Unlike Great Britain, France and even Portugal, Italy has never been one of the states with numerous and extensive colonial possessions. To begin with, Italy became a unified state only in 1861, after a long struggle for the unification of the feudal states and possessions of Austria-Hungary that existed on its territory. However, by the end of the 19th century, having significantly strengthened, the young Italian state began to think about expanding its political, economic and military presence on the African continent.
Moreover, the population in Italy itself was growing, since the birth rate was traditionally higher than in other European countries, and accordingly there was a need to relocate some of the Italians interested in improving their social status to "new lands", which could well become some areas of Northern or East Africa. Italy, of course, could not compete with Great Britain or France, but acquire several colonies, especially in those regions of Africa, where the British or French colonialists had not yet penetrated - why not?
It so happened that the first Italian possessions appeared in East Africa - on the shores of the Red Sea. In 1882, the Italian colonization of Eritrea began. This territory adjoined Ethiopia from the northeast, in fact, providing it with access to the Red Sea. The strategic importance of Eritrea lay in the fact that sea communication with the coast of the Arabian Peninsula was carried out through it, and then, through the Red Sea, there was an exit to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Italian expeditionary force relatively quickly settled in Eritrea, where the peoples of the Tigre, Tigray, Nara, Afar, Beja lived, close, respectively, to the Ethiopians or Somalis and racially representing an intermediate type between the Caucasian and Negroid races, also called Ethiopian. The population of Eritrea professed partly Eastern Christianity (the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which, like the Copts of Egypt, belongs to the Miafizite tradition), partly - Sunni Islam.
It should be noted that the Italian expansion into Eritrea was very active. By 1939, among the million population of Eritrea, at least one hundred thousand were Italians. Moreover, these were not only military personnel of the colonial troops, policemen and officials, but also representatives of various professions who arrived in the Red Sea colony to work, do business or just live. Naturally, the Italian presence could not but affect the way of life of the local population. So, among the Eritreans, Catholics appeared, the Italian language spread, it is difficult not to notice the contribution of Italians to the development of the infrastructure and culture of the Red Sea coast during the years of colonial rule.
warriors of the beja people
Since the Italians were not going to stop at the conquest of a narrow strip of land on the coast of the Red Sea and looked south - towards Somalia and south-west - towards Ethiopia, the Italian colonial authorities almost immediately faced the question of replenishing the units of the expeditionary corps. Initially, Colonel Tancredi Saletti, the first commander of the Italian Expeditionary Force in Eritrea, decided to use Albanian bashi-bazouks.
It is worth noting that the Albanians were traditionally considered good soldiers and served in the Turkish army, and after demobilization from it, they continued to move around the Turkish possessions and neighboring countries in search of work for their military qualifications. The group of Albanian mercenaries - bashibuzuk was created in Eritrea by the Albanian adventurer Sanjak Hasan and was used in the interests of local feudal lords. 100 Albanian soldiers were hired to become police and prison wardens in Massawa, home to the Italian administration of the colonial territories. It should be noted that Massawa at that time was the main trading port of Eritrea, through which the Red Sea communication was carried out.
In 1889, the Italian mercenary unit was expanded to four battalions and renamed Askari. The word "askari" in Africa and the Middle East was called warriors. The lower ranks in the battalions of Eritrean Askari began to be recruited on the territory of Eritrea, as well as from the number of Yemeni and Sudanese mercenaries - Arabs by nationality. The Royal Corps of Colonial Forces in Eritrea was formed, which in 1892 officially became part of the Italian Royal Army.
It should be noted that the inhabitants of the Red Sea coast have always been considered good warriors. Fearless Somali nomads, and even the very same Ethiopians, almost no one was able to completely subjugate. This is evidenced by the numerous colonial and post-colonial wars. The Eritreans fought especially valiantly. Ultimately, they managed to win their independence from Ethiopia, which is many times superior in population, technology and weapons, and in 1993, after a long and bloody war, became a sovereign state.
Askari were recruited from among the representatives of the majority of ethnic groups living in Italian East Africa, but the main language of communication among the soldiers' environment was still tigrinya. This language was spoken by the Tigers, who made up a significant part of the population of Eritrea. But the Afars were considered the most brave warriors. Since ancient times, this Kushite people have been engaged in nomadic cattle breeding and fishing on the Red Sea coast, while at the same time they are widely known as robbers of trade caravans. Up to the present time, any self-respecting afar does not part with weapons, only ancient swords and spears, as well as muskets from the colonial era, have long since replaced Kalashnikov assault rifles. No less militant were the nomadic Beja tribes - the Hadendoua, Beni-Amer and others, who speak the Kushite languages and also profess Sunni Islam, however, preserving many archaic traditions.
