The signing parties were King Menelik II of Shewa, acting as Emperor of Ethiopia, and Count Pietro Antonelli [it] representing Italy, on 2 May 1889, established the treaty after the Italian occupation of Eritrea.
Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia was highly resistant to this and agreed to establish a treaty instead.
Article 2 states that each country may each appoint "consuls, agents, and consular officers" in the other, protected under standard European customs.
Article 4 stated that the monastery of Debra Bizen shall remain under the control of the Ethiopian government but could not be used for military purposes.
Article 5 stated that Ethiopia had to pay an eight percent port duty to import or export goods through Massawa.
According to Article 14, the Emperor of Ethiopia had the right to take any measures to fight slavery and slave trading in his territory.
Article 17 was written differently in the Ethiopian and Italian versions of the treaty as addressed in details below.
[7] In the Amharic version of the treaty, Article 17 states that “His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia can use the Government of His Majesty the King of Italy for all business with other powers or governments.”[1] According to this version, the Emperor of Ethiopia was granted a choice and was not mandated to use the Italian government to conduct foreign relations; the Amharic version therefore gave Ethiopia considerable autonomy, with the option of communicating with third powers through the Italians.
[10] Unable to resolve this disagreement, the treaty was eventually denounced by Menelik II in 1894 and the Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1895.
[10] A battle took place in Adwa and ended after two days with Ethiopia's victory, safeguarding its independence.