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Pacification of Somalia

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Pacification of Italian Somalia
Date1923-1927 (4 years)
Location
Horn of Africa, Italian Somaliland
Result Italian victory
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Italy Majeerteen Sultanate
Sultanate of Hobyo
Southern Islamic movements
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Italy Maria de vecchie Osman Mohamoud
Ali Yusuf Kenadid
Sheikh Hassan Barsane
Strength
Kingdom of Italy 6 Banaadir battalions, 3 Eritrean battalions:[a]
12,000 men,[b] 135 artillery pieces, 3 aircraft[1]		 Unkown
Casualties and losses
Kingdom of Italy 553 dead[c] and 341 wounded[1] 1,236 dead and 757 wounded[1]
15,337 rifles and 2 cannons seized[1]

The Pacification of Somalia (in Italian: Pacificazione della Somalia) was a military occupation carried by the fascist government of Italy to pacify Somalia's southern tribes and northern Muslims sultanates.[2]


After the end of the Dervish war, this event altered Italy's approach to the colony.[3] The fascist government ordered occupation of all Somalia by force, which led to armed resistance movements across the country.[4]

History of the sultanates in the region[edit]

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Throughout the 19th century, the western part of the Horn of Africa was composed of many independent sultanates, including the Sultanate of Hobyo (in Italian: Sultanato di Obbia), the Majeerteen Sultanate (in Italian: Sultanato della Migiurtina), the Hiraab Imamate (in Italian: Imamato di Hirab) and the Sultanate of Geledi (in Italian: Sultanato di Geledi).[5] Particularly, the late 19th century had a huge impact in the Horn of Africa. The Somali Sultans that then controlled the region, such as Yusuf Ali Kenadid, Osman Mahamuud, Ahmed Yusuf, and Olol Dinle opened themselves to protection treaties[6] with one some of the European colonial powers, including Italy. These treaties allowed European powers to gain allies and, gradually, protectorates.

History[edit]

First Treaties and Protectorates[edit]

Italian ships sailing in the Suez Canal in 1885

After the Egyptian withdrawal from the Horn of Africa, the Italians negotiated with the British and got themselves a protectorate over the port of Massaua (in Eritrea). This was officially the start of Italy's colonial ambitions.[citation needed]

At the end of 1888, Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid had in fact negotiated with the Italians, making his Sultanate of Hobyo the first Italian protectorate in Somalia. The following year, Osman Mahamuud signed a similar agreement for his Majeerteen Sultanate, allowing it to be another Italian protectorate. Both rulers had signed the protectorate treaties to further their own expansionist goals: Kenadid sought to use Italy's support in his dispute with the Sultanate of Zanzibar over the control of the village of Uarsciek, as well as in his ongoing power struggle with Boqor Osman himself. Both Kenadid and his rival Osman hoped to exploit the conflicting interests between the European imperial powers that were trying to take control of the Horn of Africa, while avoiding direct occupation of their territories.[7] The Italians, instead, were interested in the colonies in Somalia mainly because of its ports, which could grant them access to the strategically important Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden.[8]

War of 1887-1889[edit]

Main article: Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889

Between 1887 and 1889 Italian and Ethiopian (Abyssinian) forces clashed several times for the control of Eritrea. Despite the many battles lost by the Italians, even tho they inflicted many casualties on the Ethiopians, they besieged Saati and enstablished Italian Eritrea.[9] Minister, Agostino Depretis, died shortly after the defeat in Dogali in July 1887 and was replaced by Francesco Crispi. On 2 May 1889, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II and Italy signed the Treaty of Wuchale, ending the war as a compromise.[10]

Coastal possessions until 1920[edit]

Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi
An hotel in Villabruzzi

After more treaties, Italy gained control of the ports of the Benadir coastal area from the Sultanate of Zanzibar and its Sultan,[11][12] and over the following decades, Italian power over the settlement was strengthened and, in 1905, Italy assumed the responsibility of colonizing parts in southern Somalia.[13][14] The administrative regulator, at that time, was Governor Mercantelli, who divided the colony into the six regions of Brava, Merca, Lugh, Itala, Bardera, and Jumbo.[15] Following the assassination of an Italian Lieutenant by anti-colonial Somali rebels, Italian troops razed all villages near the river Shabeelle and its shores while seizing livestock and killing Somali residents in the area.[16]

1911 map showing the situation in Somalia

On 5 April 1908, the Italian Parliament enacted a basic law to unite all of the parts of southern Somalia into an area called Somalia Italiana. This system controlled export rights, regulated the rate of exchange, raised or lowered native taxes, and administered all civil services and matters relating to hunting, fishing, and conservation.[17] The governor of Somalia Italiana was also in control of the police force, while nominating local residents and military arrangements.[17]

From 5 April 1908 to 5 May 1936, the Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops (in Italian: Regio corpo truppe coloniali della Somalia Italiana), originally called the "Guard Corps of Benadir", served as the territory's formal military corps. At the start of its establishment, the force had 2,600 Italian officers but,[15] between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis (Dubats) from Mogadishu served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers during the Italo-Turkish War and the First and Second Ethiopian wars.[18][19] Effective Italian control in Somalia remained largely limited to the coastal areas until the early 1920s, when the Pacification of the Inner lands began.[20]

Clashes and operations[edit]