As part of the troops of Italian East Africa, Eritrean Askari from the very beginning played the role of a fighting core. Subsequently, as the Italian colonial presence expanded in the region, the colonial forces were increased by recruiting Ethiopians, Somalis and Arabs. But the Eritrean Askari remained the most elite unit due to their high combat capability and morale. The Askari battalions consisted of four companies, each of which in turn was divided into half companies.
The half-companies were commanded by "skimbashi" - non-commissioned officers who were placed between sergeants and lieutenants, that is, an analogue of warrant officers. Since only an Italian could receive a lieutenant rank in the colonial troops, the best of the best askari were selected for skimbashi. They not only showed themselves excellently in the art of war and were distinguished by discipline and loyalty to the command, but they could also reasonably explain themselves in Italian, which made them intermediaries between Italian officers and ordinary askari. The highest rank that an Eritrean, Somali or Libyan could have reached in the Italian colonial army was the title of "chief skimbashi" (obviously an analogue of a senior warrant officer), who performed the tasks of an assistant company commander. The natives were not awarded officer ranks, primarily due to the lack of the necessary education, but also on the basis of certain prejudices that the Italians had, despite their relative liberality in the racial issue compared to other colonialists.
The half-company included from one to four platoons, which were called "buluk" and were under the command of "bulukbashi" (analogue of a senior sergeant or foreman). Below was the rank of "muntaz", similar to a corporal in the Italian army, and actually "askari" - a private. To become a muntaz, that is, a corporal, had a chance for any soldier of the colonial units who knew how to explain themselves in Italian. Bulukbashi, or sergeants, were chosen from among the best and most experienced muntazes. As a distinctive sign of the Eritrean units of the Italian colonial army, first of all, red fez with colored tassels and multi-colored belts were adopted. The colors of the belts spoke of belonging to a particular unit.
eritrean askari
At the beginning of their history, Eritrean Askari were represented only by infantry battalions, but later cavalry squadrons and mountain artillery batteries were created. In 1922, units of "mecharist" were also formed - camel cavalry, indispensable in the desert. Camel riders had a turban as a headdress and were probably one of the most exotic in appearance colonial military units.
From the very beginning of their existence, Eritrean Askari took an active part in the colonial expansion of Italy in East and North-East Africa. They fought in the Italian-Abyssinian wars, conquered Italian Somalia, and later took part in the conquest of Libya. Eritrean Askari received combat experience, fighting in 1891-1894. against the Sudanese Mahdists, who now and then violated the borders of the Italian colonial possessions and incited local Muslims to jihad.
In 1895, Eritrean Ascari were mobilized to attack Ethiopia, for which the Italian colonial and central leadership had far-reaching plans. In 1896, Eritrean Ascari fought in the famous Battle of Adua, which ended in the fatal defeat of the Italians by the outnumbered Ethiopian army and signified Italy's abandonment of plans for the short-term conquest of Ethiopian lands.
However, the Italians managed to conquer the Somali lands, unlike Ethiopia. Local feudal lords could not rally against the colonialists and until the end of World War II, Somalia remained an Italian colony. From among the Somalis and Arabs, the Arab-Somali Askari battalions were formed, carrying out garrison and police service on the territory of Italian Somalia and sent to other regions of East Africa when the need arose.
Askari Arab-Somali Battalion
From 1924 to 1941 In the territory of Italian Somalia, units of "dubat" or "white turbans" were also serving, which were an irregular paramilitary formation designed to perform police and security functions and similar to the gendarmerie in other states. Unlike the Eritrean and Somali Askaris, the Italian colonial authorities did not bother with military uniforms with regard to Dubats, and these guards of the Somali deserts were dressed in the traditional clothes of their tribes - the so-called. "Futu", which was a cloth that encircled the body, and turbans, the ends of which fell over the shoulders. In the conditions of the Italo-Ethiopian war, only one adjustment was made - the too noticeable white fabric of the foot and turban was replaced by Italian officers with khaki fabric.
Dubats were recruited from representatives of the Somali clans who roamed the border of Italian Somalia. They were tasked with fighting the raids of armed nomadic bandits and the national liberation movement. The internal structure of the Dubats was similar to the Eritrean and Somali Askaris, primarily in that Italians also held officer positions in the units, and Somalis and Yemeni mercenaries served in privates and junior command positions.
dubat - fighter of the Somali irregulars
Ordinary Dubatov were selected among Somalis aged 18-35 years old, distinguished by good physical fitness and able to withstand a run of 60 kilometers for ten hours. By the way, the weapons of the Dubats always left much to be desired - they were armed with swords, spears and only those who passed the test received the long-awaited musket. It should be noted that it was the Dubats who "provoked" the Italian-Ethiopian war, or rather, they participated from the Italian side in the incident in the Hualual oasis, which became the formal reason for Benito Mussolini's decision to start a military operation against Ethiopia.
