ITALIAN NORTH AFRICA

This month I am adding the version of a wikipedia article written partially by my husband Bruno D'Ambrosio. We have to pinpoint that a huge Italian community existed in Tunisia before WW2 (http://www.academia.edu/31081889/La_calda_estate_del_1940._La_comunità_italiana_in_Tunisia_dalla_guerra_italo-francese_all_armistizio ) and that in November 1942 Tunisia was occupied by the Axis and the Italian authorities created an administration  (called Africa Settentrionale Italiana or ASI) for the civilians living in that occupied territory that was united with Italian Libya. The most important civilian institutions of the ASI in Tunisia (all linked and under the military authority of the "Comando Superiore FF.AA. Africa Settentrionale") were: the "Banca Italiana di Credito", the newspaper “L’Unione”, the "Ospedale Garibaldi" and the "Società Dante Alighieri". The military "Comando Superiore Forze Armate Africa Settentrionale" was responsible of the Postal service (read http://www.ilpostalista.it/pm_file/pm_109.htm). 

It is noteworthy to pinpoint that in Tunisia the Jews (who before November 1942 had been harassed by the French Vichy regime) were fully helped by the Italian authorities of the ASI:

The situation for Italian Jews improved when, on November 9, 1942, Germans and Italians occupied Tunisia. After a quick exchange of letters between the chancelleries of the two Axis countries, an agreement was found to protect the activities of the Italian community, "including non-Aryans" (Carpi, 1989, 1237). This communication was enough to make the Italian Jews enjoy preferential treatment and absolute protection from any kind of harassment and sanction (F. Petrucci, https://www.altreitalie.it/kdocs/78585/84242.pdf)

Until February 1943 Libya remained Italian, but after its conquest by the British the ASI administration remained in existence only in Tunisia until May 1943 when the last Italian troops of general Messe surrendered to the Allies. ASI lasted only a few months, but was responsible of civilian matters like the opening of Italian schools in Tunisia:

ITALIAN NORTH AFRICA

Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI ^{http://morawino-stamps.com/sklep/en/25211-africa-settentrionale-italiana-tripolitania-cirenaica-libia}) was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1911 until the Second World War. It was made by Italian Libya and Italy occupied Tunisia after November 1942, with the temporary occupation of western Egypt during some periods of the war. Indeed Tunisia was administratively aggregated to the Italian "4th Shore" in December 1942. The Italian administration in North Africa ended on May 13, 1943, with the surrender of the Italian-German armed forces in Tunisia. Tunisia remained the last territory de facto administered by the Italians in Africa until the complete occupation by the American and British forces.

Letter showing the existence of a military administrative unit called "Comando Superiore Forze Armate Africa Settentrionale (Italiana)", Italian North Africa in English, written in December 1942.

Brief history

Italian North Africa, unlike Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI) existed in two phases: from 1911 to 1934, as Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and after 1934, as Libya (with the later addition of coastal Tunisia during the Second World War). From 1934 to 1939, all of Italian North Africa was then known as Libya, as the North African territories were consolidated into one colony, Italian Libya.

April 12, 1937: is established the Superior Army Command of "Italian North Africa"; the XX Army Corps are established in Italy and sent to Libya, with the 60th "Sabratha" transportable Infantry Division, located in the Garian, and the 61st "Sirte" transportable Infantry Division, located in the Misurata area, and the XXI Army Corps with the 62nd "Marmarica" transportable Infantry Division, located in the Derna area, and the 63rd "Cyrene" transportable Infantry Division, located in the Barce area. (12/4/1937. Viene costituito il Comando Superiore FF.AA. dell' "Africa Settentrionale Italiana"; sono costituiti in Italia e inviati in Libia il XX Corpo d'Armata, con la 60^ Divisione Fanteria autotrasportabile "Sabratha", dislocata nel Garian, e la 61^ Divisione Fanteria autotrasportabile "Sirte", dislocata nella zona di Misurata, e il XXI Corpo d'Armata con la 62^ Divisione Fanteria autotrasportabile "Marmarica", dislocata nella zona di Derna, e la 63^ Divisione Fanteria autotrasportabile "Cirene", dislocata nella zona di Barce). Militaria (http://xoomer.virgilio.it/ramius/Militaria/colonie_italiane-libia.html)

In 1939 the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini called coastal Libya the Fourth Shore (Quarta Sponda) of Italy and it was united with metropolitan Italy.
The term "Fourth Shore" derives from the geography of Italy being a long and narrow peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean with two main shorelines, the First Shore on the east along the Adriatic Sea and the Second Shore on the west along the Tyrrhenian Sea. The third shore was the one facing south, to the Ionian sea and central Mediterranean (from Cape Leuca in the southern tip of Apulia, to the southern shores of Sicily near Trapani). The Adriatic Sea's opposite southern Balkans shore, with Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Albania, was planned for Italian expansion as a possible Fifth Shore, with Libya on the Mediterranean Sea remaining as the Fourth (https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/XXXIX/CLV/129/85404?redirectedFrom=PDF).' Thus the Fourth Shore was the southern part of Imperial Italy, an early 1940s Fascist project of enlarging Italy's national borders around their Mare Nostrum.
From 1940 to 1943, during the Second World War, following Italy's declaration of war on Britain and France, it attempted to conquer Egypt and Tunisia to enlarge Italian North Africa. Indeed, the Axis's military advances led by Rommel in North Africa allowed Italy to lay claim to significant portions of western Egypt: Italian fascists anticipated creating a client Kingdom of Egypt under Italian control from 1941 to 1942 and successively claimed Tunisia from 1942 to 1943.

Italian Tunisia

After Italy's successful invasion of southern France, Mussolini demanded Tunisia, along with Djibouti, Corsica and Nice from France (Mussolini, Benito; Child, Richard Washburn; Ascoli, Max; Lamb, Richard (1998). Ascoli, Max, ed. "My Rise and Fall Da Capo Press). However it wasn't until November 1942 that Italian troops seized Tunisia, with German Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps troop support, from the French Vichy regime colonial administrators.
Tunisia was added administratively to the existing northern Italian Libya Fourth Shore, in Mussolini's last attempt to accomplish the fascist project of Imperial Italy (Knox, MacGregor (1986). Mussolini Unleashed, 1939-1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War. Cambridge University Press. p. 138.)

"Tunisia" Assault Battalion (Battaglione d'assalto Tunisia dell'Africa Settentrionale Italiana) collar patch, Royal Italian Army (1943)

In the first months of 1943 were opened Italian schools in Tunis and Biserta. More than 15000 students went to these Italian schools.  Also were reopened some Italian newspapers and magazines, that have been closed by the French government in the late 1930s (https://books.google.com/books?id=tbe-P46BE7AC&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false).

In those months 4000 Italian Tunisians volunteered in the Italian Army: there were nearly one thousand Italians of Tunisia who bravely fought against the Allies in January-April 1943. They were in the so called Battaglione d'assalto Tunisia dell'Africa Settentrionale Italiana ("Tunisia" Assault Battalion of Italian North Africa).

