, proclaiming the abolishment of slavery in
Tigray in
Italian and
Amharic. The abolition of slavery was one of the first measures taken by the Italian colonial government in Ethiopia. The translation of the proclamation is: "PROCLAMATION OF SUPPRESSION OF SLAVERY IN TIGRÉ People of Tigré, HEAR, as you know, where the Italian flag waves there's liberty. So, in your homeland, the slavery in every its form, is suppressed. The slaves that are now in Tigré are free, and is prohibited buying and selling slaves. Whoever violates the provisions of this proclamation will be severely punished, as transgressor of the government's orders. Given at Adua the 14th of October 1935 - 13th year of the fascist era" The march is said to have been inspired by a beautiful young
Abyssinian girl, who was found by the Italian troops at the beginning of the
Italian invasion of Ethiopia. During the invasion, the song was hugely popular in Italy and caused national fervor. During the fascist occupation of Ethiopia, Ethiopian women cohabited with Italian men in a system of
concubinage known as
madamismo. The implicitly erotic song was, however, somewhat of an embarrassment for the Fascist government, which had, starting in May 1936, introduced several laws prohibiting cohabitation and marriage between Italians and native people of the
Italian colonial empire. These efforts culminated in the
Italian Racial Laws of 1938. The Fascist authorities considered banning the song, and removed all picture postcards depicting Abyssinian women from Roman shop windows. ==Lyrics==