Italian East Africa

Italian colony in the Horn of Africa from 1936 to 1941

Italian East Africa

Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian)
Xaaliyaanii Baha Afrikaa (Oromo)
Talyaaniga Bariga Afrika (Somali)
شرق أفريقيا الإيطالية (Arabic)
(Sharq 'afriqya al'iitalia)
የጣሊያን ምሥራቅ አፍሪካ (Amharic)
(Yet’alīyani miširak’i āfirīka)
ኢጣልያ ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ (Tigrinya)

1936–1941

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: FERT
(Motto for the House of Savoy)
Anthem:

Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza
"Royal March of Ordinance"

Italian East Africa in 1941:

Italian East Africa

Conquered in 1940

Italian controlled territory

Kingdom of Italy

Status| Colony of Italy
Capital| Addis Ababa
Common languages| Italian (official), Arabic, Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, Somali, Tigre
Emperor|

• 1936–1941

| Victor Emmanuel III
Governor-General[a]|

• 1936

| Pietro Badoglio

• 1936–1937

| Rodolfo Graziani

• 1937–1941

| Amedeo di Aosta

• 1941 (acting)

| Pietro Gazzera

• 1941 (acting)

| Guglielmo Nasi
Historical era| Interwar period to World War II

• Italian Ethiopia proclaimed by Italy

| 9 May 1936

• Italian Ethiopia declared part of Italian East Africa

| 1 June 1936

• Second Italo-Ethiopian War ends

| 19 February 1937

• British Somaliland annexed

| 19 August 1940

• Allied occupation

| 27 November 1941

• Relinquished by Italy

| 10 February 1947
Area
1939[2]| 1,725,000 km2 (666,000 sq mi)
Population

• 1939[2]

| 12,100,000
Currency| Italian East African lira

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | 1936:
Italian Eritrea

|

| Italian Somaliland
| Ethiopian Empire
| 1937:
Sultanate of Aussa
| 1940:
British Somaliland
| Military Administration in Eritrea |

|

Military Administration in Somaliland |
Military Administration in Ethiopia |
Military Administration in Ogaden |
British Somaliland |
Today part of| Eritrea
Somalia
Ethiopia
Somaliland

Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI)[3] was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War through the merger of Italian Somaliland, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire.[4]

Italian East Africa was divided into six governorates. Eritrea and Somalia, Italian possessions since the 1880s, were enlarged with captured Ethiopian territory and became the Eritrea and Somalia Governorates. The remainder of "Italian Ethiopia" comprised the Harar, Galla-Sidamo, Amhara, and Scioa Governorates.

During the Second World War, Italian East Africa was occupied by a British-led force including colonial units and Ethiopian guerrillas in November 1941.[5] After the war, Italian Somalia and Eritrea came under British administration, while Ethiopia regained its independence. In 1950, occupied Somalia became the United Nations Trust Territory of Somaliland, administered by Italy from 1950 until its independence in 1960. Occupied Eritrea became an autonomous part of Ethiopia in 1952, and was later annexed by the Ethiopian Empire in 1962.[6] It would remain annexed by Ethiopia until it gained independence as Eritrea.

## History

[edit]

### Conquest of Ethiopia

[edit]

Main article: Second Italo-Ethiopian War

Abyssinian nobles Seyoum Mengesha, Getachew Abate and Kebbede Guebret submit to Benito Mussolini in February 1937.

Historians are still divided about the reasons for the Italian attack on Ethiopia in 1935. Some Italian historians such as Franco Catalano and Giorgio Rochat argue that the invasion was an act of social imperialism, contending that the Great Depression had badly damaged dictator Benito Mussolini's prestige, and that he needed a foreign war to distract public opinion.[7] Other historians such as Pietro Pastorelli have argued that the invasion was launched as part of an expansionist program to make Italy the main power in the Red Sea area and the Middle East.[7] A middle way interpretation was offered by the American historian MacGregor Knox, who argued that the war was started for both foreign and domestic reasons, being both a part of Mussolini's long-range expansionist plans and intended to give Mussolini a foreign policy triumph that would allow him to push the Fascist system in a more radical direction at home.[7]

Unlike forty years earlier, Italy's forces were far superior to the Ethiopian forces, especially in air power, and they were victorious. Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee the country, with Italian forces entering the capital city, Addis Ababa, to proclaim an "Italian Empire of Ethiopia" by 5 May 1936.[8] Some Ethiopians welcomed the Italians and collaborated with them in the government of the newly created Italian Empire, like Ras Seyoum Mengesha, Ras Getachew Abate and Ras Kebbede Guebret. In 1937 the friendship of Seyoum Mengesha with the Italian Viceroy Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta enabled this Ras to play an influential role in securing the release of 3,000 Ethiopian POWs being held in Italian Somaliland.