In the last months of 1942 some Tunisians and local Italians did even join the National Fascist Party in Tunis. From December 1942 until February 1943 Tunisia and Italian Libya were under Italian control and administered as "Africa Settentrionale Italiana" (Ezio Gray. "Le nostre terre ritornano..." Introduzione ),  but later the Allies conquered all Italian Tripolitania and Italian control was reduced to the Tunisian area west of the Mareth Line (where was fought a last Axis stand).
All legally established territory of Italian North Africa was dissolved by early 1943, but Tunisia remained the last de facto Italian administered territory until all Tunisia fell to American and British forces.
In May 1943 the Allies' victorious Tunisia Campaign (1942—1943), part the Western Desert Campaign, regained all the Tunisian territory for France. The French colonial authorities then closed all Italian schools and newspapers (Watson, Bruce Allen Exit Rommel: The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43 p. 103 )

Colonies and territories within Italian North Africa

From 1912 to 1927, Italian North Africa (Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica) was an entity to itself, and from 1934 to 1941, Italian North Africa was united into the single colony of Italian Libya.

But in 1939 coastal Italian Libya was added to metropolitan Italy, while Saharan Italian Libya remained as a colonial territory under military control.

From 1942 to 1943 Tunisia was added, and was administered as part of the Fourth Shore (Quarta Sponda) of Italy. Military units of Italians of Tunisia were created, because 4000 Italo-Tunisians volunteered to fight in the Italian Army. One was called Reggimento Volontari Tunisini dell'Africa Settentrionale Italiana ( ^{https://books.google.com/books?id=_qG6CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=battaglione+d'assalto+tunisia&source=bl&ots=0z7gyXvHd9&sig=q65EkW1vz-37PR1zpIcdBe3tdUI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj399OsiI7fAhVPhOAKHaUaCUoQ6AEwC3oECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=battaglione%20d'assalto%20tunisia&f=false)}

1927–1933

• Italian Cyrenaica
• Italian Tripolitania

1934–1941

• Italian Libya. In 1939, Benito Mussolini coined the name Fourth Shore, in Italian Quarta Sponda, to refer to coastal Italian Libya in Italian North Africa (later he added coastal Tunisia during WWII).

1941–1943

• Italian Libya (conquered by Western Allies by January 1943)
• German and Italian occupied western Egypt (from September to December 1940, and June to November 1942)
• German and Italian occupied Tunisia (from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943)

Bibliography

• Battistelli, Pier Paolo. Italian Army Elite Units & Special Forces 1942-43. Osprey Publishing. New York, 2011 ISBN 1849088950
• Gray. Ezio. Le nostre terre ritornano...Malta, Nizza, Corsica.... Ed. De Agostini. Novara, 1943

FUTBOL DE COLONIAS IN VENEZUELA

The following is the original version of an essay -written by Bruno D'Ambrosio in the Spanish Wikipedia- about the futbol of Venezuela in the first decades after WW2, when nearly one million Europeans moved to live in this south American country rich in oil and created futbol teams supported initially mainly by fans emigrated from their own countries of origin (mostly from Italy, Spain and Portugal). This period in Venezuela sport/media organizations was usually called "Futbol de colonias" (or futbol of 'colonists from Europe').

Fútbol de colonias en Venezuela

Deportivo Italia en 1961, cuando fue "Campeón de Venezuela" y ganador de la Copa Venezuela, consiguiendo el primer "doblete" del fútbol profesional venezolano.

El Futbol de colonias en Venezuela fue el inicio de la era profesional del fútbol venezolano. En la segunda mitad del siglo XX los principales clubes eran de origen europeo, sostenidos principalmente por las colonias de españoles, italianos y portugueses que se habían radicado en Venezuela especialmente en esos años. Es así como nacen por iniciativa de estas comunidades los principales ganadores de la Primera División de Fútbol de Venezuela en esas décadas: el Deportivo Italia, el Unión Deportiva Canarias, el Deportivo Español, el Deportivo Galicia y el Deportivo Portugués.

Historia

A finales del siglo XX el fútbol llegó a Venezuela (como en muchos otros países del mundo) con los viajeros de Europa, quienes con el deseo de explotar la minería y el caucho por los altos del río Orinoco se entretenían jugando "gygy" con un balón, en los terrenos de los campamentos de la zona y en los pocos ratos libres de su dura existencia.

De acuerdo a la tradición oral, El Correo del Yuruari, publicación semanal del estado Bolívar, habría publicado el 16 julio de 1876 una nota sobre una exhibición de "un sport llamado foot-ball" con motivo de la celebración del Día de la Virgen del Carmen, en el Caratal, ubicada muy cerca de la mina "Perú" en El Callao. Este primer encuentro de fútbol habría sido organizado por un maestro galés de nombre A.W. Simpson, quien trabajaba para las compañías explotadoras del oro en la región con la participación de trabajadores ingleses, franceses, alemanes e italianos. Sin embargo, no existe respaldo documentado de esta historia, y El Correo del Yuruari tuvo su primer número el año siguiente, es decir, en 1877.^[1]
​
A continuación a la derecha se aprecia el Logo del "Deportivo Italia" (considerado el mejor equipo venezolano del siglo XX junto al Estudiantes de Mérida, según la Federación Internacional de Historia y Estadística de Fútbol) cuando fue fundado en 1948.

Posteriormente, el fútbol se radicó en la ciudad de Caracas donde comenzaron a formarse los primeros equipos en 1902. Así en los primeros días de agosto de 1902, los hermanos escoceses David y Jimmy Ballantyne fundaron el club “San Bernardino”, quedando constituido el primer equipo de fútbol de la capital. Venezuela dio los primeros pasos de manera amateur (no organizada ni profesional) en las primeras décadas del siglo XX.

Para ese entonces, el fútbol era visto por el venezolano como un deporte de extranjeros que venían al país a practicarlo, y de allí que inicialmente la "Liga amateur de Venezuela" no fue más que una liga de jugadores de otros países (muchos de ellos, europeos).

Después de la primera guerra mundial, en 1925 fue fundado el primer equipo amateur de españoles (el "Barcelona FC") y en 1930 el primero de los italianos (el "Venecia FC"). Los italianos de Caracas fundaron a finales de 1930 también el "Italia FC", que tuvo vida muy corta desapareciendo al año siguiente después de haber participado en Copas amistosas como la Copa Nuovo Giardino D’Italia.^[2]​

También fue fundado por alemanes el "Centro Alemán de Puerto Cabello FC" (1927) y luego el equipo "Alemania" en Caracas, que participó en dos nuevos torneos-amateur: el de primera división (1931), que fue suspendido, y el de la Copa Venezuela (1933), en la que fue derrotado por el Deportivo Español (6-2 y 3-1). El Alemania participó también en 1931 en la amistosa Copa Alemania, junto con el Italia FC, Unión SC, Centro Atlético, Deportivo Venezuela, Dos Caminos y Loyola SC
.
Empresarios españoles junto con algunos venezolanos fundaron el Deportivo Venezuela en 1926, que ganó cuatro campeonatos de la Era amateur del fútbol venezolano (en 1928, 1929, 1931 y 1933). En 1932, el presidente del Deportivo Venezuela, el español Nicolás de las Casas, recibió una copa de plata del Barcelona FC. Ese trofeo se ofreció al ganador de la primera edición de la Copa Venezuela, jugada a finales de 1932 (que fue el Union FC, mientras que el Deportivo Venezuela fue segundo).
En el fútbol de colonias de esas décadas, jugaron muchos europeos que aportaron sus conocimientos al balompié venezolano. Por ejemplo, un jugador profesional italiano (Vittorio Godigna), que jugó en el Dos Caminos SC cuando obtuvo tres campeonatos (desde 1936 hasta 1938), fue también en 1938 el primer entrenador de la Selección de Fútbol de Venezuela.^[3]​ Además, el 23 de febrero de 1938 Godigna dio a Venezuela (gracias a una certera disposición de jugadores) el primer triunfo de la Selección venezolana de fútbol, derrotando en los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe a la Selección de fútbol de Colombia 2 a 1.^[4]​