When Italy made a decision in the mid-1930s. to subjugate Ethiopia, in addition to the Eritrean Askaris, 12 battalions of Arab-Somali Askari and 6 detachments of Dubat were mobilized to participate in the conquest campaign, which also showed themselves on a good side, inflicting serious defeats on Ethiopian units. The Somali corps, commanded by General Rodolfo Graziani, was opposed by the Ethiopian army under the command of the Turkish General Vehib Pasha, who had long been in the imperial service. However, the plans of Vehib Pasha, who expected to lure the Italo-Somali troops into the Ogaden desert, wrap them up there and destroy them, were not destined to come true. Largely, thanks to the Somali units, which have shown a high degree of combat readiness and ability to operate in the desert. As a result, Somali units managed to capture the important Ethiopian centers of Dire Dawa and Dagahbur.
During the years of Italian colonial rule over Eritrea and Somalia, which lasted for about 60 years, military service in the colonial units and the police turned into the main occupation of the most combat-ready part of the Eritrean male population. According to some reports, up to 40% of Eritrean men of the appropriate age and physical fitness went through service in the Italian colonial army. For many of them, colonial service was not only a means of earning a salary, which was very decent by the standards of economically backward Eritrea, but also a testament to their male prowess, since the colonial units during the years of the Italian presence in East Africa were regularly in combat conditions, constantly moving through the colonies, participating in wars and suppression of uprisings. Accordingly, askari also acquired and improved their combat skills, and also received the long-awaited more or less modern weapons.
Eritrean Askari, by decision of the Italian government, were sent to fight against Turkish troops during the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-1912. As a result of this war, the weakening Ottoman Empire lost Libya - in fact, its last North African possession, and the Italians, despite the opposition of a significant part of the Libyan population, which the Turks turned against the Italians through religious slogans, managed to equip the Libyans with quite numerous units of North African askari and cavalrymen - spagi … Libyan Askaris became the third, after the Eritrean and Arab-Somali Askaris, an integral component of the Italian colonial troops in North and East Africa.
In 1934, Italy, by that time long led by the fascists Benito Mussolini, decided to resume colonial expansion in Ethiopia and take revenge for the defeat in the Battle of Adua. A total of 400,000 Italian troops were deployed to attack Ethiopia in East Africa. These were both the best troops of the metropolis, including the units of the fascist militia - "black shirts", and the colonial units, which consisted of Eritrean Askari and their Somali and Libyan colleagues.
On October 3, 1935, Italian troops under the command of Marshal Emilio de Bono attacked Ethiopia and until April 1936 were able to suppress the resistance of the Ethiopian army and the local population. In many ways, the defeat of the Ethiopian army was due not only to outdated weapons, but also to the principles of promoting not so much talented military leaders to command posts as representatives of the most noble families. On May 5, 1936, the Italians occupied Addis Ababa, and on May 8, Harar. Thus, the largest cities of the country fell, but the Italians did not manage to fully establish control over the Ethiopian territory. In the mountainous and inaccessible regions of Ethiopia, the Italian colonial administration did not actually rule. However, the capture of Ethiopia, whose monarch traditionally bore the title of emperor (negus), allowed Italy to proclaim itself an empire. However, Italian rule in this ancient African country, which, incidentally, was the only one among other African countries, managed to maintain its independence in the era of colonization, was short-lived. Firstly, the Ethiopian army continued to resist, and secondly, significant in numbers and well-armed units of British troops came to its aid, whose task was to liberate North and East Africa from the Italians. As a result, despite all the efforts of the Italians to colonize Ethiopia, by 1941 the Italian army was driven out of the country and Emperor Haile Selassie again took the Ethiopian throne.
During the fighting in East Africa, the Eritrean Askari displayed high courage, which could be envied by the most elite divisions of the metropolitan troops. By the way, it was the Eritrean Askari who were the first to enter the defeated Addis Ababa. Unlike the Italians, the Eritreans preferred to fight to the end, preferring death to flight from the battlefield and even to an organized retreat. This courage was explained by the long military traditions of the Eritreans, but the specifics of the Italian colonial policy also played an important role. Unlike the British or the French, or, moreover, the Germans, the Italians treated the representatives of the conquered African peoples with due respect and actively recruited them into service in almost all colonial paramilitary structures. So, askari served not only in the infantry, cavalry and artillery, but also in automobile units and even in the air force and navy.
