ABSTRACT
The 1830–1855 period was the seed time of European imperialism in Ethiopia. Ethiopia also came under strong economic and strategical pressures of Europe. As Ethiopia entered the nineteenth century there was no effective central authority in the country capable of conducting foreign relations. There were at least three different centres of political authority-Tigre, Begemder and Shoa— each an autonomous constituent of an enfeebled Ethiopian state, each not disinclined to respond to foreign initiatives though non was entitled or competent to speak for the whole country. Without a tradition of active foreign relations, free from external threats to its independence and preoccupied with internal power struggles Ethiopia's ruling aristocracy had become insular and conservative. Nevertheless as Professor Rubenson's study shows, European intrigues and activities continued to threaten Ethiopian independence during the post Zemane Mesafint period. Real threat to Ethiopia's independence arose between 1870 and 1896 during the reigns of the Emperors Yohannes and Menelek.