La baja calidad del torneo de 1947 hizo que la ANF ("Asociación Nacional de Fútbol") adelantara dos propuesta “para salvar al fútbol nacional”, según tituló la prensa capitalina: la creación de dos campeonatos: uno para venezolanos y otro para extranjeros (nunca hecho) y experimentar con un torneo de carácter profesional, que sí se cumplió en 1947/1948 con los clubes La Salle, Pampero, Kadimah y Deportivo Español^[5]​

Sucesivamente, en 1957 inmigrantes de diversas naciones europeas (principalmente de España, Portugal e Italia) participaron en la creación del primer torneo "profesional" de fútbol venezolano con seis equipos:^[6]​ Universidad FC, La Salle FC, "Banco Obrero", "Deportivo Español", "Catalonia FC" y Deportivo Vasco. En 1958 se incorpora el "Deportivo Danubio" integrado por emigrantes húngaros y centroeuropeos, mientras que el Deportivo Italia no lo pudo hacer -por varias causas administrativas y presupuestarias- sino en 1959.

Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial llegaron centenares de millares de europeos a Venezuela, especialmente durante la presidencia del general Marcos Pérez Jiménez y empezó el llamado Futbol Colonial, que dio un enorme impulso a la asistencia de público en los estadios venezolanos.

A partir de este momento, el fútbol con componente criollo fue "apartado" por los inversionistas que se formaron en las colonias de inmigrantes, ya que los criollos no podían competir económicamente con los equipos con nombres extranjeros. Inclusive algunos empresarios extranjeros, como el vasco Damián Gaubeka se costeaban amistosos contra grandes clubes del mundo como Real Madrid, Botafogo, River Plate, Barcelona, etc...Deportivo Portugués, Deportivo Español, Deportivo Vasco, Deportivo Italia, Catalonia, UD Canarias, Deportivo Celta, eran nombres de los equipos más consecuentes en esta época. Italia y Portugués marcarían una rivalidad que se extendería en varias décadas aunque, pasado el tiempo, se debilitaría ese antagonismo por la calidad del fútbol; uno a uno dejarian de aparecer en los rectángulos de juego...El Deportivo Portugués participó ininterrumpidamente desde 1958 hasta 1982, en esas 24 temporadas fueron campeones 4 veces. El Deportivo Galicia estaría desde 1963 hasta 1982 interrumpidamente, luego reapareció esporádicamente en 1987 y 1989, para finalmente desaparecer en el 2001. El Deportivo Italia fue el último en separarse. Desde 1959 el Italia participó en nuestro fútbol nacional hasta 1996, cambió de nombre para salvar el equipo aliándose con la Alcaldía de Chacao y pasó a llamarse Deportivo Italchacao desde 1999 hasta que descendió a Segunda División en el 2005, revivió como Deportivo Italia el 2008 y volvió a cambiar de nombre en el 2010 para llamarse Deportivo Petare.Armando García

En la segunda mitad del siglo XX este fútbol de colonias europeas impulsó el juego del balompié en Venezuela, llegando a obtener resultados halagadores a nivel internacional. Por ejemplo el Deportivo Italia consiguió la hazaña de vencer el equipo Campeón de Brasil en el mismo estadio Maracana en la Copa Libertadores 1971, con el famoso Pequeño Maracanazo.

El Deportivo Español -durante la era del fútbol "amateur" en Venezuela- en 1946 fue el primero de los equipos de colonia en galardonarse del título de Campeón de Venezuela,^[7]​ seguido por el Deportivo Vasco en 1954. El Deportivo Español en 1955 se tituló de Vice-campeón.^[8]​ El Deportivo Español participó junto con el CD Kadimah (equipo de la comunidad hebrea caraqueña, con muchos jugadores judíos de Europa centro-oriental) a la Copa del Distrito Federal, el primer torneo profesional: el partido inicial de esta Copa se realizó el 27 de septiembre de 1947 en el estadio Nacional de Caracas ente los equipos CD Kadimah y La Salle FC. Este fue el primer partido oficialmente "profesional" del fútbol venezolano y terminó en un empate.^[9]​

Además el Deportivo Italia (que apenas fundado logró ser campeón en 1949 de la Copa Venezuela, entonces llamada "Copa Junta Militar") fue subcampeón del "Torneo Internacional de Caracas de 1950",^[10]​ considerado como el precursor o como la primera Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes.
En 1957 el fútbol "profesional" de campeonatos de Venezuela empezó con la mitad de los seis equipos participantes que eran de colonia europea: Deportivo Español, Catalonia y Deportivo Vasco.^[11]​
En 1958 fue creado el equipo Deportivo Danubio F.C. integrado principalmente por emigrantes de Hungría y otros países centro europeos. El Danubio tuvo una vida efímera participando en las tempradas de 1958 y 1959 cuando logra el tercer lugar.

Los años sesenta y setenta

Durante los años sesenta y parte de los setenta el fútbol de colonias dominó el balompié venezolano. Casi todos los años desde el inicio del Campeonato "profesional" de la Primera División de Venezuela en 1957 y hasta mediados de los setenta hubo un equipo de las colonias que se tituló Campeón de Venezuela.^[12]​ Fueron cuatro los equipos que más se distinguieron como Campeones: Deportivo Italia, Deportivo Portugués, Deportivo Galicia y UD Canarias.

"Clásico Capitalino" entre Caracas Fútbol Club y Deportivo Italia en el Estadio Olímpico de la UCV, ganado por el D. Italia 4-1

En efecto en el campeonato de 1960 hubo solo 4 equipos, todos de colonia: Deportivo Italia, Deportivo Portugués, Deportivo Español y "Deportivo Celta"^[13]​
En esos años los principales equipos del fútbol de colonia jugaban todos sus encuentros como locales en el Estadio Olímpico de la Universidad Central de Venezuela en Caracas. Sus aficionados eran casi todos europeos (españoles, italianos y portugueses o descendientes de estos) y era común la rivalidad entre los “amarillos” del Unión Deportiva Canarias, los “rojiverdes” del Club Deportivo Portugués, los “azules” (Azzurri) del Deportivo Italia y los “rojos” del Deportivo Galicia. En efecto hubo bastante rivalidad entre las colonias italianas y las colonias portuguesas, que llegaron a llenar con 30.000 espectadores el Olímpico de la UCV en lo que se denominó en su momento el "Clásico Europeo" entre Deportivo Italia y Deportivo Portugués; a este clásico se uniría el Deportivo Galicia quíen compartiría rivalidad deportiva con esas 2 franquicias en esas décadas.
En 1964 por primera vez hubo una participación venezolana en la Copa Libertadores, la más importante en Latinoamérica. Un equipo de colonia, el Deportivo Italia (que había logrado clasificar eliminando el Bahia Campeón de Brasil^[14]​), la inició con una victoria en Ecuador en contra del Barcelona Sporting Club, propiciada por un jugador italiano nacionalizado que luego jugó también en la selección nacional venezolana: Augusto Nitti.^[15]​ Además dentro de la Copa Libertadores de América, los Gallegos del Deportivo Galicia inscribieron su nombre en nueve torneos (al igual que los equipos del Deportivo Portugués y UD Canarias, que pero lo consiguieron en muy pocos años): entre sus triunfos más importantes se destacaron los hechos con el Universitario de Deportes de Perú, (2-0, en 1967) y con el Náutico de Brasil (2-1, en 1968).
Un evento futbolístico fue muy celebrado por toda la prensa deportiva de Venezuela: la inesperada victoria del Deportivo Italia en la Copa Libertadores 1971 en contra del Botafogo de Zagalo, con el famoso Pequeño Maracanazo. Al regreso de los "Azzurri" del equipo de colonia a Caracas todos los hinchas venezolanos (y especialmente los Italo-venezolanos) celebraron el increíble triunfo^[16]​ y los hermanos D'Ambrosio (principales responsables del Deportivo Italia) fueron muy homenajeados en Caracas.

