Italian conquest of the Horn of Africa (1924–1940) Italian conquest of the Horn of Africa (1924–1940) The Italian conquest of the Horn of Africa was initiated in 1924 by the fascist government of Italy under Benito Mussolini. With great brutality, Somalia had been totally pacified by late 1927. In 1935, Mussolini launched an invasion of Ethiopia. By mid-1936, the Italian troops controlled the entire territory. 1,757 Italians and 1,593 Eritreans were killed in the brief war. More than 275,000 Ethiopians were killed. In 1940, Italian troops invaded British Somaliland, expelling the British. The Italians also occupied the bordering Kenya areas along the Oltregiuba, around the villages of Moyale
Horn of Africa to wall paintings of the 7th century CE. Somali architecture includes the Fakr ad-Din Mosque, which was built in 1269 by the Fakr ad-Din, the first Sultan of the Sultanate of Mogadishu. Ethiopia is renowned for its ancient churches, such as at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Lalibela. The Horn has produced numerous indigenous writing systems. Among these is Ge'ez script ( ') (also known as "Ethiopic"), which has been written in for at least 2000 years. It is an abugida script that was originally developed to write the Ge'ez language. In speech communities that use it, such as