Italian Somaliland

• 1. Protectorate Foundations 1889-1893

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  On the 8th of February 1889, Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid signed a treaty with Italy to make the Sultanate of Hobyo an Italian protectorate. His rival Boqor Osman Mahamuud followed suit on the 7th of April 1889, signing a similar agreement for his own Majeerteen Sultanate. Both rulers sought to advance their expansionist goals by using Italy's support against local rivals like the Hiraab Imamate. The terms specified that Italy would steer clear of interference in the sultanates' administrations. In return, the sultans conceded to minimum oversight and economic concessions while receiving Italian arms and an annual subsidy. The Italians were primarily interested in the largely arid territory because its ports granted access to the strategically important Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden. Italian ships regularly conducted reconnaissance missions off the coast of Somalia during this period. On the 24th of April 1890, the Italian frigate Volta visited Warsheikh. Sub-lieutenant Carlo Zavagli went ashore intending to invite local leaders to collect gifts aboard but was attacked and died on the boat. A sailor named Bertorello suffered mortal wounds while working on the anchor as the crew fired wildly to cover their escape. This event marked one of the first violent clashes between Italian forces and Somali locals.

• 2. Resistance And Colonial Wars

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  The killing of Zavagli along with sixty Italian colonial troops became known as the first call for Somali nationalism. Sheekh Ahmed Gabyow recited a poem at the end of June 1891 after the battles of Cadale and Warsheikh. In October and November 1893, Filonardi and the Italian navy occupied Merca, Mogadishu, Barawa, and Warsheekh. The first recorded act of Somali resistance occurred on the 2nd of October 1893, in Merca when Lieutenant Maurizio Talmone was assassinated by Somalis. As retaliation, Italian ships bombarded the coasts of Nimmo and Jasira before withdrawing to their limited areas of influence. Consul Antonio Cecchi and his lieutenants were ambushed at Lafoole, a small village near Afgooye, south of Muqdisho, by Wa'daan fighters who massacred fourteen Italians including Cecchi. This disaster was dubbed "The Somali Adwa" for its disastrous aftermath. Captain Giorgio Sorrentino led a punitive expedition to recover unburied skeletons of the fallen Italians. On the 1st of February 1897, a garrison protected by artillery and troops from the ships Elba and Governolo set out to recover the bodies. They organized a funeral ceremony with military honors to bury the fallen in a chapel near the shore. A monument dedicated to the massacre stood nearby while a group chose the site for a fort that would later be named Fort Cecchi after one of the dead.

• 3. Fascist Expansion And Infrastructure

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  In 1920, Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi established the Società Agricola Italo-Somala (SAIS) to explore agricultural potential. That same year he founded Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi as an agricultural settlement producing sugar, bananas, and cotton. The area comprised sixteen villages with some three thousand Somali and two hundred Italian inhabitants connected by a new railway stretching one hundred fourteen kilometers to Mogadishu. By November 1920, Banca d'Italia became the first modern bank in Italian Somaliland. Following World War I, Trans-Juba was ceded to Italy in 1925 as a reward for joining the Allies. Cesare Maria De Vecchi arrived on the 15th of December 1923, as Governor to begin changes in Somalia. The Fascist government ordered full military occupation through the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops leading to armed resistance across the country. In 1928, authorities built the Mogadishu Cathedral in Norman Gothic style based on Cefalù Cathedral in Sicily. Umberto, Prince of Piedmont made his first publicized visit to Mogadishu that year. To commemorate the visit, the Arch of Umberto was constructed at the center of Mogadishu Garden. The Mogadishu International Airport opened that same year and was regarded as one of the finest facilities in the region. By 1930, twenty-two thousand Italians lived in Italian Somaliland representing two percent of the territory's population.

• 4. Integration Into East Africa

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  By 1935, Mogadishu served as a major naval base and port for the Italians. Prime Minister Benito Mussolini viewed Greater Somalia as the crown jewel in Italy's colonial empire on the continent. He justified his plan to invade Ethiopia by claiming he acted as a liberator of occupied Somali territories including the Ogaden region. In October 1935, the southern front of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War launched into Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland. General Rodolfo Graziani commanded invasion forces in the south while over forty thousand Somali troops served mostly as combat units backing up over eighty thousand Italians. During the invasion, Mogadishu functioned as a chief supply base. In June 1936, after the war ended, Italian Somaliland became part of Italian East Africa forming the Somalia Governorate. New roads like the Imperial Road from Mogadishu to Addis Ababa were constructed alongside new railways and many schools, hospitals, ports, and bridges. From 1935 to 1940, there were over fifty thousand Italian settlers living in Italian Somaliland constituting five percent of the territory's population. Of those, twenty thousand resided in Mogadishu representing around forty percent of the city's fifty thousand residents. These figures did not include more than two hundred twenty thousand Italian soldiers stationed throughout Italian Somaliland during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

• 5. World War II Occupation

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  In the second half of 1940, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland and ejected the British. The Italians also occupied Kenyan areas bordering Jubaland around villages of Moyale and Buna plus southern borders of French Somalia. This unification represented all Somali speaking people for the first and only time in history. The subsequent attempt by Allies to capture Italian Somaliland happened months later in December 1940 with Operation Appearance. In spring 1941, Britain regained control of British Somaliland and conquered all Italian Somaliland including the Ogaden. Until end of summer 1943, an Italian guerrilla war continued in all areas of former Italian East Africa. During World War II, Somali troops fought in Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali as Dubats, Zaptié, and Bande irregolari. The Zaptié were considered best providing ceremonial escort for Viceroy and territorial police. There were already over one thousand such soldiers in 1922. In 1941, two thousand one hundred eighty-six Zaptié plus five hundred recruits under training officially constituted part of Carabinieri organized into battalion commanded by Major Alfredo Serranti defending Culqualber for three months until destroyed by Allies.

• 6. UN Trusteeship And Independence

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  In November 1949, United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland under close supervision on condition that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. On the 1st of April 1950, Amministrazione fiduciaria italiana della Somalia began rule with deployment of six thousand five hundred troops to assist establishment under leadership of Giovanni Fornari. First half of decade long rule marked by animosity between Italian authorities and Somali Youth League. Numerous SYL officials gained positions during British Military Administration era were demoted or imprisoned by Italians. These attempts to marginalize league led to demonstrations across country strongly repressed by government. In 1956 parliamentary election, Somali Youth League won fifty-four point twenty-nine percent votes versus twenty-six point zero-one percent for nearest party Hizbia Digil Mirifle Somali. By 1959 parliamentary election, SYL captured even greater share winning seventy-five point five-eight percent total ballot. On the 1st of July 1960, Trust Territory of Somaliland united with former British Somaliland to form Somali Republic with Mogadishu as nation's capital. A government formed by Abdullahi Issa and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal included Abdulcadir Muhammed Aden as President of Somali National Assembly and Aden Abdullah Osman Daar as President of Somali Republic.