Italian Colonies Research Articles

The Libyan askaris on the eve of national independence: two life stories across different strategies of intermediation

ABSTRACT Italian colonial authorities heavily relied on the askaris (i.e. native soldiers) throughout the history of colonialism to alleviate the economic and political burdens of colonial warfare. For that, the askaris became privileged intermediaries for the Italians and emerged as a de facto elite within colonial society, seeking social mobility for themselves and their families. After the end of the Second World War, the askaris lost their role as soldiers, but gained new relevance as political intermediaries for Italian or British plans regarding the final resolution of the Italian colonies affaire. The article delves into the life stories of two askaris, which were documented by the author on 3rd November 2009, in Tripoli. Their memories highlight the relationships of friendship or intimacy that existed with the colonisers and showcase the askaris’ ability to downplay colonial elements of domination and oppression through their intermediation. Being an askar entailed, on one hand, questioning the political and racial boundaries of society, and on the other hand, challenging the agendas of nationalist groups. The transition to independence indeed involved a struggle between colonisers and the colonised, as well as among various groups of colonial subjects, all vying for power within the post-colonial State and society.

“The blinding disease”. The history of trachoma in Italians between the 19th and 20th centuries: colonial or national blindness?

ABSTRACT Trachoma is one of the oldest known causes of blindness in humans and it is caused by the intracellular Gram-negative bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis serovars A, B, Ba and C. Its transmission has historically been related to poorness, overcrowded housing and scarce hygiene. We have traced the history of trachoma in Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries, among people living in Italy, those who immigrated to America and the population in the colonies, with a focus on Libya (1912–1943). Trachoma knowledge and perception in Italy and in its colonies was ambiguous during the 19th and 20th centuries. Trachoma was responsible for a great morbidity on both sides of the Mediterranean, in Italy as well as in Libya. Trachoma is still one of the leading infectious causes of preventable blindness worldwide and it was widespread in Italy and the Italian colonies in the first half of the last century.

Power, knowledge, and being: the emergence and persistence of coloniality in Libya

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the debate on coloniality (Quijano 2000a, b) by analysing the case of Libya, an Italian colony from 1911 to 1943. It demonstrates how the triple form of domination – ontological, epistemological and political-military-administrative – to which Libya was subjected during Italian colonisation, has survived its end and persists to this day in the relations between Libya and the Western world. From an ontological perspective, the Italians developed a racist representation of the Libyans, which was both the cause and the consequence of a conscious disregard of its specificities. Today, domination endures in the label attributed to Libya as a ‘failed state’, along with a general disinterest in the complexity of its history and society. From an epistemological perspective, the production of knowledge about Libya was dominated by Western scholars. This led to a Western perspective in which the agency of the Libyans was often neglected and to the spread of analytical and conceptual frameworks that serve the imperialistic claims of Western powers. Some of these colonialist analytical frameworks still exist in academia today. From a political-military-administrative perspective, the tendency of the Italians to exacerbate internal divisions while simultaneously imposing an inefficient model of a unified state remains relevant. This article makes two contributions: it is a case study and a theoretical one.

‘Entirely white’? Female immigrants and domestic work in Italy (1960s–1970s)

AbstractRecently, a renewed history of foreign immigration in Italy, focusing on the very first migration flows after the Second World War, has offered a more appropriate periodisation of the phenomenon. Women have been at the forefront of these flows, which were initially determined by the new postcolonial setting of the former Italian colonies (Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia). Subsequently, the immigrants came from various other countries (Spain, Cape Verde, Portugal, El Salvador, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ceylon, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan). At the same time, the majority of them were employed in a specific sector of the labour market: domestic work. This article focuses on female immigrants who were employed as domestic workers, their presence in public discourse in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s, and government policies in this area. Drawing on statistical data and surveys, press and audiovisual materials, and feminist theory and practices, it aims to analyse the construction of paradigms – visibility, invisibility, subalternity, rights and racialisation – associated with female immigration and domestic work as a specific sector of employment.