Mussolini's international popularity decreased as he endorsed the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, beginning a political tilt toward Germany that eventually led to the downfall of Mussolini and the Fascist regime in Italy in World War II.[9] Italian East Africa was formed on 1 June 1936, shortly after the conquest, by merging the pre-existing colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea with the newly conquered territory.[10] The maintenance and creation of Ethiopian colonies was very costly.

### Second World War and dissolution

[edit]

Main article: East African campaign (World War II)

East Africa Campaign northern front: Allied advances in 1941

On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, which made Italian military forces in Libya a threat to Egypt and those in the Italian East Africa a danger to the British and French territories in the Horn of Africa. Italian belligerence also closed the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the Suez Canal. (The Kingdom of Egypt remained neutral during World War II, but the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 allowed the British to occupy Egypt and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.)[11]: 6–7, 69 Egypt, the Suez Canal, French Somaliland and British Somaliland were also vulnerable to invasion, but the Comando Supremo (Italian General Staff) had planned for a war after 1942. In the summer of 1940, Italy was far from ready for a long war or for the occupation of large areas of Africa.[11]: 38–40

Hostilities began on 13 June 1940, with an Italian air raid on the base of 1 Squadron Southern Rhodesian Air Force (237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF) at Wajir in the East Africa Protectorate (Kenya). In August 1940, the protectorate of British Somaliland was occupied by Italian forces and absorbed into Italian East Africa. This occupation lasted around six months.

By early 1941, Italian forces had been largely pushed back from Kenya and Sudan. On 6 April 1941, Addis Ababa was occupied by the 11th (African) Division, which received the surrender of the city.[11]: 421–422 The remnants of the Italian forces in the AOI surrendered after the Battle of Gondar in November 1941, except for groups that fought an Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia against the British until the Armistice of Cassibile (3 September 1943) ended hostilities between Italy and the Allies.[12]

In January 1942, with the final official surrender of the Italians, the British signed an interim Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement with Selassie, acknowledging Ethiopian sovereignty. Makonnen Endelkachew was named as Prime Minister and on 19 December 1944, the final Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement was signed.

In the peace treaty of February 1947, Italy officially renounced sovereignty over its African colonies. Eritrea was placed under British military administration for the duration, and in 1950, it became part of Ethiopia. After 1945, Britain controlled both Somalilands, as protectorates. In November 1949, the United Nations granted Italy trusteeship of Italian Somaliland under close supervision, on condition that Somalia achieve independence within ten years.[13] British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland, the Trust Territory of Somalia (ex-Italian Somaliland) became independent on 1 July 1960 and the territories united as the Somali Republic.[14]: 835

## Colonial administration

[edit]

Main articles: List of governors-general of Italian East Africa and List of governors of the governorates of Italian East Africa

Italian East African 100 lira banknote The Italian-era Ethiopian electric power corporation building, Addis Ababa

The colony was administered by a Viceroy of Ethiopia and Governor General of Italian East Africa, appointed by the Italian king. The dominion was further divided for administrative purposes into six governorates, further divided into forty commissariati.

### Territory

[edit]

Main article: Governorates of Italian East Africa

When established in 1936, Italian East Africa consisted of the old Italian possessions in the Horn of Africa: Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, combined with the recently conquered Empire of Ethiopia.[3] Victor Emmanuel III of Italy consequently adopted the title of "Emperor of Ethiopia", although this was not recognized by any country other than Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The territory was divided into the six governorates: Eritrea and Somalia, consisting of the respective former colonies, enlarged with territory from Ethiopia. The remainder of "Italian Ethiopia" consisted of the Harar, Galla-Sidamo, Amhara, and Addis Abeba Governorates. The Addis Abeba Governorate was enlarged into the Scioa Governorate with territory from neighboring Harar, Galla-Sidamo and Amhara in November 1938.

