Africa the European powers that laid claim to African territories. The Berlin Conference sought to end the European powers' Scramble for Africa, by agreeing on political division and spheres of influence. They set up the political divisions of the continent, by spheres of interest, that exist in Africa today. Imperial rule by Europeans would continue until after the conclusion of World War II, when almost all remaining colonial territories gradually obtained formal independence. Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened. In 1951, Libya, a former Italian colony, gained independence. In 1956,
Italian Ethiopia Italian Ethiopia Ethiopia was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became a part of the Italian colony Italian East Africa, with capital Addis Abeba. Italian Ethiopia was proclaimed in 1936 following the second Italo-Ethiopian War, with Victor Emmanuel III proclaiming himself Emperor of Ethiopia. The occupation lasted until the end of 1941, when Ethiopia was liberated from Italian control by a combination of British, Commonwealth, Free French, Free Belgian and Ethiopian forces. Since May 1936 Italian Ethiopia was part of the newly created "Africa Orientale Italiana" (AOI), or Italian East Africa, and administratively was made of four governorates: Governorate of