Kratos
Sonder
Title is a bit provocative and this is a long read, but hear me out:
Colonisation by European powers is generally regarded as a bad thing and a lot of African countries claim that their current problems are long-term consequences inherited from their colonial history. However, that can't really be said for Somalia. The British technically didn't colonise Somaliland (mainly due to disinterest in the region) and have a largely negligible historical presence there; except for maybe Berbera. The Italians only colonised the South but signed treaties with the Majerteen Sultanates. Although the territory of the Majerteen was annexed by 1927, they still retained a high degree of autonomy and governed themselves and it was only for a relatively short amount of time (14 years). The Italians also didn't settle in these regions or build anything there. Compare that to Ethiopia who actually lost the second war to Italy and were occupied for 6 years, but are still credited with having avoided colonisation even though the Italians began settlement and the construction of significant infrastructure projects.
The Italians also didn't really do anything that bad either. The reason why European colonialism is universally viewed as such a terrible thing is because people associate it with the notoriously infamous type of colonialism that occurred in places such as the Belgian Congo and the atrocities that were committed there. Enforced labour (slavery), ethnic genocide, cultural and linguistic genocide, as well as religious imperialism just to name a few. None of these things happened in Somalia. The Italians only enslaved the Bantus. But then again, Benadiris and some southern ethnic Somalis like Abgaal and Bimaal had Bantu slaves anyway. They were only upholding the status quo of the region at that time. Have you ever wondered why there aren't that many christian Somalis? It's because the Italians didn't really try to enforce Christianity. In fact, they left Islam alone as the state religion. They built a cathedral but they were the only ones who attended it. Muqdisho had the highest standard of living out of all the African colonies, for both the colonists and the local inhabitants. In contrast, the Congolese were getting severely karbashed during this time period.
They even supported Greater Somalia. They invaded British Somaliland and liberated Somali galbeed from the Amxaar and established the Somali governate (as part of Italian East Africa). This is the only time in history Somaliweyn has been united. Then, when the SYL was formed and the British took back Somaliland and the Italians lost the second world war along with their colonies, they were made to sign an agreement which gave them trusteeship over "Italian Somalia" under the condition that it would gain independence in 10 years. They accepted the terms and unlike the bastard British who dismantled everything they built in their former colonies (railways and other infrastructure in India) before leaving, the Italians did no such thing. Infrastructure and educational development actually increased significantly during this 10 year period. This culminated in the emergence of Africa's first democrats upon independence.
Overall I would say that the Italians did a good job . I'm not saying that they were perfect and had noble intentions. Of course they weren't. But the positives outweigh the negatives. When Somalia gained independence we were in a very good position to build a fantastic nation. We had a democratically elected government, access to higher education, one of the most developed capitals in all of sub-Saharan Africa and a relatively homogeneous population. We even had af-Soomali as our official language. Compare this to some of the other countries in Africa who have a million different official languages or the ones who use English or French in government and education. Things should not have gone as wrong as they did. The only negative thing we inherited are the stupid borders but that's because of the bastard British and the greedy Amxaar and Kenyaati; our true enemies. Maybe if the Italians won the 2nd world war then Somaliweyn would be united today.
Colonisation by European powers is generally regarded as a bad thing and a lot of African countries claim that their current problems are long-term consequences inherited from their colonial history. However, that can't really be said for Somalia. The British technically didn't colonise Somaliland (mainly due to disinterest in the region) and have a largely negligible historical presence there; except for maybe Berbera. The Italians only colonised the South but signed treaties with the Majerteen Sultanates. Although the territory of the Majerteen was annexed by 1927, they still retained a high degree of autonomy and governed themselves and it was only for a relatively short amount of time (14 years). The Italians also didn't settle in these regions or build anything there. Compare that to Ethiopia who actually lost the second war to Italy and were occupied for 6 years, but are still credited with having avoided colonisation even though the Italians began settlement and the construction of significant infrastructure projects.
The Italians also didn't really do anything that bad either. The reason why European colonialism is universally viewed as such a terrible thing is because people associate it with the notoriously infamous type of colonialism that occurred in places such as the Belgian Congo and the atrocities that were committed there. Enforced labour (slavery), ethnic genocide, cultural and linguistic genocide, as well as religious imperialism just to name a few. None of these things happened in Somalia. The Italians only enslaved the Bantus. But then again, Benadiris and some southern ethnic Somalis like Abgaal and Bimaal had Bantu slaves anyway. They were only upholding the status quo of the region at that time. Have you ever wondered why there aren't that many christian Somalis? It's because the Italians didn't really try to enforce Christianity. In fact, they left Islam alone as the state religion. They built a cathedral but they were the only ones who attended it. Muqdisho had the highest standard of living out of all the African colonies, for both the colonists and the local inhabitants. In contrast, the Congolese were getting severely karbashed during this time period.
They even supported Greater Somalia. They invaded British Somaliland and liberated Somali galbeed from the Amxaar and established the Somali governate (as part of Italian East Africa). This is the only time in history Somaliweyn has been united. Then, when the SYL was formed and the British took back Somaliland and the Italians lost the second world war along with their colonies, they were made to sign an agreement which gave them trusteeship over "Italian Somalia" under the condition that it would gain independence in 10 years. They accepted the terms and unlike the bastard British who dismantled everything they built in their former colonies (railways and other infrastructure in India) before leaving, the Italians did no such thing. Infrastructure and educational development actually increased significantly during this 10 year period. This culminated in the emergence of Africa's first democrats upon independence.
Overall I would say that the Italians did a good job . I'm not saying that they were perfect and had noble intentions. Of course they weren't. But the positives outweigh the negatives. When Somalia gained independence we were in a very good position to build a fantastic nation. We had a democratically elected government, access to higher education, one of the most developed capitals in all of sub-Saharan Africa and a relatively homogeneous population. We even had af-Soomali as our official language. Compare this to some of the other countries in Africa who have a million different official languages or the ones who use English or French in government and education. Things should not have gone as wrong as they did. The only negative thing we inherited are the stupid borders but that's because of the bastard British and the greedy Amxaar and Kenyaati; our true enemies. Maybe if the Italians won the 2nd world war then Somaliweyn would be united today.