Italian Somaliland
Before 1892, Mogadishu was under the joint control of the Somali Geledi Sultanate (which, also holding sway over the Shebelle region in the interior, was at the height of its power) and the Arab Sultan of Zanzibar. In 1892, the sultan of Zanzibar leased the city to Italy. Italy in 1905 made Mogadiscio the capital of Italian Somaliland.
In 1926, after a bloody repression by governor Cesare Maria De Vecchi, southern Somalia was fully pacified and started to enjoy a period of economic development. The Somali colonial troops called Dubats and the gendarmerie Zaptié were extensively used by De Vecchi in this military Campaign of the Sultanates.
In the early 1930s, the new Italian governors, Guido Corni and Maurizio Rava, started a policy of non-coercive assimilation of locals. Many Mogadishu residents were subsequently enlisted into the Italian colonial troops, and thousands of Italian settlers moved to live in the city. Mogadishu also re-assumed its historic position as an important commercial centre, with some small manufacturing companies established within the city limits and in some agricultural areas around the capital, such as Genale and Jowhar (Villaggio duca degli Abruzzi).
Mogadishu underwent a period of infrastructural expansion in the late 1930s, with new buildings and avenues such as the Arch of Triumph erected. In 1936, the city had a population of 50,000 inhabitants of which 20,000 were Italian Somalians. The Italian settlers also connected the city to Jowhar via 114 km railway and a newly-asphalted Imperial Road leading toward to Addis Ababa.
In 1941, British forces invaded and occupied Mogadishu and Italian Somaliland at large as part of the East African Campaign of World War II.
Read more about this topic: History Of Mogadishu
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