This series includes material relating directly by theme or provenance to Africa. Specifically it includes material relating to Abyssinia/Ethiopia and miscellaneous Africa material.
'Abyssinia' was a name given to the Ethiopian empire. This included Ethiopia and various surroundings states/territories, such as Eritrea and Somalia. It existed from the late Middle Ages until the Marxist revolution in Ethiopia in 1974. In practice, the names Abyssinia and Ethiopia are both used in the archive.
Material in the Abyssinia/Ethiopia section relates to Emperor Haile Selassie I and to his family, as well as to Ethiopia in general. It includes material relating to the Ethiopian royal family's period in exile (1936-1941). It also contains material relating to the economy and administration of Ethiopia, including the post-Second World War period.
The Miscellaneous Africa material contains material relating to other countries in Africa, including the United Kingdom's interests and involvement in Africa. There is often overlap between the material relating to different countries. For example, the Eritrea sub-section includes material relating to the debate about whether Eritrea should be united with Ethiopia or whether it should be independent. The sub-section relating to Somalia contains material relating to the pre-1960 period before its independence from Britain and Italy (during this period it was divided between British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland).
Add MS 88925/2/1-18 Abyssinia/Ethiopia
- Add MS 88925/2/1-4 Emperor Haile Selassie I
- Add MS 88925/2/5 Private Secretary to the Emperor
- Add MS 88925/2/6 Ethiopian Royal Family
- Add MS 88925/2/7-14 Ethiopian government and economy
- Add MS 88925/2/15 Italian invasion of Ethiopia
- Add MS 88925/2/16 Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital, etc.
- Add MS 88925/2/17 Political prisoners at Menelik Palace
- Add MS 88925/2/18 Miscellaneous Ethiopian material
Add MS 88925/19-22 Miscellaneous Africa material
- Add MS 88925/2/19 Eritrea and Ethiopian-Eritrean unity
- Add MS 88925/2/20-21 Somalia
- Add MS 88925/2/22 Miscellaneous Africa material, etc.