as prime minister in the 1880s and 1890s crispi pursued an aggressive foreign policy to strengthen italy's beleaguered institutions. he saw france as the permanent enemy and he counted heavily on british support. britain was on good terms with france and refused to help, leaving crispi perplexed and ultimately disillusioned about what he had felt was a special friendship between the two countries. he turned to imperialism in africa, especially against the independent kingdom of ethiopia, and ottoman province of tripolitania (in present-day libya).