Editing History of Somalia (section)

==20th century==
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}
In 1920, the Dervish movement collapsed after intensive British aerial bombardments, and Dervish territories were subsequently turned into a [[protectorate]]. The dawn of fascism in the early 1920s heralded a change of strategy for Italy, as the north-eastern sultanates were soon to be forced within the boundaries of ''La Grande Somalia'' according to the plan of [[Italian Fascism|Fascist Italy]]. With the arrival of Governor [[Cesare Maria De Vecchi]] on 15 December 1923, things began to change for that part of [[History of Somaliland|Somaliland]]. Italy had access to these areas under the successive protection treaties, but not direct rule. The Fascist government had direct rule only over the [[Benadir]] territory Given the defeat of the Dervish movement in the early 1920s and the rise of fascism in Europe, on 10 July 1925, [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] gave the green light to De Vecchi to start the takeover of the north-eastern sultanates. Everything was to be changed and the treaties abrogated.
[[File:Taleh Castle.jpg|thumb|left|[[Taleh]] was the capital of the Dervish movement.]]

Governor De Vecchi's first plan was to disarm the sultanates. But, before the plan could be carried out, there had to be sufficient Italian troops in both sultanates. To make the enforcement of his plan more viable, he began to reconstitute the old Somali police corps, the ''Corpo Zaptié'', as a colonial force.

In preparation for the invasion plan of the sultanates, the [[Alula District|Alula]] Commissioner, E. Coronaro received orders in April 1924 to carry out a reconnaissance on the territories targeted for invasion. In spite of the 40-year Italian relationship with the sultanates, Italy did not have adequate knowledge of the geography. During this time, the Stefanini-Puccioni geological survey was scheduled to take place, so it was a good opportunity for the expedition of Coronaro to join with this.

Coronaro's survey concluded that the [[Majeerteen|Ismaan Sultanate]] (Majeerteen) depended on sea traffic, therefore, if this were blocked, any resistance that could be mounted after the invasion of the sultanate would be minimal. As the first stage of the invasion plan, Governor De Vecchi ordered the two Sultanates to disarm. The reaction of both sultanates was to object, as they felt the policy was in breach of the protectorate agreements. The pressure engendered by the new development forced the two rival sultanates to settle their differences over possession of [[Nugal, Somalia|Nugaal]], and form a united front against their common enemy.

The [[Sultanate of Hobyo]] was different from that of the Majeerteen in terms of its geography and the pattern of the territory. It was founded by [[Yusuf Ali Kenadid]] in the middle of the 19th century in central Somalia. Its jurisdiction stretched from [[El Dher District|Ceeldheer]] (El Dher) through to [[Dhusamareb]] in the south-west, from Galladi to [[Galkayo]] in the west, from [[Jariban]] to Garaad in the north-east, and the Indian Ocean in the east.

[[File:Bimal elders on board the Marco Polo.jpg|thumb|[[Bimaal]] clan elders and the Bimal Sultan on board ''[[Italian cruiser Marco Polo|Marco Polo]]'' discussing matters with Italian figures]]

By 1 October, De Vecchi's plan was to go into action. The operation to invade Hobyo started in October 1925 . Columns of the new Zaptié began to move towards the sultanate. Hobyo, [[El Buur|Ceelbuur]] (El Buur), Galkayo, and the territory between were completely overrun within a month. Hobyo was transformed from a sultanate into an administrative region. Sultan Yusuf Ali surrendered. Nevertheless, soon suspicions were aroused as Trivulzio, the Hobyo commissioner, reported movement of armed men towards the borders of the sultanate before the takeover and after. Before the Italians could concentrate on the Majeerteen, they were diverted by new setbacks. On 9 November, the Italian fear was realized when a mutiny, led by one of the military chiefs of Sultan Ali Yusuf, [[Sultanate of Hobyo#Omar Samatar's Rebellion|Omar Samatar]], recaptured El Buur. Soon the rebellion expanded to the local population. The region went into revolt as El-Dheere also came under the control of Omar Samatar. The Italian forces tried to recapture El Buur, but they were repulsed. On 15 November, the Italians retreated to Bud Bud and on the way they were ambushed and suffered heavy casualties.

While a third attempt was in the last stages of preparation, the operation's commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Splendorelli, was ambushed between Bud Bud and Buula Barde. He and some of his staff were killed. As a consequence of the death of the commander of the operations and the effect of two failed operations intended to overcome the El Buur mutiny, the spirit of Italian troops began to wane. The Governor took the situation seriously and, to prevent any more failure, he requested two battalions from [[Eritrea]] to reinforce his troops, and assumed lead of the operations. Meanwhile, the rebellion was gaining sympathy across the country, and as far afield as [[Ogaden|Western Somalia]].