The first years of the Pacification campaign (1889–1900) were "fought" peacefully: using protective treaties, Italy managed to get many protectorates over Somalia. However, after the Italian intervention in the Anglo-Dervish War, between 1903 and 1904, the relationship between Hobyo and Italy worsened.[21][7] Viewed as too much of a threat by the Italians, Kenadid was exiled first to the British-controlled Aden Protectorate, and then to Italian Eritrea[22]

Battle of Eyl[edit]

On 21 April 1904, a Royal Naval detachment, reinforced by three companies of the Royal Hampshire Regiment, stormed and captured the forts at Eyl, supported by the Italians. In this attack, the British lost 3 men killed and 11 wounded, and the Dervishes 58 killed and 14 wounded,[23] while the naval detachment remained ashore for four days, assisted by an Italian naval detachment that arrived on 22 April.[24] Having defeated his forces in the field and forced his retreat, the British "offered the Mullah safe conduct into permanent exile at Mecca", but he did not reply.

Sack of Bulo Burti[edit]

Between 1915 and 1918 the Dervishes remained essentially on the defensive, conducting only small-scale raids and actions; In February 1915, an offensive by the reconstituted British Somaliland Camel Corps led to the capture of the Dervish fortifications set up on Mount Shimbiris and other smaller positions, forcing the Mullah to retreat his western line of resistance to the vicinity of his stronghold of Taleh.[25] Further south, Dervish columns conducted raids into Italian-controlled territories in February 1916, but were stopped by the garrisons of Bulo Burti and Tiyeglow; on the following 27 March, thanks to the betrayal of some Somali irregulars hired into the service of the Italians, the dervishes took and sacked the fort of Bulo Burti, but were then repelled by a punitive expedition led by Colonel Bessone's Askari.[26]

Aftermath[edit]

The fascists pacified Somalia.[27] Mussolini who first criticised Maria de vecchie heavy handed tactics which claimed the death of thousands of somalis, realised that the Pacification of somalia offered great potential for regional expensive.[28] However, instability persisted throughout the years.[29]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The number of Eritrean battalions was reduced to 2 during the few last months of the Pacification campaign.
  2. ^ Including 3,000 dubats, 2,500 Kabyle irregulars and 500 Zaptié.
  3. ^ 3 officers, 4 metropolitan soldiers, 97 askari and 449 dubats.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "27 febbraio 1927. In Somalia si concludono le operazioni per la pacificazione dei sultanati". italiacoloniale.com. 27 February 2023.
  2. ^ Morgan, Philip (2017-03-14). Italian Fascism, 1915-1945. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-31747-5.
  3. ^ Njoku, Raphael Chijioke (2013-02-20). The History of Somalia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-09799-0.
  4. ^ Yuusuf, Muuse (2021-05-20). The Genesis of the Civil War in Somalia: The Impact of Foreign Military Intervention on the Conflict. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7556-2710-3.
  5. ^ Tripodi, Paolo. The Colonial Legacy in Somalia, p 12-13
  6. ^ Mariam Arif Gassem, Somalia: clan vs. nation (s.n.: 2002), p.4
  7. ^ a b Issa-Salwe (1996), 34–35.
  8. ^ Fitzgerald, Nina J. Somalia (New York: Nova Science, 2002), p 33
  9. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abyssinia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 93–94.
  10. ^ Sarkees & Wayman (2010), p. 262: "The conclusion of the war is coded as a compromise because Italy failed to defeat Ethiopia but was able to withdraw effectively while maintaining its colony in Eritrea".
  11. ^ Ben-Ghiat, Ruth, Italy and its colonies, in A historical companion to postcolonial literatures: continental Europe and Africa, Poddar, Prem, Patke, Rejeev S. and Jensen, Lars eds., Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008, p. 310
  12. ^ Olsen, James Stuart and Shadle, Robert, eds., Historical dictionary of European imperialism, Westport, Conn.: 1991, Greenwood Press, p. 567
  13. ^ Hess, Robert L. Italian Colonialism in Somalia Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1966. p 101
  14. ^ Cassanelli, Lee V. The End of slavery in Africa, Meiers, Suzanne and Roberts, Richard L., eds, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 310
  15. ^ a b Robert L. Hess (1966). Italian colonialism in Somalia. University of Chicago Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780317113112.
  16. ^ Carpanelli & Scovazzi 2020, p. 90.
  17. ^ a b Hess, Robert L. Italian Colonialism, p 102
  18. ^ W. Mitchell. Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, Volume 57, Issue 2. p. 997.
  19. ^ William James Makin (1935). War Over Ethiopia. p. 227.
  20. ^ Ben-Ghiat, p. 310
  21. ^ Omar, Mohamed (2001). The Scramble in the Horn of Africa. p. 402. This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta
  22. ^ Sheik-ʻAbdi (1993), 129
  23. ^ Lane (June 2020), 152-156
  24. ^ Cunliffe-Owen (1905), 179–82 ("Appendix A").
  25. ^ Angelo del Boca, page 856.
  26. ^ Angelo del Boca, page 857.
  27. ^ Readers Comp to Military History Pa. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2001. ISBN 978-0-547-56146-2.
  28. ^ Mallett, Robert (2018-11-29). Mussolini in Ethiopia, 1919–1935: The Origins of Fascist Italy's African War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-36865-7.
  29. ^ Donati, Sabina (2013-06-26). A Political History of National Citizenship and Identity in Italy, 1861–1950. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-8733-8.
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