Italian East Africa was briefly enlarged in 1940, as Italian forces invaded British Somaliland, thereby bringing all Somali territories, aside from the small colony of French Somaliland, under Italian administration. However, the enlarged colony was dismembered only a year later, when in the course of the East African campaign the colony was occupied by British forces.[15]

### Economic development

[edit]

Map showing in red the new roads (like the "Imperial road", and those in construction in 1941) created by the Italians in Ethiopia and AOI[16]

Fascist colonial policy in Italian East Africa had a divide and conquer characteristic. To weaken the Orthodox Christian Amhara people who had run Ethiopia in the past, territory claimed by Eritrean Tigray-Tigrinyas and Somalis was given to the Eritrea Governorate and Somalia Governorate.[17]: 5 Reconstruction efforts after the war in 1936 were partially focused on benefiting the Muslim peoples in the colony at the expense of the Amhara to strengthen support by Muslims for the Italian colony.[17]: 5

Italy's Fascist regime encouraged Italian peasants to colonize Ethiopia by setting up farms and small manufacturing businesses.[17]: 5 However, few Italians came to the Ethiopian colony, with most going to Eritrea and Somalia. While Italian Eritrea enjoyed some degree of development, supported by nearly 80,000 Italian colonists,[18] by 1940 only 3,200 farmers had arrived in Ethiopia, less than ten percent of the Fascist regime's goal.[17]: 6 Continued insurgency by native Ethiopians, lack of natural resources, rough terrain, and uncertainty of political and military conditions discouraged development and settlement in the countryside.[17]: 6

The Italians invested substantively in Ethiopian infrastructure development. They created the "imperial road" between Addis Ababa and Massaua, Addis Ababa and Mogadishu and Addis Ababa - Assab.[19] 900 km of railways were reconstructed or initiated (like the railway between Addis Ababa and Assab), dams and hydroelectric plants were built, and many public and private companies were established in the underdeveloped country. The most important were: "Compagnie per il cotone d'Etiopia" (Cotton industry); "Cementerie d'Etiopia" (Cement industry); "Compagnia etiopica mineraria" (Minerals industry); "Imprese elettriche d'Etiopia" (Electricity industry); "Compagnia etiopica degli esplosivi" (Armament industry); "Trasporti automobilistici (Citao)" (Mechanic & Transport industry).

Italians even created new airports and in 1936 started the Linea dell'Impero, a flight connecting Addis Ababa to Rome. The line was opened after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia and was followed by the first air links with the Italian colonies in Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East Africa), which began in a pioneering way since 1934. The route was enlarged to 6,379 km and initially joined Rome with Addis Ababa via Syracuse, Benghazi, Cairo, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum, Kassala, Asmara, Dire Dawa.[20] There was a change of aircraft in Benghazi (or sometimes in Tripoli). The route was carried out in three and a half days of daytime flight and the frequency was four flights per week in both directions. Later from Addis Ababa there were three flights a week that continued to Mogadishu, capital of Italian Somalia.

Asmara station on the Eritrean Railway in 1938, with passengers boarding a Littorina

The most important railway line in the African colonies of the Kingdom of Italy, the 784 km long Djibouti-Addis Ababa, was acquired following the conquest of the Ethiopian Empire by the Italians in 1936. The route was served until 1935 by steam trains that took about 36 hours to do the total trip between the capital of Ethiopia and the port of Djibouti. In 1938 following the Italian conquest, train speed was increased with the introduction of four high capacity railcars "type 038" derived from the model Fiat ALn56.[21]

These diesel trains were able to reach 70 km/h and so the time travel was cut in half to just 18 hours: they were used until the mid 1960s.[22] At the main stations there were some bus connections to the other cities of Italian Ethiopia not served by the railway.[23] Additionally, near the Addis Ababa station was created a special unit against fire, that was the only one in all Africa.[24]

However Ethiopia and Africa Orientale Italiana (AOI) proved to be extremely expensive to maintain, as the budget for the fiscal year 1936-37 had been set at 19.136 billion lira to create the necessary infrastructure for the colony.[17]: 5 At the time, Italy's entire yearly revenue was only 18.581 billion lira.[17]: 5

The architects of the Fascist regime had drafted grandiose urbanistic projects for the enlargement of Addis Ababa, in order to build a state-of-the-art capital of the Africa Orientale Italiana, but these architectural plans -like all the other developments- were stopped by World War II.[25]

### Education

[edit]