Sin duda para Venezuela fue una bendición eniquecerse culturalmente con inmigrantes como los hermanos D'Ambrosio. Fueron ellos unos de los responsables de que en la década de los sesenta y setenta, con el Deportivo Italia como protagonista, Venezuela diera sus primeros pasos hacia la grandeza con logros futbolísticos realmente importantes. Javier Briceño^[17]​

El Deportivo Galicia además en 1971 ganó el Torneo internacional llamado Copa Simón Bolívar, el primer galardón internacional del fútbol venezolano.^[18]​ Sucesivamente ganó dos veces (1980 y 1982) el Copa Almirante Brion, un torneo binacional entre los equipos campeones de Curazao y Venezuela.
En 1969 hubo un primer tentativo de cambiarle el nombre a los principales equipos de colonia para "asimilarlos". Esta idea fue de Asdrúbal “Quemao” Olivares, presidente de la FVF: cambiar los nombres de los equipos de colonias extranjeras para así identificarlos con parroquias caraqueñas. Pero Unión Deportiva Canarias fue el único que estuvo de acuerdo con la idea, mientras que todos los demás se negaron. Para el Deportivo Italia surgieron dos opciones: "Ital-Caracas FC" y "Deportivo Chacao". Al Deportivo Galicia le habrían llamado "Atlético Candelaria", y al Deportivo Portugués, "Petare FC". La noticia en la prensa desató fuertes críticas en esas comunidades europeas radicadas en el país, por lo que la FVF se volvió a reunir con los directivos de esos equipos: como consecuencia no hubo ningún cambio de denominación y todo quedó en la nada.^[19]​
Ya a la mitad de los sesenta fueron desapareciendo pequeños equipos de colonia, como el "Deportivo Celta" (precursor del Deportivo Galicia) , el "Catalonia Fútbol Club" y el "Banco Francés e italiano", mientras empezaron a tomar fuerza algunos equipos de provincia cuyos dueños eran europeos (como el "Tiquire Flores" del estado Aragua, que se convirtió en el Tiquire Flores-Canarias en 1975 y luego en el "Miranda-Canarias" en 1979). El Unión Deportiva Canarias, que anteriormente (absorbiendo equipos menores como el "Atlético Tenerife" de La Guaira^[20]​) logró muchos éxitos con su famoso Antonio Ravelo,^[21]​ hizo su última aparición -integrándose con el Tiquire Flores FC- como Miranda Canarias.

Valencia F.C. 1965

Miembros de la colonia italiana co-fundaron otro equipo de provincia en 1965, el Valencia Fútbol Club, que logró en ese mismo año titularse campeón de la "Copa Caracas" (hoy Copa Venezuela) siendo el primer equipo no capitalino en lograrlo: en 1971 el Valencia FC (ahora llamado Carabobo Fútbol Club) se coronó campeón absoluto de la Primera División de Venezuela de la mano del uruguayo director técnico Walter "Cata" Roque. Hasta la actualidad sigue siendo el único equipo carabobeño en lograrlo.^[22]​
Algunos equipos menores, como el Centro Italo FC, el "Deportivo Luso-Venezolano de San Juan de Los Morros", el "Germania de Miranda"^[23]​ y la Hermandad Gallega FC duraron varias décadas, pero al final desaparecieron principalmente por causas económicas y también por la desaparición de los hinchas europeos (envejecidos y en algunos casos vueltos a sus países de origen).
En la segunda mitad de los setenta la riqueza de los petrodolares -luego de la Crisis del petróleo de 1973- empezó a trasladarse a manos de empresarios venezolanos, que promovieron el desarrollo de equipos venezolanos (como el Caracas FC y el Portuguesa FC) y la asimilación de los de las colonias europeas. Por ejemplo, desaparecieron el Deportivo Portugués -que fue sustituido en 1985 por el Sport Marítimo- y algunos equipos de colonia de Segunda y Tercera División (como sucesivamente el "Centro Italo Lagunillas" y el "Colegio Ibero Americano").^[24]​ Otros tuvieron vida corta en esas décadas, como el Italmaracaibo, la Unión Española de Lara y el Deportivo Danubio.

Últimas décadas

En la última década del siglo XX empezó a empeorar enormemente la situación económica de los clubes del fútbol de colonia: se registró un brusco descenso en la presencia de espectadores luego del tristemente famoso Caracazo de 1989.
El Deportivo Galicia, que fue sustituido en 2002 por el "Galicia de Aragua", entró en crisis y desapareció. Lo mismo pasó con el Sport Marítimo de la hinchada portuguesa, agravado por problemas legales con autoridades futbolísticas.^[25]​
Otros equipos aparecieron pero duraron poco, como el Club Deportivo Iberoamericano y el Casa D'Italia Fútbol Club (en la Segunda División de Venezuela). Recientemente algunos pequeños equipos de colonia, como el Italo Venezolano de Valencia, el Casa Portuguesa de Aragua, el Centro Hispano Venezolano de Aragua, el Atlético Turén, el "Salernitana del Tuy", el "Fiorentina Margarita" y el "Deportivo Madeirense", aparecieron en los torneos menores pero no subieron de nivel por falta de medios y seguidores.
Solamente el Deportivo Italia -luego de convertirse en Deportivo Italchacao, parcialmente de propiedad del municipio Chacao de Caracas- logró regresar a su nombre originario y representar la colonia italiana de Venezuela en el campeonato del 2007. El Deportivo Italia fue considerado como el mejor equipo venezolano del siglo XX junto al Estudiantes de Mérida, según la Federación Internacional de Historia y Estadística de Fútbol:^[26]​ en esos años también se hizo famoso el Clásico caraqueño (iniciado en 1985) entre el Deportivo Italia y el Caracas FC.
En el Campeonato 2008-2009 el Deportivo Italia fue el Vice-Campeón de Venezuela, siendo esta la última presencia triunfadora del fútbol de colonia en Venezuela.^[27]​
En ese mismo 2008 lo que quedaba de la hinchada española y portuguesa fundó el "Real Esppor" (nombre compuesto por un acrónimo de las palabras España y Portugal, el cual se debe a que sus fundadores eran empresarios con ascendencia de dichos países), que fue asimilado sucesivamente en el Deportivo La Guaira Fútbol Club.
También el Deportivo Italia fue asimilado y en el 2010 se convirtó en el Deportivo Petare (propiedad del municipio Petare de Caracas), terminando así toda presencia (con nombre oficial europeo) del fútbol de colonias en Venezuela. Lo que había iniciado la FVF del "Quemao" Olivares y su grupo en 1969 se completó 30 años después: desaparecieron por asimilación (pero también por varios problemas y/o algunos fracasos) todos los equipos de colonia en Venezuela.

