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Okay, today it's the day I finally tackle a very grim subject of Italian history. It's time I make a thread about
ITALIAN COLONIALISM
cw for... basically everything, tbh
1/?
ITALIAN COLONIALISM cw for... basically everything, tbh
1/?
Disclaimer: I've postponed talking about this subject for a long time, because I believe the discussion of colonialism should center the colonise people, and should not be told by the coloniser's view 2/?
However, at the same time, there is a lot of ignorance surrounding Italian colonialism. Many people, Italians first of all, dismiss my country's colonial past as just a sad, brief parenthesis of our history, and anyway not 'as bad as' French, English or Belgian colonialism 3/?
This is preposterous. Italian colonialism, especially during fascist years, was as bloody as you can get, and it shouldn't be dismissed or swept under the rug. Because of this, I feel it's my duty to make a thread about our colonial past and the crimes we committed 4/?
I will try to present the history of Italian colonialism in a factual way, because I don't want this to become a misery porn thread, but I won't shy away from the war crimes the Italian kingdom and the fascist regime committed. So, be mindful this thread can become very grim! 5/?
Okay, let's begin.
Italian colonialism began not with the fascist regime, but as soon as my country was born, in the late XIX century. At the time, the great European powers already colonised many African regions, and having colonies was basically a status symbol 6/?
Italian colonialism began not with the fascist regime, but as soon as my country was born, in the late XIX century. At the time, the great European powers already colonised many African regions, and having colonies was basically a status symbol 6/?
Italy wanted to prove its right to sit along the other European powers by having colonies of its own. It tried to set colonies in Asia - failing, apart from the small concessions of Tientsin and Shanghai - and Africa 7/?
The newborn Italian Kingdom didn't have much luck in Africa as well. First, it set its eyes on Nigeria and Tunisia, but the French made swift action to colonise those places first. Its first successful colony was the Assab bay, purchased by an Italian private company 8/?
From there, the Italian government wanted to expand in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eritrea was inhabited by native tribes under Egyptian or Ottoman rule, while Ethiopia was a kingdom ruled by Negus Negesti Yōhānnis and Negus Menelik in the south 9/?
The Italian colonial feat was ill advised from the start. Italy was not a rich country, nor did it have a powerful army. Why trying to colonise other countries? The main objective of the kingdom was to take more land to farm, in order to discourage emigration toward the US 10/?
Many historians describe Italian colonialism as 'ragged', 'poor'. And many Italian try to use this to brush aside the horror of Italian colonialism. But just if anything, the desperation and lack of resources made Italian colonising armies even more vicious 11/?
The colonisation of Eritrea and Somalia was relatively peaceful, as it was obtained by diplomatic negotiations with Egypt (which ruled part of the area) and Ethiopia. The conquest of Lybia, however, was another matter altogether. 12/?
Between 1911 and 1912, Italy fought the Ottoman Empire in order to conquest the regions of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The war was swift but bloody, and the Italians were not shy of committing war crimes. Infamous is the 'Tripoli Massacre' 13/?
In retaliation for an Ottoman attack, Italian troops systematically murdered thousands of civilians by moving through local homes and gardens one by one, including setting fire to a mosque with one hundred refugees inside 14/?
If it makes you feel any better, tho, the Lybian war was extremely expensive for the weak Italian state and basically bankrupted it. One of the European powers commented, seeing the sorry exploit of Italy in Lybia, that it was better not to have Italy as an ally after all 15/?
In 1922, with the advent of the fascist state, Italian colonialism became ever more bloody. During WWI, many regions of Lybia were liberated by the native population. So naturally, the fascist regime tried to regain control of those regions first. 16/?
It was terrible. During the '20s and '30s, summary executions became ordinary, as well as the use of illegal weapons such as chemical agents (among which the terrible mustard gas). In 1931, concentrations camps for Lybians were built, where mortality rate reached 50% 17/?
After conquering Lybia, Mussolini set his eyes on Ethiopia, which was a huge deal. Ethiopia was a very powerful state, so much that 40 years prior it had beaten the Italy during its attempted conquest (Battle of Adua). The first time a colonising power had his butt kicked! 18/?
Moreover, Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations (basically UN's grandfather). Mussolini tried to justify his aggression by wearing the good guy mantle, claiming he wanted to end slavery (still practiced in Ethiopia). But the LoN saw through the ruse. 19/?
Economical sanctions were enacted against fascist Italy... but they weren't enough. This time, Italy was not as weak a state, and was able to conquer Ethiopia. The violence against the Ethiopian people, however, didn't end with the conquest. 20/?
In 1937, right after the conquest, a group of rebels attacked the Italian governor. He was able to escape tho, and in retaliation he ordered his troops to pillage the Ethiopian capital - Addis Abeba - for three days. Between 3 and 6 thousands Ethiopians died in the carnage 21/?
(Ethiopians commemorate this even the 19th of February, in a day called 'Yekatit 12', it'll be nice if we Italians could do the same 21bis/?)
After these three days of violence, the Italian regime proceded to systematically destroy what remained of the Ethiopian upper class. Intellectuals, politicians, the clergy... all were imprisoned ad summarily executed. 22/?
In particular, there was a violent repression against the Coptic clergy. The Italian governor ordered all the monasteries to be destroyed, the monks killed. It's estimated that 19 thousands Ethiopians lost their lives at the end of the Italians 23/?
Italian colonialism was always fuelled by racism, as all the other colonialisms, but after the conquest of Ethiopia racism became law. The fascist regime was adamant in considering Italians part of the Aryan race, superior to Arabs and Africans. 24/?
Many think, in fact, that the conquest of Ethiopia planted the seeds for the Racial Laws against the Jews.
Italian colonialist history formally ended in 1943, with the end of the fascist regime and the conquest of its territories by the British Empire. 25/?
Italian colonialist history formally ended in 1943, with the end of the fascist regime and the conquest of its territories by the British Empire. 25/?
However, Italy never acknowledged its colonial crimes. The first antifascist governments never took an anti-colonialist stance. On the contrary, they /asked/ the Allied forces to have part of their colonies back! 26/?
In time, Italians were fed the narrative that Italian colonialism was different. That we didn't commit any crimes, that we went to Africa to build 'schools' and 'streets'. Historians were painfully silent, for example, on the use of toxic gas. 27/?
Things, luckily, are shifting recently and more and more people are becoming aware of Italy's colonial past. But the majority of Italians are either oblivious or willingfully ignorant, too deep in denial and too comfortable in the myth of 'Italiani brava gente' 28/?
But we will never be able to grow as a country and as people if we don't face our past and if we keep ignoring the bits of history we find uncomfortable. Because our discomfort can never compare to the damage we did in African countries. The pain of the people we killed 29/?
So, I want to leave my fellow Italians with a somber note. Think about the people we harmed, the horrors we committed, and stop making excuses. And please, get educated on colonialism as a whole, as too many people are already paying the price for that 30/?
You can find other threads about Italian history here: https://twitter.com/i/events/1300196333505179648