Prior to Fascism, education in Italian East Africa had primarily been the responsibility of both Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries. With Mussolini's rise to power, government schools were created which eventually incorporated the Catholic missionaries' educational programmes while those of the Protestant missionaries became marginalised and circumscribed. Andrea Festa, who was made director of the central office governing primary education in Eritrea in November 1932, declared in 1934 that Fascist efforts in education needed to ensure that native Africans were "acquainted with a little of our civilisation" and that they needed to "know Italy, its glories, and ancient history, in order to, become a conscious militia man in the shade of our flag." Such education initiatives were designed to train Africans in a variety of practical tasks useful to the Fascist regime as well as to indoctrinate them with the tenets and lifestyle of Fascist ideology with the aim of creating citizens obedient and subservient to the state. Their propagandistic nature was especially apparent in history textbooks issued to African children, which entirely omitted any discussion of events such as Italian disunity, Giuseppe Mazzini's "Young Italy" movement, the revolutions of 1848, or Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand and instead stressed the "glories" of the Roman Empire and those of the Italian state that claimed to be its successor. Glorification and lionisation of Mussolini and his "great work" likewise pervaded them, while periods during which Libya and other then-Italian possessions had been controlled by older, non-Italian empires, such as the Ottoman Empire, were portrayed through an unflattering lens. Use of the Fascist salute was mandatory in schools for African children, who were constantly encouraged to become "little soldiers of the Duce", and every day there was morning ceremony at which the Italian flag was hoisted and patriotic songs were sung. Italian children, whose education the Fascist government prioritised over that of Africans, received education similar to that in Fascist Italy's metropole, though with some aspects of it tailored to the local situation in East Africa. Fascist Italy sought to neutralise any educational institutions which provided instruction to Africans beyond the level expected by Fascist ideology, in particular the secondary education network that prior to the Italian invasion had prepared and enabled a relatively small but significant amount of Ethiopians to study abroad at universities in Europe.

In February 1937, following an attempt on the life of Rodolfo Graziani, educated Ethiopians, already having been distrusted by colonial government authorities and many having already been placed in concentration camps, became victims of state-sponsored mass murder, with much of the intelligentsia of Ethiopia being executed and the remainder exiled to penal colonies on Italian-controlled islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Fascist education in the colony proved to be a failure in the end, with only one twentieth of Italian colonial soldiers possessing any literacy. During World War II, which saw the liberation of Italian East Africa from Fascism, few Africans displayed any loyalty to the Fascist state that the state's schools had so fervently tried to instill, and Ethiopia post-World War II found itself impoverished of skilled workers due to the very limited and propagandistic education provided to its non-Italian inhabitants under Mussolini's rule.[26]

### Demographics

[edit]

Italian settlers in Massawa Administrative subdivisions of Italian East Africa

In 1939, there were 165,267 Italian citizens in the Italian East Africa, the majority of them concentrated around the main urban centres of Asmara, Addis Ababa and Mogadishu. The total population was estimated around 12.1 million, with a density of just over 6.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (18/sq mi). The distribution of population was, however, very uneven. Eritrea, with an area of 230,000 km2 (90,000 sq mi), had a population estimated in about 1.5 million, with a population density of 6.4/km2 (16.7/sq mi); Ethiopia with an area of 790,000 km2 (305,000 sq mi) and a population of some 9.5 million, had a resulting density of 12/km2 (31/sq mi); sparsely populated Italian Somaliland finally, with an area of 700,000 km2 (271,000 sq mi) and a population of just 1.1 million, had a very low density of 1.5/km2 (4/sq mi).[27]

English | Capital | Total population[2] | Italians[2] | Tag | Coat of Arms

|
|
|
|
|

Amhara Governorate | Gondar | 2,000,000 | 11,103 | AM |
Eritrea Governorate | Asmara | 1,500,000 | 72,408 | ER |
Galla-Sidamo Governorate | Jimma | 4,000,000 | 11,823 | GS |
Harar Governorate | Harar | 1,600,000 | 10,035 | HA |
Scioa Governorate | Addis Ababa | 1,850,000 | 40,698 | SC |
Somalia Governorate | Mogadishu | 1,150,000 | 19,200 | SOM |

### Italian atrocities

[edit]

In February 1937, following many murders of Italian and Eritrean soldiers and an assassination attempt on Italian East Africa's Viceroy, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, Italian soldiers raided the famous Ethiopian monastery Debre Libanos, where the assassins were believed to have taken refuge, and executed the monks and nuns.[17]: 5 Afterwards, Italian soldiers destroyed native settlements in Addis Ababa, which resulted -according to Ethiopian estimates- in nearly 30,000 Ethiopians being killed and their homes left burned to the ground.[17]: 5 [28] The massacre has come to be known as Yekatit 12.[29]