El "Real Esppor" en 2009

Legados

El legado mayor que le ha dado el fútbol de colonia al desarrollo del balompié en Venezuela consiste en haber roto el monopolio del deporte "béisbol": antes de 1957 pocos venezolanos seguían como hinchas el fútbol local, que era prácticamente una exclusividad de los pequeños cetos ricos de Caracas. En los partidos del La Salle FC a principios de los años cincuenta (cuando fue Campeón venezolano de fútbol "amateur" en 1952 y 1955^[28]​) los espectadores eran algunos miles, pero en los años sesenta el estadio Olímpico de la UCV se llenaba con 30000 fanáticos en el "Clásico Europeo". Y en los años setenta y ochenta muchos descendientes de europeos empezaron a atraer a los estadios amigos y parientes venezolanos, creando hinchadas de equipos locales (como el Caracas FC). Desde entonces el béisbol no es más el "único" deporte de masa seguido por todos los venezolanos.
Un segundo legado consiste en la creación de jugadores de nivel internacional en Venezuela. Por ejemplo, el mejor centrocampista que ha tenido el equipo nacional de Venezuela (llamado Vinotinto) es Luis Mendoza, un jugador hijo de italiana que ha crecido profesionalmente en el Deportivo Italia y en el Deportivo Galicia.^[29]​ Además el "Torneo Ibérico", perteneciente al fútbol amateur pero de gran nivel en Caracas y alrededores, fue una competencia promovida inicialmente por el Deportivo Portugués y el Deportivo Galicia en donde crecieron famosos jugadores venezolanos (como Cristian Cásseres).
Un tercer legado se aprecia en los torneos de alta calidad con equipos internacionalmente famosos, que fueron llevados por empresarios a Venezuela para jugar también en contra de equipos de colonia y que atrayeron muchísimo público entusiasta. Por ejemplo el Santos FC del famoso Rey Pelé jugó en Caracas en febrero de 1965 (Santos-Deportivo Galicia 3 - 0, con tres goles del mismo Pelé) y en enero de 1966 con el Botafogo, delante de mucho público europeo y también (por primera vez) venezolano.^[30]​
Además la presencia del fútbol de colonias en el campeonato profesional de Venezuela es importante ya que el equipo profesional con más torneos sin interrupciones actualmente en el campeonato 2016 es el Petare FC (que es el Deportivo Italia, con nombre cambiado en el 2010 y que nunca ha desaparecido por quiebra como el Galicia y el Portugués), seguido por el Estudiantes de Mérida y el Portuguesa FC. El mismo Deportivo Italia es también el que ha hecho más campeonatos de Primera División: 50, seguidos por los 41 del Estudiantes y los 39 del Táchira.

Club	Ciudad	Entrenador	Estadio	Temp.	Campeón
Deportivo Italia (Petare Fútbol Club)	Caracas	Louey Salah	Olímpico de la UCV	53	5 Veces
Estudiantes de Mérida Fútbol Club	Mérida	Ruberth Morán	Metropolitano de Mérida	44	2 veces
Portuguesa Fútbol Club	Araure	Horacio Matuszyczk	Jose Antonio Paez	43	5 veces
Deportivo Táchira Fútbol Club	San Cristóbal	Carlos Maldonado	Pueblo Nuevo	41	8 veces
Caracas Fútbol Club	Caracas	Antonio Franco	Olímpico de la UCV	32	11 veces
Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana	Ciudad Guayana	José "Chuy" Vera	CTE Cachamay	33	1 vez
Datos actualizados el 31 de julio de 2016

Los equipos de las principales colonias

Cuando se hizo el primer campeonato oficial de fútbol venezolano alrededor de un millón de europeos habían emigrado al país que gozaba de un boom petrolero sin precedentes. Casi 350.000 españoles, 310.000 italianos y 180.000 portugueses cambiaron para siempre una Venezuela de apenas seis millones y medio de habitantes.
Junto con la ideología europea basada en la igualdad social (que décadas después se tradujo en el socialismo de masa del chavismo y en la total desaparición del gomecismo oligárquico neocolonial) llegó también la igualdad en el deporte de masas: el béisbol fue afianzado por el fútbol.
A continuación los equipos profesionales y semiprofesionales de las comunidades españolas e italianas, según el periodista deportivo Eliézer Pérez :

España:

• Barcelona (1925)
• Iberia (1930)
• Deportivo Español (1933-59)
• Deportivo Vasco (1945-62)
• Deportivo Catalonia (1947-53)
• Canarios de Maturín, Monagas (1944-53)
• Canarios (1947)
• Deportivo España (1948)
• Deportivo Canario de Sucre (1948)
• Atlético Español de Barquisimeto, Lara (1951)
• Centro Hispano de Valencia, Carabobo (1952)
• Hispano (1953)
• Hispano de Punto Fijo, Falcón (1953-63)
• Deportivo Español de Maracaibo, Zulia (1954)
• Hogar Español de Barquisimeto, Lara (1954)
• Deportivo Celta (1960)
• Granada de Punto Fijo, Falcón (1963)
• Atlético Español de Valera, Trujillo (1963)
• Deportivo Español de Barquisimeto, Lara (1963)
• Deportivo Galicia (1963-82)
• UD.Canarias (1963-73; 1977); con Tiquire-Canarias y luego Miranda Canarias 
• Tiquire-Canarias (1974) 
• Miranda-Canarias (1978-79)
• Unión Española de Lara (1986)
• Galicia de Caracas (1986-93)
• Hermandad Gallega de Valencia, Carabobo (2004-10)
• Real Esppor (2009-13), Caracas y estado Miranda

Italia

• Venecia (1930)
• Italia FBC (1931-32)
• Viareggio (1932)
• Barinas FC (1953), integrado por italianos de Barinas
• Torino de Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui (1953)
• Ítalo-Venezolano de Barquisimeto, Lara (1953-54)
• Deportivo Italia de Valera, Trujillo (1953-61)
• Italo-Cabimas de Cabimas, Zulia (1954)
• Deportivo Italia de Coro, Falcón (1954)
• Deportivo Italia de Pampatar, Nueva Esparta (1954)
• Ital-Mérida de Mérida (1954)
• Deportivo Italia de Barquisimeto, Lara (1954)
• ItalVictoria (1959) de La Victoria, Aragua
• Deportivo Italia de Barquisimeto, Lara (1960)
• Deportivo Italia de San Cristóbal, Táchira (1960)
• Deportivo Italia de Guárico (1960)
• Deportivo Italia de Bolívar (1960)
• Torino de Maracaibo, Zulia (1961)
• Deportivo Italia de San Felipe, Yaracuy (1961)
• Deportivo Italia de Falcón (1963)
• Ital-Lara de Barquisimeto, Lara (1963)
• Deportivo Italia (1949-96; 2005-10)
• Deportivo Italchacao (1998-2005)
• Deportivo Italmaracaibo de Maracaibo, Zulia (2004-06)
• Centro Ítalo Venezolano (2007-10)

ALBANIA'S UNIFICATION TO ITALY IN 1939

Unione dell' Italia ed Albania nel 1939

Italy and Albania: a political and economic alliance, and the unification Italy-Albania in 1939

At the beginning of the twentieth century Albania existed as an agrarian society run by local chieftains, except for periodic short-lived central governments, until King Zogu, with the help of Yugoslavia, secured absolute power in December, 1924. With wide support from the people of Albania, Zogu was able to forge a strong economic alliance with Italy which strengthened the emerging centralized government and gave Albanians a sense of nationhood.

