC FARMING AT BISHOFTU .................... 103 VB. ECPE SETTLERS ON MILITARY TRAINING. 177 VI. ECPE’S SETTLERS DEPARTURE FROM BARI. 180 VII. AN ECPE FAMILY AT WACHO - BARI OF ETHIOPIA. 181 VIII. GENERAL PLANIMETRY OF EDR................... 182 VIIIB. REGIONAL COLONIZATION SETTLEMENT CENTRES. 192 vine. CFA SETTLEMENT CENTRES....................... 219 IX. PLANNED AGRICULTURAL TOOLS.................. 289 X. COTTON GROWING DSTRICTS .................... 318 -vi i- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT Interest in the present research developed when I realized the gap left by the vast literature dealing with Ital­ ian colonialism in Ethiopia. While too much attention is paid to the episode of Italy’s aggression of Ethiopia and its impact on international diplomacy, Italy’s colonization per se is ignored or dismissed in a few perfunctory paragraphs. Honoura­ ble exceptions to this formidable body of literature are the recent works by Grassi and Goglia, Angelo del Boca and Alberto Sbacchi. Grassi and Goglia’s anthology has totally neglected the Ethiopian context nor do they incorporate, or even acknowledge the existence of, Ethiopian sources. Del Boca and Sbacchi are, in a way, pioneers on the working of Italian colonialism in Ethiopia and its impact on Ethiopian society. Although less Italo-centric, these studies, unlike the present research and notwithstanding their differences in interpretation and metho­ dology, engage themselves in a much wider issues of the Italian presence in Ethiopia and its impact on the Ethiopian society. In addition, their shortcomings are amply addressed in Ales­ sandro Triulzi’s review article^. The present work aims to describe the workings