After the massacres, Graziani became known as "the Butcher of Ethiopia".[30] He was subsequently removed by Mussolini and replaced by Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who followed a more conciliatory policy towards the natives, obtaining a huge success in pacifying Ethiopia.[31]

By the eve of the Italian entry into the Second World War (January/February 1940) the Ethiopian guerrillas were still in control of some areas of Harar and the Galla-Sidamo Governorate. Amedeo's conciliatory efforts obtained that Abebe Aregai, then the last leader of the "Arbegnoch" (as the guerrilla fighters were called in Ethiopia) made a surrender proposal to the Italians in the spring of 1940 (after the 1939 surrender of Ethiopian leaders Zaudiè Asfau and Olonà Dinkel).[32] The Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 and British influence blocked the surrender proposal.

## See also

[edit]

* List of governors-general of Italian East Africa
* List of governors of the governorates of Italian East Africa
* Dubats
* Political history of Eastern Africa
* Italian Ethiopia
* Italians of Ethiopia
* Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia
* Italian African Police
* Italian East African lira
* Augusto Turati
* Languages of Africa
* Armed Forces of Italian Empire in "Africa Orientale italiana"

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The full title was Viceroy of Ethiopia and Governor General of Italian East Africa.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Page, Melvin E; Sonnenburg, Penny M (2006). Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural and Political Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 1054\. ISBN 9781576077627. OCLC 690378095.
2. ^ a b c Istat (December 2010). "I censimenti nell'Italia unita I censimenti nell'Italia unita Le fonti di stato della popolazione tra il XIX e il XXI secolo ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI STATISTICA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI DEMOGRAFIA STORICA Le fonti di stato della popolazione tra il XIX e il XXI secolo" (PDF). Annali di Statistica. XII. 2: 263. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
3. ^ a b Fuller, Mia (2016). Ben-Ghiat, Ruth (ed.). Italian Colonialism. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 9781403981585. OCLC 961059564.
4. ^ "Italian East Africa". World Statesmen. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
5. ^ Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry, Thomas P. "Ethiopia in World War II". A Country Study: Ethiopia. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 29 October 2004. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
6. ^ Metaferia, Getachew (2001). "Review of Eritrea and Ethiopia: The Federal Experience". Journal of Third World Studies. 18 (2): 287–293. ISSN 8755-3449. JSTOR 45193981. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
7. ^ a b c Kallis, Aristotle A (2000). Fascist Ideology: Territory and Expansionism in Italy and Germany, 1922-1945. London: Routledge. p. 124\. ISBN 9780203170373. OCLC 48139682.
8. ^ "Ethiopia 1935–36". icrc.org. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2006.
9. ^ James Burgwyn, H. (1997). Italian Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period, 1918–1940. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780275948771. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
10. ^ Jochim, Mark (10 March 2017). "Italian East Africa #1 (1938)". A Stamp A Day. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
11. ^ a b c Playfair, Ian Stanley Ord; Molony, Chartres James Chatterton; Stitt, George Marquis Stewart; Toomer, Sydney Edward (1954). The Mediterranean and Middle East. OCLC 504230580.
12. ^ Italian Map showing with green lines the territories conquered in 1940 by the Italians in Sudan and Kenya. British and French somaliland are shown in white, as part of the A.O.I. (Africa Orientale Italiana). It also shows the last areas of Italian stand before surrender in 1941
13. ^ Zolberg, Aristide R; Aguayo, Sergio; Suhrke, Astri (1992). Escape from Violence: Conflict and the Refugee Crisis in the Developing World. Oxford University Press. p. 106\. ISBN 9780195079166. OCLC 718241912.
14. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica (15th ed.). Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica. 2002. ISBN 978-0-85229-787-2.
15. ^ Clapham, Christopher (1984). "The Horn of Africa". In Crowder, Michael (ed.). The Cambridge history of Africa. Vol. 8, From c. 1940 to c. 1975. Crowder, Michael, 1934-1988. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 460\. ISBN 9781139054621. OCLC 317592773.
16. ^ "More detailed map". Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cannistraro, Philip V (1982). Historical Dictionary of Fascist Italy. Greenwood. ISBN 9780313213175. OCLC 185703605.
18. ^ "Italian industries and companies in Eritrea". Archived from the original on 29 April 2009.
19. ^ "1940 Article on the special road Addis Abeba-Assab and map (in Italian)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
20. ^ "AFRICA in "Enciclopedia Italiana"". www.treccani.it. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
21. ^ "LE CHEMIN DE FER FRANCO ETHIOPIEN ET DJIBOUTO ETHIOPIEN". www.train-franco-ethiopien.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
22. ^ "LE CHEMIN DE FER FRANCO ETHIOPIEN ET DJIBOUTO ETHIOPIEN". www.train-franco-ethiopien.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
23. ^ "LE CHEMIN DE FER FRANCO ETHIOPIEN ET DJIBOUTO ETHIOPIEN". www.train-franco-ethiopien.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
24. ^ ""Pompieri ad Addis Abeba" (in Italian)". Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
25. ^ "Addis Abeba 1939 Urbanistic and Architectural Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011.
26. ^ Pankhurst, Richard (1972). "Education in Ethiopia during the Italian Fascist Occupation (1936-1941)". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 5 (3): 361–396. doi:10.2307/217091. JSTOR 217091.
27. ^ Royal Institute of International Affairs (24 August 1940). "Italian Possessions in Africa: II. Italian East Africa". Bulletin of International News. 17 (17): 1065–1074.
28. ^ Sarti, Roland (1974). The Ax Within: Italian Fascism in Action. New Viewpoints. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-53-106367-5. OCLC 600764772.
29. ^ Campbell, Ian (2007). ""Yekatit" 12 Revisited: New Light on the Strike Against Graziani". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 40 (1/2): 135–154. ISSN 0304-2243. JSTOR 41988224.
30. ^ Mockler, Anthony (1985). Haile Selassie's War: The Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1939–1941. Random House. ISBN 978-0-39-454222-5. OCLC 516514436.
31. ^ Knox, MacGregor (2005). Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War. ACLS History E-Book Project. p. 150\. OCLC 278096179.
32. ^ Bahru Zewde, "A History of Modern Ethiopia", second edition (Oxford: James Currey, 2001), pp. 172f

