of Ethiopia would give preference to Italian nationals if he had to choose whether to offer a privilege to a third state or to Italy. Article 19 said that the treaty would be written in both languages and both versions would present the same information. Article 20 stated that this treaty shall be approved. Disputes The misunderstanding, according to the Italians, was due to the mistranslation of a verb, which formed a permissive clause in Amharic and a mandatory one in Italian. 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.” 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. On the other hand, the Italian version stated that Ethiopia was obliged to conduct all foreign affairs through Italian authorities, in effect making Ethiopia an Italian protectorate. Menelik II was not in favor of this and rejected protection from Italy. However, in October 1889, the Italians informed all other European governments that Ethiopia was now an Italian protectorate because of the Treaty of Wuchale and therefore other European nations could not conduct diplomatic relations with Ethiopia. With the exceptions of the Ottoman Empire, which still maintained its claim to Eritrea, and Russia, which disliked the idea of an Orthodox nation being subjugated to a Roman Catholic nation, all of the European powers accepted the Italian claim to a protectorate. Unable to resolve this disagreement, the treaty was eventually denounced by Menelik II in 1894 and the Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1895. A battle took place in Adwa and ended after two days with Ethiopia's victory, safeguarding its independence. Notes Further reading Sven Rubenson, "Chapter V: Trials of Strength with Egypt and Italy" in The Survival of Ethiopian Independence (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003). Carlo Giglio, "Article 17 of the Treaty of Uccialli" in Journal of African History VI, 2 (1965) pp. 221–235. Paulos Milkias, Getachew Metaferia: The Battle of Adwa: Reflections on Ethiopia's Historic Victory Against European Colonialism'', Algora 2005, . 1889 in Ethiopia 1889 in Italy Italian East Africa Treaties involving territorial changes Treaties of the Ethiopian