Accounting for colonial domination in Liberal and Fascist Italy, 1912–1941

This article addresses the role played by accounting in the government of the Italian colonies of Africa during the Liberal and Fascist periods. Drawing upon the work of Foucault, Scott and Said and their understandings of governmentality and colonialism, and using a wide range of primary sources, the article contributes to the accounting history literature by showing how calculative practices in the form of colonial budgets and regular censuses of the population helped the Italian government to control activities in its colonies. The article shows how accounting practices evolved under different political regimes in the achievement of different programmes of government. It also offers evidence of the ways in which accounting can be mobilised to enable penetrating interventions in the lives of indigenous populations.

Citizens, Subjects, Enemies: The First World War and Citizenship Policies in the Italian Colonies

There are few research fields in European history that have received as much scholarly attention over the last few years as citizenship and the First World War. While this is also true for the Italian case, there is still a striking absence of research on citizenship laws in the colonial territories under Italian sovereignty. The present article addresses this gap and challenges the long-established assumption – due to an all too narrow focus on the historical military framework – that the First World War did not really affect the colonies of the Kingdom of Italy. An investigation of how the legal status of the colonial population – especially in Eritrea, on the one hand, and in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, on the other – was regulated, but also contested, claimed and negotiated, both during the conflict and in its immediate aftermath, reveals that a global event like the First World War actually had a significant impact on the Italian territories in the Horn of Africa and in North Africa. To illustrate this point, the article adopts an approach based on local players in the colonies rather than on legislators or policymakers in the metropole. Contemporary sources collected from several different archives are used to retrace personal stories and administrative processes which reveal important aspects in the story not only of Italian colonialism but of the Italian state in general. Citizenship in the Italian territories in Africa, as much as in other European colonies, was marked by the prejudicial concept of the backwardness of Africans, who were thus excluded from metropolitan citizenship. Beyond that, the article highlights utilitarianism as a concept that can help us to understand how Italy dealt with the inhabitants of its colonies during the First World War.

Africa for the Africans? Risorgimento Republicans and Cosmopolitan Nationalists in an Age of Empire

Within a few decades, the Italian people went from a partially colonized to colonizing power. A number of Italian patriots, therefore, who had espoused the ideals of self-determination, republicanism, and cosmopolitan nationalism, found themselves grappling with the rapid entry into colonization of the nation they had fought so hard to create. This article examines the thoughts and ideas of a select group of these individuals: Aurelio Saffi, Agostino Bertani, Alberto Mario, and Jessie White Mario. Focusing on their arguments in the 1880s and 1890s, it examines their reaction to the establishment of the French protectorate in Tunisia (1881), the British invasion of Egypt and defeat of Ahmad ʿUrabi's seemingly nationalist movement (1882), and the development of the Italian colony in East Africa. Throughout, the article emphasizes the shared importance of the civilizing mission in the ideology of both Italian cosmopolitan nationalism and colonialism. Though left-wing thinkers like Saffi or Bertani fervently argued for the freedom of nationalities and a brotherhood of peoples, their belief that a people needed to be sufficiently advanced for self-government, and that not all peoples were equally ready for that stage, allowed them to justify aspects of Italy's African empire. By examining their differing treatment of the people of Egypt, Tunisia, and East Africa, moreover, the article shows the extent and complexity of their classification of civilizations. While they showed a high level of sympathy for the more ‘Europeanized’ Egyptians, they viewed the people of Eritrea as ‘savages’ in need of Italian guidance and intervention. Finally, the article shows how they attempted to distinguish their version of benign and respectful colonization from the more avaricious or aggressive practices of the French or British empires.

A Brief History of Anesthesia in Somaliland.

A Brief History of Anesthesia in Somaliland.

The ancient roots of dentistry in the Mediterranean civilizations: between Etruscan and Greek traditions up to the time of imperial Rome.