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Antonicelli, Franco (1961). Trent'anni di storia italiana 1915-1945 (in Italian). Turin: Einaudi. p. 387.
* Brioni, Simone; Gulema, Shimelis Bonsa, eds. (2017). The Horn of Africa and Italy: Colonial, Postcolonial and Transnational Cultural Encounters. Oxford: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-1-78707-993-9.
* Calchi Novati, Gian Carlo (2019). L'Africa d'Italia (in Italian). Rome: Carrocci. ISBN 978-8843096589.
* Mauri, Arnaldo (1967). Il mercato del credito in Etiopia (in Italian). Milan: Giuffrè. pp. XVI, 504.
* Mockler, Anthony (1984). Haile Selassie's War: The Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1935–1941. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-54222-3.
* Tuccimei, Ercole (1999). La Banca d'Italia in Africa, Presentazione di Arnaldo Mauri, Laterza, Bari, ISBN 88-420-5686-3 [in Italian].
* Di Lalla, Fabrizio (2014). Le italiane in Africa Orientale. Storie di donne in colonia (in Italian). Chieti: Solfanelli Editore. ISBN 978-8874978342.
* Di Lalla, Fabrizio (2016). Sotto due bandiere. Lotta di liberazione etiopica e resistenza italiana in Africa Orientale (in Italian). Chieti: Solfanelli Editore. ISBN 978-8874979325.

## External links

[edit]

* Italian East African Armed Forces, 10 June 1940
* 1940 Colonial Brigade, 10 June 1940
* Ascari: I Leoni di Eritrea/Ascari: The Eritrean Lions
* Geographic map of Italian business community in Africa (December 2012)

* v
* t
* e

Italian Empire

Subdivisions|

| Western Mediterranean|

* Southeastern France
* Monaco
* Corsica

|

Balkans|

* Albania
* World War I
* World War II
* Islands of the Aegean
* Independent State of Croatia
* Dalmatia
* Greece
* Hellenic State
* Principality of the Pindus
* Ionian Islands
* Italian Province of Lubiana
* Governorate of Montenegro

Horn of Africa|

* Italian Eritrea
* Italian Somaliland
* Oltre Giuba
* Italian East Africa
* Eritrea Governorate
* Somalia Governorate
* British Somaliland
* Amhara Governorate
* Harar Governorate
* Galla-Sidamo Governorate
* Scioa Governorate
* Italian Ethiopia

Libya|

* Tripolitania
* Cyrenaica
* Italian Libya
* Tripoli Province
* Misrata Province
* Benghazi Province
* Derna Province
* Southern Military Territory

Far East|

* Italian concession of Tientsin
* Concessions & Forts of Italy in China

Planned expansion|

* Adalia
* Egypt
* Majorca
* Tentative to occupy French Somaliland
* Kenya
* Sudan
* Malta
* Ticino, Valais and Grisons
* Tunisia

The Italian empire before WWII is shown in red. Pink areas were annexed/occupied for various periods between 1940 and 1943. Italian concessions and forts in China are not shown.

