Mogadishu under Italian rule


Mogadishu under Italian rule was the capital of Italian Somalia in the first half of the 20th century. Mogadishu was under direct Italian control from 1885 until February 1941, but formal control was only officially ended with the recognition of the independence of Ethiopia in the 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy following the end of World War II.

History

Benadir Company

The first Italian to write about "Mogadiscio" was Marco Polo, who knew of the city during his merchant travels in Asia. Italians entered the city only in the late 19th century, however, when the Italian chartered company Compagnia Filonardi, owned by Vincenzo Filonardi took control of facilities in the port of Mogadishu.
The city of Mogadishu came under Italian control in the 1880s after the Kingdom of Italy acquired the territory of Italian Somaliland. The early Benadir Company was a successor to Filonardi compagnia, both of whom were private companies whom nonetheless acted under the orders of the Italian government.

Direct governance

In 1905, it was made the capital of the territory. Due to Benadir Company difficulty with local discord, Italy began direct governance in 1906. The Italians subsequently referred to the city as Mogadiscio. After World War I, the surrounding territory came under Italian control with some resistance.p. 28
Thousands of Italians settled in Mogadishu and founded small manufacturing companies. They also developed some agricultural areas in the south near the capital, such as Janale and the Villaggio Duca degli Abruzzi.p. 233 In the 1930s, new buildings and avenues were built. A narrow-gauge railway was laid from Mogadishu to Jowhar. An asphalted road, the Strada Imperiale, was also constructed and intended to link Mogadishu to Addis Ababa.p. 41

World War II

In 1940, the Italo-Somali population numbered 22,000, accounting for over 44% of the city's population of 50,000 residents. Mogadishu remained the capital of Italian Somaliland throughout the latter polity's existence. In February 1941, during World War II it was captured by British forces.
After World War II Mogadishu was made the capital of the Trust Territory of Somaliland, an Italian administered fiduciary political entity under the ONU mandate, for ten years.