The use of Eritrean and Somali askari in the Italian Navy began almost immediately after the colonization of the Red Sea coast. As early as 1886, the Italian colonial authorities drew attention to the skilled Eritrean seafarers who regularly cross the Red Sea on trade travels and in search of pearls. The Eritreans began to be used as pilots, and later they were manned by the rank and file and non-commissioned officers of the naval formations stationed in Italian East Africa.
In the Air Force, native military personnel were used for ground servicing of aviation units, primarily to carry out security work, clean up airfields and ensure the functioning of aviation units.
Also, from the Eritrean and Somali askari, Italian law enforcement units operating in the colonies were recruited. First of all, these were units of the Carabinieri - the Italian gendarmerie, where the Eritreans were recruited into service in 1888. In Italian East Africa, the carabinieri were called "zaptiya" and were recruited according to the following principle: the officers and non-commissioned officers were Italians, the rank and file were Somalis and Eritreans. The zaptiya uniform was white or khaki and, like the infantrymen, was complemented by a red fez and a red belt.
1,500 Somalis and 72 Italian officers and non-commissioned officers served in the company. Ordinary positions in zaptiya were staffed by immigrants from the Askari units, who rose to the rank of corporal and sergeant. In addition to the carabinieri, askari served in the Royal Financial Guard, which performed customs functions, the Commissariat for State Security of the Colonies, the Somali Prison Guard Corps, the Indigenous Forestry Militia, and the Italian African Police. Everywhere they also held only rank-and-file and non-commissioned officers.
In 1937, East African and Libyan military personnel were entrusted with the right to take part in a grand military parade that Benito Mussolini organized in Rome in honor of the anniversary of the Italian Empire. Units of the Somali infantry, Eritrean and Libyan cavalry, sailors, policemen, camel cavalry marched through the streets of the ancient capital. Thus, unlike Hitler's Germany, the Italian fascist leadership, which sought to create a grand imperial state, tried not to alienate African subjects from themselves. Moreover, the Italian military leaders subsequently took credit for the fact that, unlike the British and French, Italy never used African soldiers in Europe, dooming the latter to fierce battles in alien climatic and cultural conditions.
The total number of native troops in Italian East Africa by 1940 was 182,000, while the entire Italian colonial corps numbered 256,000 soldiers and officers. The overwhelming majority of Ascari were recruited in Eritrea and Somalia, and after the short-term conquest of Ethiopia - and among pro-Italian immigrants from this country. So, from among the representatives of the Amhara people, whose language is the state language in Ethiopia, the Amharic cavalry squadron was formed, in which both Amharians, Eritreans, and Yemenis served. During the relatively short, from 1938 to 1940, the existence of the squadron, its soldiers were lucky not only to fight against the Ethiopian imperial army, but also to take part in a clash with the Sikhs - soldiers of the British colonial unit.
Eritrean Askari in Ethiopia. 1936 year
It should be noted that the Italians managed to educate their native warriors in such a way that even after the liberation of Ethiopia and the invasion of Italian East Africa by British troops, the Eritrean Askari, led by some Italian officers, continued the partisan war. For example, a detachment of Askari under the command of the Italian officer Amedeo Guillet carried out guerrilla attacks on British military units for about eight months, and Guillet himself earned the nickname "Commander Devil". It can be considered that it was the Eritrean units that remained the last military units that remained loyal to the Mussolini regime and continued to resist the British even after the capitulation of the Italian troops of the mother country.
The end of World War II was greeted by many Eritrean Askaris. Firstly, this meant defeat from the enemy with whom they fought for quite a long time, and secondly, even worse, Eritrea again fell under the control of Ethiopia, with which the indigenous inhabitants of this desert land were not going to reconcile. A significant part of the former Eritrean Askaris joined the guerrilla groups and fronts that fought for the national liberation of Eritrea. In the end, of course, not the former askari, but their children and grandchildren, managed to achieve independence from Ethiopia. This, of course, did not bring economic prosperity, but it did give a certain satisfaction with the results of such a long-term and bloody struggle.
However, up to the present time in the territory of both Ethiopia and Eritrea, not to mention Somalia, armed conflicts continue, the reason for which is not only political differences or economic rivalry, but also the excessive belligerence of some local ethnic groups who cannot imagine life outside constant battles with the enemy, confirming their military and male status. Some researchers are inclined to believe that perhaps the best era in Eritrean and Somali history was the Italian colonial rule, since the colonial authorities at least tried to build some semblance of political and social order in their territories.
It should be noted that the Italian government, despite the official withdrawal from East Africa and the end of colonial expansion, tried not to forget its loyal black warriors. In 1950, a special pension fund was set up to pay pensions to more than 140,000 Eritrean Ascari serving in the Italian colonial forces. The payment of pensions has contributed to at least a minimal alleviation of the poverty of the Eritrean population.