Etruscans, people living in Etruria (Umbria and Tuscany, Italy), were the first to make dentures and false teeth, from 700 BCE onwards. The aim of this study was to investigate, through archaeological and anthropological records, the Etruscans ability in dental practice to understand better Greek's influence on their medical knowledge and, subsequently, the transmission of their medical expertise to Romans. We extensively searched literature to find out references in previous studies on Etruscan medical and dental practice by using keywords such as "Etruscan medicine" and "Etruscan dentistry." We selected various historical papers, from the ancient age texts of 5th century to 2020, which best focused on the review's purpose. Etruscan civilization was influenced by Greek's culture throughout Italian colonies and later "merge" into Greek-Roman culture. Their medical practice based on a mixture of mythology, religion, and technical abilities, especially regarding metalworking. Archaeological remains show a great competence in creating dental prosthesis and in treatment of oral diseases. The results of this paper provide an evident contribution to the knowledge of Etruscan culture, still largely unknown by an anthropological point of view, and their strong relationship with the Greeks colonies, in a profitable cultural exchange.

Money and the Regularisation of African Soldiers in the Early Phase of Italian Colonialism in Eritrea

The article focusses on transformations in the military labour regimes brought about by the recruitment of African soldiers during the early years of the Italian colony of Eritrea, by analysing colonial reports, correspondence and official regulations. On the one hand, it demonstrates that the lack of complete political control forced the Italians to adapt to the local multiple currency system for the building and maintenance of the indigenous corps. On the other hand, it shows that money was employed in colonial discourse and practice as a tool to facilitate the regularisation of indigenous soldiers.

Magistério imigrante: professores e professoras nas Colônias Eslavas e Italianas no Paraná (1878-1938)

ABSTRACT This article deals with the different profiles of teachers of Slavic and Italian ethnic schools in Paraná from the late 19th century to 1938, covering the beginning of schooling experiences until compulsory nationalization. The objective is to discuss who these teachers were and the perspectives of Governments and the Church concerning their professional performance and tensions established to the office of the magisterium in the incorporation of legal precepts. The research question is to understand who the teachers in immigrant schools were, how the state represented them and sought to control their actions, and how these teachers mobilized themselves concerning the difficult task of teaching. The empirical ballast comprises official documents such as Government Reports, educational legislation, and institutional records of the ethnic schools and religious congregations. The results indicate different teaching profiles: from elected community members with no pedagogical training to those with professional training, such as priests, holy women, and intellectuals. In the 1920s, the Government of Paraná intensified the process of nationalizing children through schooling, which mobilized the ethnic school associations to launch tactics to confront state actions and qualify teachers.

Immigrant teaching: male and female teachers in the Slavic and Italian Colonies in Paraná (1878-1938)

RESUMO Este artigo versa sobre os diferentes perfis dos professores das escolas étnicas italianas e eslavas no Paraná, do final do século XIX a 1938, período que abrange o início das experiências de escolarização até a nacionalização compulsória. Objetiva-se discutir quem eram estes docentes e quais foram as perspectivas dos Governos e da Igreja com relação a sua atuação profissional e tensões estabelecidas ao ofício do magistério na incorporação dos preceitos legais. A questão de pesquisa consiste em compreender quem eram os professores das escolas de imigrantes, como o Estado os representou e buscou controlar suas ações, e como esses professores se mobilizaram em relação a difícil tarefa de ensinar. O lastro empírico é composto por documentos oficiais como: os Relatório de Governo, a legislação educacional, documentos institucionais das escolas étnicas e das congregações religiosas. Os resultados indicam que existiram diferentes perfis docentes: desde membros eleitos pela comunidade sem formação pedagógica até aqueles com qualquer formação profissional como os padres, as religiosas e os intelectuais. Nos anos de 1920, o governo do Paraná intensificou o processo de nacionalização das crianças por meio da escola, e isso mobilizou as associações escolares étnicas, a lançar táticas que buscassem enfrentar as ações estatais e qualificar os professores.

