The Dervish war failed to alter Italian colonial ambitions in Somalia

Evidence

Sayyid Muhammad ‘Abdille Hassan’s war, while it had sometimes delayed and impeded the gradual extension of Italian rule, had not caused the Italians to alter their colonial plans or deflected them from the purpose of creating an economically profitable possession whose agricultural potential might be exploited by settlers from the mother country. Not that economic considerations were the only factors; Italian prestige was already at stake and became an increasingly significant motive as time passed. Nor had the activities of the Dervishes prevented the Italians from appreciating the benefits of a policy of winning Somali goodwill as a means, not only of safeguarding their position in Somalia, but also of expanding their influence into the Ethiopian sphere. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 258 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Dervish holy war strengthened alien rule rather than ending it; The Dervish war did not deflect Italian colonial plans or aims — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 258; the MOC “The Nation That Couldn’t Hold: How Somali Clanship, Colonial Partition, and Pan-Somali Dreams Pulled the Seams Apart”

Related

• The Dervish war did not deflect Italian colonial plans or aims (similarity 0.98)
• The Dervish holy war strengthened alien rule rather than ending it (similarity 0.91)
• The Dervish holy war backfired by entrenching alien rule deeper (similarity 0.88)
• The Dervish war left British Somaliland undeveloped and bitterly mistrustful (similarity 0.81)
• Italian colonial policy sought active expansion while British policy was passive coastal defense (similarity 0.81)
• Britain’s Somaliland empire grew as an unintended consequence of the Dervish war (similarity 0.81)
• Italy’s 1935 Ethiopian invasion briefly united three Somali territories under one colonial power (similarity 0.79)
• Warsangeli defection to the Dervishes signaled renewed warfare (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The Dervish war did not deflect Italian colonial plans or aims #corroborates (0.95) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 258