The fascist government was surprised by the setback in Hobyo. The whole policy of conquest was collapsing under its nose. The El-Buur episode drastically changed the strategy of Italy as it revived memories of the [[Battle of Adwa|Adwa fiasco]] when Italy had been defeated by Abyssinia. Furthermore, in the Colonial Ministry in Rome, senior officials distrusted the Governor's ability to deal with the matter. Rome instructed De Vecchi that he was to receive the reinforcement from Eritrea, but that the commander of the two battalions was to temporarily assume the military command of the operations and De Vecchi was to stay in Mogadishu and confine himself to other colonial matters. In the case of any military development, the military commander was to report directly to the Chief of Staff in Rome.

While the situation remained perplexing, De Vecchi moved the deposed sultan to Mogadishu. Fascist Italy was poised to re-conquer the sultanate by whatever means. To maneuver the situation within Hobyo, they even contemplated the idea of reinstating Ali Yusuf. However, the idea was dropped after they became pessimistic about the results.

To undermine the resistance, however, and before the Eritrean reinforcement could arrive, De Vecchi began to instill distrust among the local people by buying the loyalty of some of them. In fact, these tactics had better results than the military campaign had, and the resistance began gradually to wear down. Given the anarchy that would follow, the new policy was a success.

On the military front, Italian troops finally overran El Buur on 26 December 1925, and the forces of Omar Samatar were compelled to retreat to Western Somaliland.

By neutralising Hobyo, the fascists could concentrate on the Majeerteen. In early October 1924, E. Coronaro, the new Alula commissioner, presented Boqor (king) [[Osman Mahamuud]] with an ultimatum to disarm and surrender. Meanwhile, Italian troops began to pour into the sultanate in anticipation of this operation. While landing at Haafuun and Alula, the sultanate's troops opened fire on them. Fierce fighting ensued and to avoid escalating the conflict and to press the fascist government to revoke their policy, Boqor Osman tried to open a dialogue. However, he failed, and again fighting broke out between the two parties. Following this disturbance, on 7 October, the Governor instructed Coronaro to order the Sultan to surrender; to intimidate the people he ordered the seizure of all merchant boats in the Alula area. At [[Hafun]], Arimondi bombarded and destroyed all the boats in the area.
[[File:Mogadishu1936.jpg|thumb|Downtown Mogadishu in 1936. Arch of Triumph Umberto to the left, Cathedral and Arba Rucun mosque to the centre-right.]]
On 13 October, Coronaro was to meet Boqor Osman at [[Bargal|Baargaal]] to press for his surrender. Under siege already, Boqor Osman was playing for time. However, on 23 October, Boqor Osman sent an angry response to the Governor defying his order. Following this a full-scale attack was ordered in November. Baargaal was bombarded and destroyed to the ground. This region was ethnically compact, and was out of range of direct action by the fascist government of Muqdisho. The attempt of the colonizers to suppress the region erupted into explosive confrontation. The Italians were meeting fierce resistance on many fronts. In December 1925, led by the charismatic leader [[Hersi Boqor]], son of Boqor Osman, the sultanate forces drove the Italians out of Hurdia and Hafun, two strategic coastal towns. Another contingent attacked and destroyed an Italian communications centre at Cape Guardafui, at the tip of the Horn. In retaliation the ''Bernica'' and other warships were called on to bombard all main coastal towns of the Majeerteen. After a violent confrontation Italian forces captured [[Eyl]] (Eil), which until then had remained in the hands of Hersi Boqor. In response to the unyielding situation, Italy called for reinforcements from their other colonies, notably Eritrea. With their arrival at the closing of 1926, the Italians began to move into the interior where they had not been able to venture since their first seizure of the coastal towns. Their attempt to capture Dharoor Valley was resisted, and ended in failure.

De Vecchi had to reassess his plans as he was being humiliated on many fronts. After one year of exerting full force he could not yet manage to gain a result over the sultanate. In spite of the fact that the Italian navy sealed the sultanate's main coastal entrance, they could not succeed in stopping them from receiving arms and ammunition through it. It was only early 1927 when they finally succeeded in shutting the northern coast of the sultanate, thus cutting arms and ammunition supplies for the Majeerteen. By this time, the balance had tilted to the Italians' side, and in January 1927 they began to attack with a massive force, capturing [[Iskushuban]], at the heart of the Majeerteen. Hersi Boqor unsuccessfully attacked and challenged the Italians at Iskushuban. To demoralise the resistance, ships were ordered to target and bombard the sultanate's coastal towns and villages. In the interior, the Italian troops confiscated livestock. By the end of the 1927, the Italians had taken full control of the sultanate. Hersi Boqor and his troops retreated to Ethiopia in order to rebuild their forces, but were unable to retake their territories, effectively ending the ''Campaign of the Sultanates''.