From Divided to Diasporic: Re-envisioning Italian American Texts through Transformative Translingual Practices

From Divided to Diasporic: Re-envisioning Italian American Texts through Transformative Translingual Practices

Revealing the Maltese Tripolini, Victims of Italian Internment Policies During the Second World War (1940–1945)

Abstract: In June 1940 Italy set in motion a series of provisions for the internment of enemy aliens on the mainland and its colonies. Over the next few years, the entire community of Maltese Tripolini – all British subjects by birth or ancestry who for decades had been settled in Tripoli and Benghazi – faced detention, exile, expulsion, and deportation. The Italian Governor of Libya cited the need ‘to repress the espionage inherent in treacherous elements’ among the ‘political and military reasons’ for the deportations. Despite the nature of the circumstances, historiography has ignored the whole episode. Using untapped primary sources held in Maltese, British and Italian archives, this paper delves into the deportation of whole families from the Italian colony of Libya and explains the spatial, temporal, and legal contexts. These same sources have made possible the naming of all the anglo-maltesi , known to have been placed in concentration camps or subjected to internamento in comune libero . It concludes that 1,672 Maltese Tripolini were deported from Tripoli to Italy, equivalent to nine-tenths of the community. Sources also reveal the names of those born in concentration camps and the circumstances of those who lost their lives during internment.

Blowing Against the Winds of Change: Settlers Facing Decolonization in Eritrea, 1941–52

The literature on decolonization in settler contexts is characterized by an almost exclusive focus on the Anglo-French world, and by a marked emphasis on violence as the predominant feature of the settlers’ reaction to change. This article aims to challenge this assumption. Eritrea – like the other former Italian colonies – is certainly a peculiar case of early, top-down decolonization; but the actors on the field were anything but passive spectators. In the 10 years in which the international community decided the fate of Eritrea, there were a lively political confrontation and an armed struggle with anti-colonial nuances, while the settlers organized themselves politically to defend their interests. The complex variety of strategies with which they reacted to the end of colonial power constitutes an example of the non-binary relationship between former colonizers and former colonized; it enriches our knowledge of how whites reacted to decolonization in Africa; and it helps to complicate the monolithic idea of settlers as an undifferentiated transnational category.

Making visible the invisible: Colonial sources and counter body-archives in the boarding schools for Black “mixed race” Italian children in fascist East Africa

ABSTRACT This article examines life conditions for Black “mixed race children” in the boarding schools of former Italian colonies in East Africa by taking into account both archival colonial sources and oral sources. It problematizes the very notion and function of colonial archival spaces by conceiving “the Archive” as a locus of power characterized by inherent practices of invisibilization in which whiteness has been historically institutionalized and maintained. In contrast, the article suggests the idea of the “body-archive”, namely epidermic and carnal counter-archives of bodies, marked – and scarred – by the histories of colonialism and whiteness. By providing a reading of archival colonial sources “against the grain”, the analysis demonstrates how the gaps, the silences, and the unwritten present in “the Archive” can be filled by the voices and memories of (post)colonial subjects whose counter-narratives may unveil hidden dynamics of power embedded within ideas of knowledge rooted in colonial paradigms.

Italian and British policy in Yemen between two world wars

Based on the documents of the National Archives of India, including diplomatic correspondence of the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Colonies, minutes of meetings classified as "secret", this article reveals the features of the policy of Italy and Great Britain in the south of the Arabian Peninsula in the 20-30s of the XX century. The relevance of this article topic lies in the fact that even after 100 years, in the 20s of the XXIst century, Yemen remains as the object of interference by the external actors, rivalry and attempts to divide this country. The article examines the methods used by Italy and Great Britain to expand their influence in the Red Sea, in particular, attempts to win over the ruler of Asir al-Idrisi and the ruler of Northern Yemen Imam Yahya. It was revealed that Great Britain and Italy focused their efforts on unleashing the Saudi-Yemeni war, aiming to weaken Yemen and Hijazo-Nejd. At the same time, each of the parties hoped to strengthen their own influence in the Red Sea basin. The article shows that Italy had certain economic interests in Yemen. The use of Yemen as a market for Italian products, the profitable trade of the famous Yemeni coffee, the monopoly on the sale of petroleum products in Yemen and other trade advantages provided by Imam Yahya in return for Italian aid, allowed the Italians to receive some additional profits. The reorientation of Yemeni trade from Aden to Massawa would significantly reduce the role of the British colony and increase the importance of Italian colony Eritrea. As a result of the study, it is concluded that the rivalry in the south of the Arabian Peninsula between Great Britain and Italy, in which the ruler of Northern Yemen, Imam Yahya, saw the threat of a new enslavement of Yemen, largely contributed to the choice of isolation policy, which, on the one hand, helped to preserve the independence of the country, but, on the other hand, slowed down the economic and socio-political progress of Yemen.

