Italian Somalia

The Italian Somalia was an Italian colony that reached 501,000 km² (702,000 km² in 1936-1941) and existed since the end of the century XIX until 1960, with the exception of a brief period of British rule. It was located in the territory that is now part of Somalia, in East Africa.

History

Unlike other regions of Africa, when the Europeans arrived in Somalia, there were already several states with a partial feeling of nationhood, such as the Sultanate of Geledi, Hobyo and Miyurtina. Somalia became an Italian colony in 1886 with the division between Great Britain, France, Ethiopia and Italy, with Italy taking the southeastern coast.

Italy began a policy of “informal dominion”, which was based on letting the territory be administered in an almost autonomous way, and the Italian authorities, known as “capos” only had a capacity consultative for local problems. This way of operating the colony also made its maintenance not expensive for the metropolis, and this low-cost operation was noted in the little educational legacy that the Italians initially left, although slavery was eliminated by law by the Italians. since 1898.

One of the impositions that the Italians imposed on Somalia was direct taxes, something that the Somalis were not used to since the Geledi Sultanate only collected taxes when the people went to the judges and in taxes. import and export. The Italians introduced taxes such as the annual housing tax, but with the purpose of paying for the maintenance of urban cleanliness (non-existent until then and the cause of malaria and other epidemics in Somalia prior to Italian rule).

At the end of the 19th century, the Italians created the Colonia della Somalia: they named it officially Somalia in 1905 with capital Mogadishu, which soon became a modern city with the first hospital created in Somalia and with sewers and electricity.

In 1920, the youth associations of the Somali elite, made up of all those who held positions of medium or high importance in the colonial administration, founded the Somali Islamic Association, which had the purpose of becoming a nationalist political campaign.

In 1924 the British ceded to Italy the part located west of the Juba River (Jubaland), which in 1926 was incorporated into Italian Somalia. In 1925 the natives took advantage of this situation to challenge the colonial order and organize rebellions with the aim of changing the Italian mode of production. However, these rebellions were quickly controlled.

In 1935 the "Somali National League" was created; which, over time, became the first political party in Somalia. Also, that same year, Italy declared war on Ethiopia, thus starting the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and 220,000 Somali soldiers were sent to the front.

In 1936, with the defeat of Ethiopia, the part of Somalia controlled by Ethiopia was incorporated into Italian Somalia, which, in turn, became part of Italian East Africa, along with Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The presence of the Italians favored the spread of the Catholic Church and in Somalia from 1920 to 1939 many churches were built, such as the cathedral of Mogadishu (built in 1928 and currently destroyed by the civil war). In 1940 almost the 10% of the inhabitants of Italian Somalia were Catholic and were members of the "Diocesi Cattolica di Mogadiscio".

In 1936 Italian Somalia was called the Governorate of Somalia and increased with the inclusion of 200,000 km² of Ethiopian territory: the Ogaden, populated by Somalis. The Italians in those years developed an efficient road system, where Mogadishu was connected to Addis Ababa by a modern paved road called "Via dell'Impero"; They also built the first Somali airports with the capital Mogadishu connected directly to Rome thanks to an Impero Airlines that was historically the largest commercial flight in all of Africa. A 115 km railway was also created between Mogadishu and an agricultural-banana development area (Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi).

Subsequently, in the summer of 1941, Italian Somalia included British Somaliland and some Somali-populated areas of eastern Kenya, conquered by the Italians at the beginning of the Second World War.

In this way all Somalis were unified under Italian command in Italian Somalia. The only exceptions were small French Somalia, centered around Djibouti and the northeastern part of Kenya.

This territory of 702,000 km² (with capital Mogadishu) was called by Mussolini the Greater Somalia, and existed between August 1940 and April 1941.

In those years there were about 20,000 Italians in Somalia and the economy – based on agriculture and banana exports to Europe – flourished enormously, especially in the Mogadishu and Uebi-Scebeli River areas.

Many Somalis supported the Italian colonization of Somalia, and several thousand were enlisted in the Italian colonial forces. At the beginning of the Second World War, two Somali divisions were created: the 101st and the 102nd, based in the capital Mogadishu.

In the summer of 1941, the territory was occupied by British troops, who administered Italian Somalia until November 1949, when it became a United Nations Trusteeship Council territory under Italian administration. The Italian administration lasted ten years, characterized by notable socioeconomic development.

In February 1947, Italian Somalia officially ceased to exist, with the peace treaty in which Italy was stripped of all its colonies.

Independence

On July 1, 1960, independence was granted to Italian Somalia, which was immediately integrated with British Somaliland (independent on the previous June 26) to form the Republic of Somalia.

Gallery

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  The building of the Fiat "Boero" in Mogadishu (1940).

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  1926 stamps celebrating the union of "Jubaland" to Italian Somalia.

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  Hotel in the "Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi", made by Luis Amadeo de Saboya.

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  The first cinema in Mogadiscio, the Cinema Italy, opened in 1937.

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  The "door" of Mogadishu in 1931.

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  The Catholic Cathedral of Mogadishu in 1940, now completely destroyed.