Italian Somalia began as a rented leasehold of twenty-five years.

Evidence

The Italian claim to the Benadir coastal strip, for this was all it was, was strengthened in 1892 when the Sultan of Zanzibar ceded the ports of Brava, Merca, Mogadishu, and Warsheikh directly to Italy for a term of twenty-five years, the annual rent being fixed at 160,000 rupees. The Italians were free to derive what profit they might from the coast and to administer it, but it still remained the property of the Sultan. … Here the new rulers of the coast were represented by an Arab agent and a small garrison of twenty native soldiers. These were the modest beginnings of the colony which the Italians were to use forty-five years afterwards as their principal base for the conquest of Ethiopia. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 167

Categorization

• XREF: Resonates with the book’s irony: Italy’s later invasion of Ethiopia was launched from Somali territory originally rented from the Zanzibar Sultan. — connects to: Italy acquired its Somali coastal claims through treaty and sublease in 1889. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 166

Related

• Italy acquired its Somali coastal claims through treaty and sublease in 1889. (similarity 0.90)
• Italy acquired its Somali protectorates through private treaties with clan sultans (similarity 0.82)
• Great-power expediency delivered Somalia back to Italy for ten years (similarity 0.79)
• Italy’s 1935 Ethiopian invasion briefly united three Somali territories under one colonial power (similarity 0.79)
• Italy invaded and declared war on Ethiopia on October 3, 1935 (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Italy acquired its Somali coastal claims through treaty and sublease in 1889. #expands (0.75) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 166