Some comments on the spread of the Black Death in Russia and Eurasia

The article analyzes the process of the «Black Death» in the spaces of Eurasia and Russia. In the light of the latest advances in Yersinia pestis paleogenetics, epidemiology, climatology, and the study of historical sources, a host of scientific questions were resolved. This first affected a number of well-established historical facts since the bombing by troops of the Golden Horde Khan of Janibik in 1346 of the besieged Italian colony in the Crimea of Kafa. Many of them, despite all the scientific advances that have been made to date, have received little critical consideration. At the same time, the biggest shortcomings of the study of the Black Death until recently were the lack of a unified theoretical point of view. The article therefore focused on the convergence of the existing concepts of the emergence and spread of the second plague pandemic in Eurasia in the middle Ages. The study identified in pandemic processes the role of different types of plague hotspots, climate change, anthropogenic factors, urban development in densely populated areas and the road network of the Eurasian space. The poly variate start and implementation of the pandemic waves «Black Death» was recognized. The data thus obtained have allowed the motorist to rethink some of the issues related to the chronological interpretation of the events of the second plague pandemic.

‘With a minimum of bitterness’: decolonization, the right to self-determination, and the Arab-Asian group

AbstractIn the late 1940s, postcolonial elites expanded the activities of the United Nations (UN) by using it as a platform to advance decolonization and foster Third World solidarity. The Arab-Asian group was the earliest manifestation of institutional cooperation among postcolonial nations after 1945. Initially comprised of twelve Arab and Asian UN member-states, the Arab-Asian group coordinated their diplomatic activities as part of an effort to bring national self-determination to the forefront of international debate. However, the emergence of the Arab-Asian group at the UN revealed a confluence of different political ideologies and approaches to decolonization in the early postwar era. Forging a network of postcolonial elites brought out divergent visions for the postwar international order, illustrated by the frictions within the Arab-Asian group even as it played key roles in the UN debates on the questions of Indonesia, the former Italian colonies in Africa, and the Korean War. The Arab-Asian group, an important antecedent to Afro-Asianism, Third Worldism, and non-alignment, encountered challenges over parallel projects pursued by its members, such as Carlos Romulo’s campaign for a Pacific Pact among non-communist Asian states or Jawaharlal Nehru’s articulation of neutralism. Therefore, while postwar international organizations were a formative setting for the emergence of postcolonial internationalism and South-South solidarity, the common goals pursued by these states did not always translate into uniformity or consensus on decolonization.

Hidden Spaces of Empire: Italian Colonists in Nineteenth-Century Peru

Abstract Among the clichés in modern European history, one of the most common is of Italy as ‘the least of the Great Powers’, unable to punch above its weight in the international arena and classed as a ‘latecomer’ to imperial conquest. In this article, I suggest instead that historians have been looking in the wrong place, and in the wrong period, for evidence of Italian ambition. By concentrating on territorial acquisitions in Africa, they are assessing only a small, relatively unproductive and arguably atypical slice of Italy’s global presence. I argue that even before national unification, and long before acquiring a formal Empire, Italy built a global influence structured by the activities of overseas migrants. Yet, despite the recent ‘turn’ to global history and the stress on diversity in colonial experience, the chronology and geography of the European nation-state still shape our understanding of nineteenth-century Empire. Looking at the hugely successful Italian colony in Peru, at both its commercial and scientific interests and at a violent attempt to establish a settler colony in Chanchamayo, in the Peruvian Amazon, I argue that this Italian world was driven not a nation state but relied instead on a common culture, a culture that was created by a capacity for local assimilation, by Catholic notions of civilisation and by ideas of white racial superiority. Modern imperialism was shaped as much by ‘lesser’ powers, often before – or without – the nation-state, and in continuity with the practices of the early-modern period. Moreover, mundane migrants could be the most successful empire-builders. I conclude with a call to take note of the full and diverse range of nineteenth-century colonial activities, and not to assume the primacy of formal Empires in the period of ‘High Imperialism.’