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Somalia Somalia During World War II
Italy's 1935 attack on Ethiopia led to a temporary Somali
reunification. After Italian premier Benito Mussolini's armies
marched into Ethiopia and toppled Emperor Haile Selassie, the
Italians seized British Somaliland. During their occupation
(1940-41), the Italians reamalgamated the Ogaden with southern
and northern Somalilands, uniting for the first time in forty
years all the Somali clans that had been arbitrarily separated by
the Anglo-Italo-Ethiopian boundaries. The elimination of these
artificial boundaries and the unification of the Somali Peninsula
enabled the Italians to set prices and impose taxes and to issue
a common currency for the entire area. These actions helped move
the Somali economy from traditional exchange in kind to a
monetarized system.
Thousands of Italians, either veterans of the Ethiopian
conquest or new emigrants, poured into Somalia, especially into
the interriverine region. Although colonization was designed to
entrench the white conquerors, many Somalis did not fare badly
under Italian rule during this period. Some, such as the Haaji
Diiriye and Yuusuf Igaal families, accumulated considerable
fortunes. One indicator of the Somali sense of relative wellbeing may have been the absence of any major anti-Italian revolt
during Italy's occupation.
At the onset of World War II, Italian holdings in East Africa
included southern Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Italy
subsequently invaded northern Somalia and ejected the British
from the Horn of Africa. The Italian victory turned out to be
short-lived, however. In March 1941, the British counterattacked
and reoccupied northern Somalia, from which they launched their
lightning campaign to retake the whole region from Italy and
restore Emperor Haile Selassie to his throne. The British then
placed southern Somalia and the Ogaden under a military
administration.
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