Italian Colonial Empire

The Italian colonial empire (Impero coloniale italiano), known as the Italian Empire (Impero italiano) between 1936 and 1943, began in Africa in the 19th century. By 1936 it comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencies of the Kingdom of Italy.

In Africa, the colonial empire included the territories of present-day Libya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Outside Africa, Italy possessed the Dodecanese Islands off the coast of Turkey (following the Italo-Turkish War) and a small concession in Tianjin in China. Albania was a protectorate from 1917 to 1920 and from 1925 to 1939, when it was invaded and forced into a personal union with the kingdom of Italy.

Benito Mussolini, the dictator after 1922, sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists. Their goal of resettling large numbers of Italians in the colonies was talked about but never well funded. Italians migrated by the millions to North and South America, but not to the Italian colonies. By 1935, at most 45,000 new settlers had relocated to the harsh conditions in Africa.

During World War II, Italy allied with Germany in 1940 to attack France and British Egypt. Britain seized the colonies in 1940–1943. In 1947, Italy officially relinquished claims on its former colonies. Only the territory of Somalia was eventually turned into a UN trust territory under Italian administration until 1960.

None of the colonies were especially prosperous, and none attracted large numbers of Italian settlers.