For fourteen years the "Italian-Albanian alliance" developed and functioned to the benefit of both countries, ending only with the Italian invasion of Albania in April, 1939. In that year the kingdom of Italy started to "assimilate" Albania: On April 12,1939 the Albanian parliament voted to depose Zog and unite the nation with Italy "in personal union" by offering the Albanian crown to Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III (who appointed Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino, a former ambassador to Albania, to represent him in Albania as "Lieutenant-General of the King" or Viceroy). 

It was the first step toward the creation of a political italian entity similar to the one of the United Kingdom (where the king is the union-center between England, Scotland and Wales): Italian King Victor Emmanuel III was crowned "King of the Albanians" in addition to his title of Emperor of Ethiopia, which had been occupied three years before; and successively was considered the possibility to do the same with Montenegro in 1941 (but it was not done, because the 1943 Italian defeat in WW2 did not allowed a "united kingdom of Italy" with Italy, Albania and Montenegro united under the crown of Victor Emmanuel III)

However it is noteworthy to pinpoint that in the "Treaty of London" during World War I, the Triple Entente had promised Italy central and southern Albania as a possession as a reward for fighting alongside the Entente. In June 1917, after Italian soldiers seized control of substantial areas of Albania, Italy formally declared a protectorate over central and southern Albania; however this was overturned in September 1920 when Italy was pressured by US president Wilson to remove its army from Albania. Italy was enraged with the minimal gains that she received from peace negotiations, which she regarded as having violated the Treaty of London. Italian Fascists claimed in the 1920s that Albanians were ethnically linked to Italians through links with the prehistoric Italiotes, Illyrian and Roman populations, and that the major influence exerted by the Roman and Venetian empires over Albania justified Italy's right to possess it.

1. 

Italy and Albania in 1940 Europe

Establishment of the Italo-Albanian Alliance

King Zogu, the architect of the "Italian-Albanian alliance" in the 1920s, established a foreign policy that was an important element in his political program, as well as his economic program. In January, 1925, Zogu sent a letter to Mussolini pledging alliance and Mussolini responded immediately by expressing his recognition of the Republic of Albania and its Government. At the same time, Zogu’s administration was overwhelmed by different European companies offering to invest in all branches of the Albanian economy. These offers consisted of things such as the construction of railways, docks, mines and drainage schemes, as well as oil industry and banking development. Unfortunately, Albania, still without paper currency and using gold coins, was facing difficulties in building a modern money economy, and Zogu understood his country needed a national bank. The easiest way to achieve this was to establish an economic relationship with a strong country. Surrounded by pro-Italian cabinet members and convinced that Britain was standing behind Italy in order to offset the support France was giving to Yugoslavia, King Zogu openly announced his intentions to cooperate fully with Italy and turned his back on the Yugoslav government who had brought him to power.

Thus began a fourteen year period (1925-1939) of Italian companies pouring wealth and resources into Albania to reconstruct this poor agrarian country. In the spring of 1925 two important concessions were signed with Italy; the first was the right to found a national bank and the second was the approval of the establishment of an Italian company (SVEA), to develop the Albanian economy. The National Bank of Albania (Banca Nazionale D’Albania) was in truth an Italian bank operating under Italian law and its reserves were in Rome. This institution offered financial services to the young government that some other financial institutions did not; however, through the agreement, the Italians had the right to keep the majority of shares (51% against 49% to the Albanians). This made it possible for an unexpected development whereby the Italian banks secured the majority of title and deeds through fraud and corruption. When discovered, this caused a scandal and resulted in the resignation of the Albanian finance minister, who, it was revealed, had been awarded one million gold francs for committing this fraudulent activity on behalf of the Italian government. Unfortunately, it did not end there, the bank funds had been administered by the Società per lo Sviluppo Economico dell’Albania (SVEA), a development company to improve the Albanian economy, which was, in fact, a section of the Italian Finance Ministry. While the funds administered by this institution were indeed spent on infrastructure and public works, for example development of oil resources, it just so happened that the contracts would be awarded to those firms preferred by the Italian government.

Undoubtedly, Albania would never have become developed economically without the presence of foreign aid and loans. Above all the Italians were better than the Yugoslavs in being the ambassadors of westernizing Albania. Interestingly, in December, 1924, when Zogu was first raised to power, he was but a Serbian puppet. However, by June, 1925, with the Italo-Albanian alliance, Albania had become an Italian province without a prefect. At every opportunity Zogu referred to Mussolini as a great leader and said that he was inspired by Mussolini from early on, though he seemed not to want to become dependent on a sole foreign partner and invited investment from other countries as well. However, the Italian government demanded that Albania recognize the declaration of Paris which established Albania as an Italian protectorate with Italy expected to provide both abundant money and arms.

Bilingual tag

The Pact of Tirana -1926

The multidimensional relations between Italy and Albania reached yet a new level with the signing of the Tirana Pact on November 27, 1926, which brought 200,000 francs in aid that was followed quickly with other means of assistance. The treaty would last five years and included these two important points: 

Article 1: Italy and Albania will recognize that any disturbance threatening the political, legal and territorial status quo of Albania is contrary to their common political interests. 

Article 2: In order to safeguard the above mentioned interests the two countries will undertake to afford each other mutual support and cordial cooperation: they also will undertake not to make any political or military agreements with other powers prejudicial to the interests of either Italy or Albania. 

With the signing of this agreement Mussolini promised that he would make a gift to Ahmed Zogu of several million lire, and Italy would provide significant assistance to develop the Albanian military and economy. Zogu’s government now became dependent in every way on the Italian plans towards Albania. At the same time, it was a fruitful strategy to balance the strengths of the adversaries in the Balkan conflicts. However, with Albania so firmly planted on the side of Italy, Yugoslavia tried to assuage her feelings of insecurity by causing trouble at Albania’s northern borders for the next two years. In 1928, with the Yugoslav troops threatening at the northeastern border, Ahmed Zogu declared in front of the House of Commons his intentions to become the king of Albania. Italy immediately began to throw monetary support his way. 

To bolster the Albanian economy and transportation infrastructure, Italy signed another agreement with Albania in June 26, 1931. In it, Italy offered to subsidize the Albanian budget by extending a loan of one hundred million gold francs (L 6,600,000). These new measures were taken to make the Albanian economy more stable by balancing the country’s budget and facilitating public works. By this time, Italy had established a committee with four members which had a similar role to that of SVEA during the late 1920’s. This commission monitored the financial affairs of all ministries, and ironically, Italian members of the committee had a veto power on outlay in order to ensure that Italy had enough financial control to check corruption. However, this agreement did assure a positive relationship between the two countries for years to come. Through the years, Albania accepted a greater number of Italian advisers, some to exercise even more authority than before, and in the same vein, agreed to install a number of Italian technical experts, whose advise was not solely restricted to financial and economic matters; they also consulted on public works and oil concessions around the country. At every turn, the Italians continued to agree to extend their manpower contributions and financial assistance in all areas of Albanian economy. Italy’s generous support was so impressive that they even forgave a loan of 100 million gold francs, of which only 20 million had been paid back by the Albanian government, when this agreement was signed in June, 1931. Paradoxically, a new loan of nine million gold francs was made, plus another three million that Mussolini offered spontaneously in 1935. 