Settlers and Irredentism|

| Settlers and colonists|

* Albania
* Dodecanese
* Eritrea
* Ethiopia
* Libya
* Somalia

|

Irredentism|

* Corsica
* Nice
* Savoy
* Dalmatia
* Istria-Venezia Giulia
* Malta
* Switzerland
* Corfu

Architecture|

| Governmental|

* Governor's Palace (Mogadishu)
* Governor's Palace (Tripoli)
* Governor's Palace (Asmara)
* Asmara Presidential Palace (Asmara)

|

Civilian|

* Mogadishu Cathedral
* Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara
* Benghazi Cathedral
* Tripoli Cathedral
* Cinema Impero
* Fiat Tagliero Building
* Marble Arch
* Asmara Theatre
* Lighthouse "Francesco Crispi" (Cape Guardafui)

Urbanism|

* Italian Tripoli
* Mogadishu under Italian rule
* Italian Benghazi
* Italian Asmara
* Italian Massaua
* Addis Abeba under Italian rule

Infrastructure|

* Mogadishu–Villabruzzi Railway
* Ethio-Djibouti Railways
* Eritrean Railway
* Asmara-Massawa Cableway
* Railway stations in Eritrea
* Rail transport in Somalia
* Via Balbia
* Via della Vittoria
* Linea dell'Impero
* Italian Libya Railways
* Libyan Railway stations
* History of Italian colonial railways

Political concepts|

* Greater Italy
* Mare Nostrum
* New Roman Empire
* Spazio vitale
* Fourth Shore
* Third Rome

Police and military|

* Italian African Police
* Bands (Italian Army irregulars)
* Zaptié
* Dubat
* Savari
* Spahis
* Royal Corps of Colonial Troops
* Eritrean Ascari
* Somali Ascari
* Ascari del Cielo
* Italian 1st Eritrean Division
* Italian 2nd Eritrean Division
* 1st Libyan Division Sibille
* 2nd Libyan Division Pescatori
* Italian Libyan Colonial Division
* Italian Somali Divisions (101 and 102)
* Maletti Group
* Legione Redenta
* Italian guerrilla units (A.O.I.)

Currencies and Stamps|

* Eritrean tallero
* Italian East African lira
* Italian Somaliland lira
* Italian Somaliland rupia
* Somalo
* Postage stamps and postal history of Italian East Africa
* Postage stamps and postal history of Oltre Giuba
* Postage stamps of Italian Libya

* v
* t
* e

Eritrea italiana (Colonia Primigenia)

Main authorities|

* King & Emperor Vittorio Emanuele III
* Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
* List of governors-general of Italian East Africa

Eritrea Italiana. Red points are the new borders of Eritrea, enlarged in 1936 in the Governorate of Eritrea

Governors|

* Italian Governors of Eritrea
* Governorate of Eritrea: Pietro Badoglio, Alfredo Guzzoni, Vincenzo De Feo, Luigi Frusci

General History|

* Italian Eritrea
* Eritrea Governorate
* Battle of Kassala
* Battle of Dogali
* First Italo-Ethiopian War
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* East African Campaign
* Battle of Keren
* Red Sea Flotilla
* Eritrea (colonial ship)

Infrastructures|

* Eritrean Railway
* Asmara-Massawa Cableway
* Railway stations in Eritrea
* Linea dell'Impero
* Asmara International Airport
* Massaua International Airport
* Otumlo Airport
* Governor's Palace (Asmara)
* Asmara Presidential Palace (Asmara)
* Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara
* Cinema Impero
* Cicero Stadium
* Fiat Tagliero Building
* Asmara's Opera

Related articles|

* Italian Eritreans
* Imperial Italy
* Italian East Africa
* Asmara under Italian rule
* Massaua under Italian rule
* Italian language in Eritrea
* Liceo Marconi di Asmara
* Eritrean tallero
* Italian East African lira
* Banca per l'Africa Orientale
* Postage stamps and postal history of Italian East Africa
* Eritrean Catholic Church
* Italian Eritrean cuisine
* Football in Italian Eritrea
* GS Asmara
* GS Melotti
* Asmara circuit
* Asmara Brewery
* Vincenzo DiMeglio

