Conclusion

Abstract

In the first chapter of this book I stated that Italian colonialism had different features from any other model: it was poor and ‘ragamuffin’, and basically it remained marginal to the majority of the Italian public. The expansionist aims of politicians at the beginning of the twentieth century were a tool with which Rome could try to gain the status of a great power. Italian colonialism began in the Red Sea, despite the fact that there was no historical link between Italy and the Horn of Africa, but as Italy was a latecomer, it could start its expansion more easily in this region. Italian attempts at economic exploitation of its colonies were mostly unsuccessful, not only in terms of raw materials, in which Eritrea and Somalia (the oldest colonies) are poor, but also in the attempt to settle large Italian communities in those territories. This was particularly true in the case of Somalia, the colony with the smallest Italian community. In an economic sense the colonies of the Horn of Africa became a handicap which generated intense debate among politicians concerning the real benefits from investing in the colonial effort. During the first decade of the Fascist era the features of Italian colonies remained generally unchanged, but the repression of anti-Italian movements such as the one in Libya led by Omar Al-Mukhtar became bloody and unforgiving.