Furthermore, the Italian government granted another loan of about ten million gold francs which was for the development of agriculture, to be payable in five years; this loan had only a 1% interest, made possible by a guarantee from the Italian oil concession in Albania which was already reaping huge profits. Topping this, Italy granted another loan of three million gold francs, this time interest free, to be used for the establishment of the tobacco monopoly in the country; this amount had to be liquidated in a period of fifteen years with a minimum of 200,000 Lire paid each year. Lastly, Italy offered a loan of 40 million gold francs in annual installments of eight million gold francs, with the money to be spent on the construction of public works which would be monitored by the Italian specialists. Thus, with one loan after another, the Italians had their fingers fully into every segment of the Albanian economy.

A particularly important project to the Albanian economy was the construction and modernization of the port of Durres (the historically Italian "Durazzo") as a result of an agreement made in Rome between the two governments. The structure of the harbor and the infrastructure was improved considerably after the Italians took entire control of the construction of the main section of it. In addition, another agreement was signed in 1936 allowing Italy’s interference in, or regulation of, Albanian Finance, customs, revenues, exports and imports through this and other ports, which channeled even more profits back to Italy. One of the most lucrative industries in the country was oil: it was managed after WWI by British Petroleum until the Italians began to move into this sector in 1920.

Public works & architecture

Among the first public works to be built there were the ports of Valona and Durazzo designed by the engineer Luigi Luiggi, also the author of those of Massaua and Tripoli. A plan was then drawn up for the construction of new roads along the Tirana-Durres, Scutari-Elbasan, Durazzo-Vlora routes, with a hundred bridges. At the Ministry of Public Works a special Technical Office was set up with the task of preparing the regulatory plans for the main Albanian urban centers, while Florestano di Fausto and Vittorio Morpurgo were assigned tasks for the design of the ministerial buildings of Tirana and Durazzo. of other public and private architectures. Architect  Brasini studied the master plan of Tirana, whose main element was a large avenue, oriented along the north-south direction, which separated the existing city from its periphery; on it were aligned monumental architectures that made it an entirely autonomous directional center and detached from the context. Its function was that of a hinge between the ancient nucleus and the modern city, for which precise indications were not provided. In 1939 also architect Gherardo Bosio, in designing the definitive master plan, will preserve the monumental axis envisaged by Brasini, qualifying it with a classicist building suitable for the role of the capital. Furthermore, after an inspection by Luiggi in Durres, the Ministry of Public Works had an operational program prepared to start the construction activity. 

Among the achievements there were the Durazzo-Tirana railway, new bridges, six ministerial buildings, the reconstruction of the Villa Reale, designed by Di Fausto, and the Grand Hotel of Tirana. The completion of the road network improved transport, favoring the export of local products and the import of raw materials and labor from Italy.In 1938 the new headquarters of the Bank of Italy designed by Vittorio Morpurgo was inaugurated in Tirana. The A.G.I.P, active since the Thirties in the districts of Devoli and Valona, consolidated its presence with the Italian Company Petroli Albanesi, whose headquarters were designed by Angiolo Mazzoni who in 1939 also designed the offices of A.N.I.C. In the summer of 1939,  was sent to Tirana Gherardo Bosio with the task of organizing a Central Office for Building and Urban Planning that would complete the master plan.Of particular interest, within the town plan, was the garden-city south of Viale Mussolini, with the central INCIS district, designed by Piero Bartolini, a Bosio collaborator who, called Tirana, organized the Office of the Plan Regulator followed the realization of the entire INCIS lot, consisting of large two-level blocks with an open court and three- and four-storey buildings, for a total of 16 buildings that were interrupted when the war broke out.

Eventually, more than 30,000 Italian émigrés came to settle in Albania (including the temporary workers). Italian schools opened everywhere and the major cities of Albania were given Italian names. Many of them worked in the construction sector of the improving economy.

The outcome of the Italian interference was really a de facto colonization of Albania which had its positive impact in regards to development of the import/export trade in the interwar period. Mussolini once declared, “Italy’s policy in Albania is quite clear and absolutely straight forward. Its sole object is to preserve and to respect the independent status of this small country, which for centuries has lived in friendship with us” it would take another three years to reveal the true intentions of Italy towards Albania. Unfortunately, the small country of Albania could not have been stabilized and would have sunk into anarchy had Italy not stepped up to take the helm of this newly formed nation.

Italian contributions to every aspect of Albanian economy and culture completely transformed Albania in a matter of two decades. Thanks to the Italian assistance the total exports in 1938 amounted to 10.2 million gold francs and the principal items were crude oil, cheese, eggs and livestock. Imports exceeded 18.9 million gold francs, and consisted of textiles, cereals, petroleum, machinery and sugar. 

Finally, in 1938 the Italian government implemented a generous renegotiation of the SVEA debt of 28 million francs of penal interest were written off. Italians shared their experience and expertise to bring “western” values to Albanian society. Italy introduced its own education system in accordance with the ideas of Mussolini and how the youth should be educated. There was even a delegation sent in 1937 to advise King Zogu on organizing youth committees similar to the fascist groups in Italy. By the mid 1930’s, Albania’s bargaining position was nil and Italy had almost subsumed the Albanian economy and culture. Yet, Italy, under the glare of disapproving international eyes, was still threatened by the possibility of Yugoslav patronage.


Photo of Jacomoni (Albania Viceroy - "Luogotenente del Re Vittorio Emanuele III") talking -dressed in clear uniform- to Verlaci (Albania Prime Minister) in 1941 Radio Tirana offices inauguration

Italian strategic interests

Any contributions Italy makes to the Albanian economy are and have always been based on the interest in the geographic positions of the two countries. Indeed, from Italy’s heel to Albanian gulf of Vlora, it is only 50 miles. As far back as the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire, Italy had begun to pursue an aggressive role towards controlling Albania. At that time, the Albanian territory was a war-torn nation, incapable of defending herself and on the verge of being partitioned by neighboring countries. 

Besides Italy, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria all had self aggrandizing plans involving the Albanian Territory. It should be emphasized that Italy has always pursued a policy of colonization and annexation of the Albanian nation. So it seemed “business as usual” to step in and take a “fatherly” role in 1925. The desires of the principle Albanian elected officials, who wanted to rely on a foreign power from which they could take loans and bring the Albanian economy to its feet, matched perfectly with Il Duce’s plans. Since coming to power Mussolini had pursued a strategy based on invading weak countries and profiting from their resources. Albania was an especially prized plum. First, its strategic geographic position provided a perfect bridge to expand Italian Influence in the Balkan Peninsula. Secondly, The Italian Dictator wanted to control the Adriatic Completely and having Albania under his protectorate would give him the right to control the Straights of Otranto and thereby secure the entire eastern coast of Italy from imminent attack. Thirdly, control of these straights also afforded Italy control of the Yugoslav navy and international trade in and out of the Adriatic. When Italian troops invaded Greece on October 28th, 1940, it became abundantly clear that this strategy had worked. Fourthly, North Africa was on the top of the list after Albania to be controlled and without a full control of the western Balkans it would have made impossible to achieve this objectives in North Africa. 

