Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897

The treaty primarily focused on border issues between the two empires in Somali inhabited regions that they had expanded into over the previous decade.

Ethiopia's legal claim to much of the Ogaden going into the 20th century rested on the treaty, which was rejected by the Somali Republic when it gained independence in 1960.

During the 1880s, the armies of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia began pushing into the Somali inhabited Ogaden region.

[3] In exchange for commercial privileges for British merchants in Ethiopia and the neutrality of Menelik II in the Mahdist War, the British signed a major agreement ceding large parts of Somali lands to Ethiopia, despite being a legal breach of the legal obligation made by the protectorate.

Clifford describes the terrain and work of demarcation, with a map, in a paper he presented to the Geographical Society in 1935, although he omitted any mention of the most significant event of this project—the Italo-Ethiopian Walwal Incident.

These notes shall be annexed to the present Treaty, of which they will form an integral part, so soon as they have received the approval of the High Contracting Parties, pending which the status quo shall be maintained.

On the other hand, all material destined exclusively for the service of the Ethiopian State shall, on application from His Majesty the Emperor, be allowed to pass through the port of Zeyla into Ethiopia free of duty.

In faith of which His Majesty Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, in his own name, and James Rennell Rodd, Esq., on behalf of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, have signed the present Treaty, in duplicate, written in the English and Amharic languages identically, both texts being considered as official, and have thereto affixed their seals.