Italian Somalia

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Italian Somalia was a colony under Italian control from the 1880s until 1942 in the territory of the modern-day East African nation of Somalia. The late Nineteenth Century had a huge impact on developments occurring in West Africa, which Somalia was part of. Somalia was subjected under many European countries which came to colonize it, acquire land, and use their resources while building up their powers, which includes Britain, France, Italy, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Italy first gained its powers in some parts in Somalia around 1888 until 1942. They acquired a pact with two sultans in Somalia around 1889, who agreed to “Italian Protection”. The last piece of land acquired by Italy in Somalia in order to form their Somali Land was the Chisimayu Region, which was earlier controlled by Britain.

Before the colonization of Somalia, in 1877 occurred a social movement for Italy to expand and start colonizing, since many other European countries had already been doing so, while Italy lagged behind. There was also a huge shortage in Capital in Italy, and the economy wasn’t doing so great.Tripodi, Paolo.

• 1876- Cesare Correnti organized an expedition under the Societa Geografica Italiana.

• 1877- L’Esploratire was established by Manfredo Camperio- a journal of travel.(colonial legacy 16).

• 1879- Societa di Esplorazioni Commerciali in Africa was created, with the Italian Industrial Establishment involved as well.

• 1879- Club Africano was established (three years later became Societa Africana D’Italia) The colonization in Somalia occurred because of their resources of Mutton and livestock products, while the coast of the red sea provided many resources in trade as well. (Somalia, Fitzgerald 33). Italy tried to utilize colonies like Somalia in order to increase their economic power, not necessarily merely just for politics like many other European countries that colonized parts of African did.

Italy gained control of various parts of Somalia in the 1880s, and over the following decades Italian settlement was encouraged.

• January 26, 1887, Italian troops that were in Somalia fought a battle against Ras Alula’s militia in Dogali, Ethiopia; where they lost with a loss of 500 troops.

• Prime Minister, Agostino de Pretis, resigned which was caused by the defeat in July 1887.

• Prime Minister Francesco Crispi replaced him, and had new plans to create new areas for immigration for Italians.

• On May 2, 1889 Menelik II, the Emperor of Ethiopia and Italy signed a peace treaty.

Around In 1895 Italy launched the disastrous First Italo-Abyssinian War against Ethiopia from its colonies of Eritrea and Somalia. In 1905, Italy finally accepted the responsibility into creating a colony in Southern Somali, after several tries that had failed. The administrative regulators were Governor Mercantelli with six subdivisions of Brava, Merca, Lugh, ITala, Nardera, and Jumbo.

All of the Administrative regulators, with the subdivisions of the men that were in the diagram, are military men that had very well backgrounds in order to help make the colonization in Somalia successful.

• In April 5, 1908 there was a basic law founded to unite all of the parts of southern Somalia into an area called Somalia Italiana. The power was then divided between the Parliament, Metropolitan government, and the colonial government.

• Powers of the colonial government was the only power that was changed where the:

• Civil governor controlled export droits, regulated the rate of exchange, could raise or lower native taxes, and administered all civil services and matters relating to hunting, fishing, and conservation

• Governor was in control of the Police force, while nominating local residents and military arrangements

In 1920 the Societa Agricola Italo-Somala (SAIS) was founded by the Prince Luigi Amedo of Savoy, Duke of the Aburuzzi, in order to explore the agricultural potentials of Africa. On December 5, 1923 Fascism came to Somalia through the Governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi di Val Cismon. He brought with him forceful ways of colonial rule and ideas. After the collapse of Muhammad Abdullah Hassan’s movement, rebellion and revolt ocured with disputes between different tribes in Northern Somalia. The current government worked together again with the old tribesmen in order to try and keep peace between the several tribes, while maintaining very well control over the military.

In 1925 the colony in Somalia was extended when Jubaland was acquired from the British colony of Kenya.

In 1936, after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Italian Somalia became part of Italian East Africa. The new colony also included Ethiopia and Eritrea. During the East African Campaign, Italy successfully conquered British Somaliland in 1940 but in the Allied counter offensive it lost control over its East African colonies in 1942. Italian Somalia was under British administration until 1949 when it became a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration. Somalia became independent in 1960, yet it still continues today with civil wars, trying to finally have a stable government after colonial rule for many years.

Notes

References

Hess, Robert L. Italian Colonialism in Somalia. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1966.

Tripodi, Paolo. The Colonial Legacy in Somalia. New York: St. Martin's P Inc,, 1999.

Fitzgerald, Nina J. Somalia. New York: Nova Science, Inc., 2002.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday February 22, 2008 at 12:47:47 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation