The Treaty of Wuchale (also spelled Treaty of Ucciale; , ) was a treaty signed between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The signing parties were King Menelik II of Shewa, acting as Emperor of Ethiopia, and Count representing Italy, on 2 May 1889, established the treaty after the Italian occupation of Eritrea. It was signed in the small Ethiopian town of Wuchale, from which the treaty got its name. The purpose of the treaty was to promote friendship and trade among the two countries. It was a treaty to maintain a positive long lasting relationship between the two empires.<ref>Ayele, Negussie. "Adwa 1896: Who was Civilized & Who was Savage?" Ethiopian Review, vol. 7, no. 2, 30 April 1997, pp. 50. .</ref> The treaty has twenty articles written in two languages, Amharic and Italian, however, there were marked differences in the Italian and the Amharic versions of the treaty which created miscommunications between the two countries. Specifically, Article 17 of the treaty was translated and interpreted differently by Ethiopia and Italy. Italy claimed the article imposed a protectorate over Ethiopia, while Ethiopia claimed the article allowed international diplomacy to be conducted through Italy by choice. When Menelik II denounced the treaty in 1893, Italy attempted to forcefully impose the protectorate over Ethiopia in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, which ended with Italy's defeat at the Battle of Adwa and the resulting Treaty of Addis Ababa. Background Around the time the treaty was signed, European colonization was greatly expanding in Africa. Vast territories of Eritrea and Somalia, Ethiopian-bordering countries, were under the occupation of Italy. Italy desired to expand its territories by colonizing Ethiopia. Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia was highly resistant to this and agreed to establish a treaty instead. He yielded some territories of Ethiopia to Italy in return for assurance of Ethiopia's independence as well as financial and military assistance from Italy Articles Article 1 focuses on establishing a peaceful relationship between the two countries. It states that there shall be a peace between the Emperor of Ethiopia and the King of Italy as well as their successors and their peoples. Article 2 deals with forming a diplomatic relationship between the two countries. It mentions that Ethiopia and Italy shall appoint agents in the other country's consular office. Article 3 created permanent boundary lines between regions of Eritrea that were under Italy's control and regions of Ethiopia.