Colonial troops|

* Eritrean Ascari
* Royal Corps of Colonial Troops
* Italian 1st Eritrean Division
* Italian 2nd Eritrean Division
* Italian guerrilla units (A.O.I.)
* Italian African Police
* Bands
* Zaptié
* Spahis

* v
* t
* e

Etiopia italiana

Main authorities|

* King & Emperor Vittorio Emanuele III
* Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
* List of governors-general of Italian East Africa

Governors|

* List of governors of the Governorates of Italian East Africa

Main colonial governors: Agenore Frangipani; Guglielmo Nasi; Enrico Cerulli; Pietro Gazzera; Luigi Frusci; Alessandro Pirzio Biroli

General History|

* Italian Ethiopia
* Amhara Governorate
* Harar Governorate
* Galla-Sidamo Governorate
* Scioa Governorate
* First Italo-Ethiopian War
* Abyssinia Crisis
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Gondrand massacre
* Italian invasion of British Somaliland
* Italian attacks in Kenya
* Italian tentative to occupy French Somaliland
* East African Campaign
* Last stand at Amba Alagi
* Battle of Gondar
* Battle of Culqualber
* Italian guerrilla war in A.O.I. (1941-1943)

Infrastructures|

* New roads in Italian Ethiopia
* Linea aerea dell'Impero
* Ivo Olivetti aeroporto
* Italian colonial railways
* Ethio-Djibouti Railways
* Addis Ababa Stadium

Related articles|

* Italian Ethiopians
* Addis Abeba under Italian rule
* Imperial Italy
* Italian East Africa
* 40th Infantry Division Cacciatori d'Africa
* Italian East African lira
* Postage stamps and postal history of Italian East Africa
* Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia

Related personalities|

* Prince Amedeo d'Aosta
* Rodolfo Graziani
* Tito Minniti
* Luciano Violante
* Elisa Angela Meneguzzi
* Carla Maria Puccini
* Rosa Dainelli
* Amedeo Guillet

Colonial troops|

* Royal Corps of Colonial Troops
* Italian African Police
* Armed Forces of Italian East Africa
* Bands
* Dubats

* v
* t
* e

Italian Somaliland

Main authorities|

* King & Emperor Vittorio Emanuele III
* Prime Minister Benito Mussolini
* List of governors-general of Italian East Africa
* Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi

Governors|

* Italian Governors of Somalia
* Main Colonial governors: Vincenzo Filonardi; Giacomo De Martino; Cesare Maria De Vecchi; Maurizio Rava; Rodolfo Graziani; Carlo De Simone

General history|

* Italian Somaliland
* Oltre Giuba
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Somalia Governorate
* Italian invasion of British Somaliland
* Italian tentative to occupy French Somaliland
* East African Campaign
* Italian guerrilla war in A.O.I. (1941–1943)
* Trust Territory of Somaliland
* Italy–Somalia relations

Infrastructure|

* Mogadishu–Villabruzzi Railway
* Railway stations in Italian Somaliland
* Linea dell'Impero
* Petrella Airport
* Villa Somalia
* Governor's Palace of Mogadishu
* Porto di Mogadiscio
* Museo della Garesa
* Stadio Coni Mogadiscio
* Saline Dante
* Lido Beach

Related articles|

* Italian Somalis
* Mogadishu under Italian rule
* Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi
* Genale
* Vittorio
* Port of Merca
* Dam of Genale Doria
* Banaadir
* Mogadiscio circuit
* Associazione Calcio Mogadiscio
* Faro Guardafui/F. Crispi
* Imperial Italy
* Italian East Africa
* Italian East African lira
* Italian Somaliland lira
* Italian Somaliland rupia
* Somalo
* Banca per l'Africa Orientale
* Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia
* Postage stamps and postal history of Eritrea
* Postage stamps and postal history of Oltre Giuba
* Catholic Church in Somalia
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadishu
* Mogadishu Cathedral
* Italian language in Somalia
* Sentinels of Bronze
* Royal Banana Monopoly

Colonial troops|

* Royal Corps of Colonial Troops
* Royal Corps of Somali Colonial Troops
* Italian Somali Divisions (101 and 102)
* Dubats
* Italian African Police
* Bands
* Zaptié

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Vatican
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

9°2′48″N 38°45′28″E﻿ / ﻿9.04667°N 38.75778°E﻿ / 9.04667; 38.75778
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