Editing Somaliland (section)

=== British Somaliland ===
{{Main|Somaliland campaign|Somaliland campaign (1920)|Italian conquest of British Somaliland}}
[[File:Corriere Della Sera - 17 agosto 1940 - Offensiva in Africa - titolo.JPG|upright|thumb|left|{{centre|The Italian newspaper ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' covering the start of the [[British Somaliland]] offensive}}]]
The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in the [[Horn of Africa]], pitting the [[Dervish state|Dervishes]] led by [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]] (nicknamed the "Mad Mullah") against the [[British Empire|British]].<ref name="RdDPF">Nicolle (1997), 5.</ref> The British were assisted in their offensives by the [[Empire of Ethiopia|Ethiopians]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italians]]. During the [[First World War]] (1914–1918), Hassan also received aid from the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], [[German Empire|Germans]] and, for a time, from the Emperor [[Iyasu V of Ethiopia]]. The conflict ended when the British [[Somaliland campaign (1920)|aerially bombed]] the Dervish capital of [[Taleh]] in February 1920.<ref name="zwS5A">{{cite web|url=https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=249|title=Italian Invasion of British Somaliland|website=WW2DB.com|date=10 February 2017|access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref>

The Fifth Expedition of the [[Somaliland campaign]] in 1920 was the final [[British Empire|British]] expedition against the [[Dervish State|Dervish]] forces of [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan]], the [[Somali people|Somali]] religious leader. Although most of the combat took place in January of the year, British troops had begun preparations for the assault as early as November 1919. The British forces included elements of the [[Royal Air Force]] and the [[Somaliland Camel Corps]]. After three weeks of battle, Hassan's Dervishes were defeated, bringing an effective end to their 20-year resistance.<ref name="Baker">{{cite book |title=From Biplane to Spitfire |last=Baker |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Baker (author) |year=2003 |publisher=[[Pen And Sword Books]] |isbn=0-85052-980-8 |pages=161–162}}</ref> It was one of the bloodiest and longest militant movements in sub-Saharan Africa during the colonial era, one that overlapped with World War I. The battles between various sides over two decades killed nearly a third of Somaliland's population and ravaged the local economy.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard H. Shultz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NswzCgAAQBAJ|title=Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat|author2=Andrea J. Dew|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-231-12983-1|pages=67–68}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Michel Ben Arrous|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4PQK68LNtjcC|title=African Studies in Geography from Below|author2=Lazare Ki-Zerbo|publisher=African Books|year=2009|isbn=978-2-86978-231-0|page=166}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Robert L. Hess|year=1964|title=The 'Mad Mullah' and Northern Somalia|journal=The Journal of African History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=5|pages=415–433|doi=10.1017/S0021853700005107|jstor=179976|number=3|s2cid=162991126}}</ref>

The Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a military campaign in East Africa, which took place in August 1940 between forces of [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] and those of several British and [[British Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] countries. The Italian attack was part of the [[East African campaign (World War II)|East African campaign]].<ref name="hG8Mf">{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/raf-caps/air-power-in-british-somaliland-1920-the-arrival-of-gordons-bird-men-independent-operations-35cd9191f445|title=Air Power In British Somaliland, 1920: The Arrival Of Gordon's Bird-Men, Independent Operations And Unearthly Retributions|website=Medium.com|date=18 October 2019|access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref>