Eurafrica. Vital Space, Demographic Planning and the Division of Labour in the Italian Empire: the Legacy of Fascist Autarky

The division of labour and the economic and social organisation of Italian Africa were established before the Second World War: Eritrea and the Addis Ababa area were destined to become AOI's (Italian East Africa) industrial regions as well as the main hubs for services, whilst the other Ethiopian territories would be characterised by mixed-type agriculture, that is, both small-scale farming and capitalistic production. This latter type should become predominant in Somalia, where foodstuffs would be produced for the imperial market, and where banana cultivation had been especially developed both for the Italian market and for export. In Tripolitania demographic colonisation would be integrated with manufacturing and the service industry in the capital, whilst in Cyrenaica it should be largely prevalent. However, the construction of the fascist empire, directly planned by Mussolini, must always be investigated on two different planes: that of myth and that of reality, with the two levels constantly intersecting, though the first was certainly predominant, since Mussolini's aims were strongly political and ideological rather than economic.