ABSTRACT
Italy was allowed two African colonies, on the Red Sea and in Somaliland, but, after one attempt had ignominiously failed, was forced to agree with Great Britain and France to abstain from seeking again to seize Abyssinia. As early as 1892 France and Turkey had arrived at an understanding concerning the boundary line between Tripoli and Tunisia, from the Mediterranean to the oasis of Ghadames, but they had never agreed upon the southern boundary of Tripoli. Under the Franco-Italian agreement of 1901 it was understood that if France should ever extend her protectorate over Morocco, Italy would have what was left of the Ottoman dominions in Africa, excluding, of course, Egypt. French troops reached the oasis of Ghadames; the hinterland of Tripoli was threatened by the extension of French administrative control into the eastern Sahara. At this moment the reopening of the Morocco question by the Agadir incident gave Italy the incentive and encouragement to show her hand.