At first, Mussolini was willing to collaborate, as he had done in the past, with the Yugoslav government and offered them a piece of the Albanian pie. Il Duce always had the idea of triumphant foreign policy that would challenge the world and he dropped negotiations with Yugoslavia. Italian Policy towards Albania was never based on altruistic principles. It was not really about making a contribution to the economy, but was rather more about securing the Italian interests across the Adriatic and waiting for the perfect moment to declare full authority over Albania and its neighbors. The Assistance Italy offered consisted of giving with one hand and taking double the amount with the other. The relations with the Italian government, as Zogu sorely discovered, were not at the level of genuine friendship. By 1939, the Italian ally was distrusted more than the enemy by him.


The Italian invasion begins (April 7, 1939)

In a matter of months Mussolini would decide to invade Albania, resulting in a complete destruction of the entire infrastructure Italy had so carefully built. By the end of 1938, with the alliance between the two countries starting to crack and with a new government being elected in Yugoslavia, Mussolini was inspired to achieve, with considerably less effort, his intentions against Albania. For Mussolini, the Balkans, offered tremendous mineral wealth and strategic geographical position, but more importantly, he wanted to keep pace with his German buddy who had already annexed the Sudeten lands and Czechoslovakia. To justify the invasion, if only to themselves and Germany, Italy prepared a report analyzing the importance of the Albanian Territory, and plans for its reclamation. It would take less than a year for Albania to be completely overwhelmed and gutted by its former ally, Italy. Mussolini continued in his intentions to invade all of the countries bordering Albania, and never wanting to be considered a second string ally of the axis.

Italian soldiers were welcomed by many Albanians when entered Tirana in April 1939

In Rome, indignation stemming from the jealousy of the German expansion in Europe preoccupied Mussolini who wanted to maintain an equal position in the “Pact of Steel.” The Italians continuously refused to revise their demands addressed to King Zogu and Zogu would not budge. Twice, King Zogu did not accept four requests made by the Italian foreign minister, Count Ciano. The first was the complete control of the infrastructure including ports, airfields and roads to be used in a situation when the Albanian sovereignty was in danger. Zogu insisted that such an extension of the Italo-Albanian alliance was not acceptable, and that Italian troops should enter the country only with the explicit request of the Albanians themselves. The second request was to have a secretary general in every ministry of the administration. Zogu wanted Italian staff members to be present only on an ad – hoc basis. The third was the request to give full civic and political rights to Italians in Albania. Zogu repeatedly opposed the idea of having foreign citizens to be part of the Albanian parliament, but he supported the idea of civil rights. The fourth and final request was to promote the Italian legation to an embassy, which was only a change in protocol. It should be pointed out that the King’s family was celebrating the birth of the prince named Leka, on April 5. Having to deal with these political difficulties at this time, Zogu felt betrayed and could not stop his tears of disappointment. Meanwhile, a large number of people surrounded the king’s palace and requested weapons to fight the Italians. Zogu sent a telegram to Mussolini requesting to reopen the negotiations and wanted his old friend, General Pariani to be sent to Albania to direct the negotiations. Instead, Mussolini retorted with a fierce message saying that Zogu should send a representative to meet with General Guzzoni at the shores of Durres (the site of the invasion). Realizing the irony of this offer, on the eve of April 7th, two hours before the invasion, the royal family, under Zogu’s supervision, left Albania and immigrated to Greece. This was severely difficult for the queen who had delivered Prince Leka only two days before.

On the same morning, Count Ciano directed a flight operation over Albania spreading leaflets calling upon the people to demonstrate friendship to the Italian forces. In the port of Durres the first invasion faced some resistance, but in the other ports the Italians disembarked quietly and without a problem. At two a clock the same day, King Zogu addressed the nation and called upon all the people to unite the fight for the freedom of their beloved nation. But no one organized this effort and there were only pockets of resistance here and there. For Italians, this was essential. The capture of Tirana, the capital, was of primary importance to Mussolini and he was continuously asking how long it would take to reach it. In the first stages of the invasion, confusion partially ruled the Italian forces. They had a lack of radio communication and the troops could not report their positions before advancing. Furthermore, the specialist units were not prepared for the tasks they undertook in the invaded territory, and there were motor-cyclists, truck drivers and even generals who could not do their jobs. Often the roads were blocked by broken vehicles and the generals threw up their hands. But still they bore on to overthrow the Albanians. 

When they finally arrived at the capital, the streets were surprisingly empty, with no resistors in sight. Indeed some Albanians were greeting the Italians when they entered Tirana.

Italian colonists and assimilation

On 9 April 1939 Albanian King Zog fled to Greece and Albania ceased to exist as an independent country. The Balkan country became a component of the Italian Empire and was turned into an Italian protectorate, similar to the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, in that the land was an autonomous territory of Italy which was designed for eventual colonization and Italianization. The throne was claimed by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, who was the official ruler of Albania until his abdication on 25 July 1943. The government was led by Italian governors and an Albanian civil government. From April 1939, Albanian foreign affairs, customs, as well as natural resources came under direct control of Italy. All petroleum resources in Albania went through AGIP, Italy's state petroleum company . 

Some Albanians welcomed the union of Italy and Albania in spring 1939  ( video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vho_j0Km5AM )

The puppet Albanian Fascist Party became the ruling party of the country and the local Fascists, like prime minister Shefqet Verlaci, allowed Italian citizens to settle in Albania and to own land so that they could gradually transform it into Italian soil. Verlaci (who had distant Italian roots) approved the possible administrative union of Albania and Italy, because he wanted Italian support for the union of Kosovo with Chameria and other "Albanian irredentism" areas, creating a Greater Albania. Indeed, this unification was realized after the Axis defeat of Yugoslavia and Greece in spring 1941. Italian citizens began to settle in Albania as colonists and to own land so that they could gradually transform it into Italian soil. 

The Italian colonists and the Italian "assimilation" (done with irredentism ideals) were more or less welcomed in spring 1939, and were greeted by most Albanians when Albania was enlarged two years later. But in November 1941 they started to face a few contrary manifestations and the resistance of some Albanians, organized mainly by the Communist Party of Enver Hoxha: only in summer 1942 started a weak guerrilla war, because Italian general Mercalli in March 1942 declared that "Albania was the only Balkan state totally peaceful inside its borders enlarged" (read Operazioni di controguerriglia in Albania italiana"

).

The first Italians to colonise Albania were fishing families from Apulia, who moved to the island of Saseno (Sazan) opposite Valona in 1918. The island was officially part of Italy from the end of World War I to 1947. In 1926, the Italian government, in agreement with Albanian authorities, sent 300 Italian colonists to Kamez, near Tirana, to promote agricultural development. Most of the Italians were farmers from Arberesh communities in southern Italy. They were initially successful, and created the company "Ente industria agraria Albanese" with an agricultural school, but the regime of King Zog expelled them in 1931, fearing excessive Italian influence in Albanian society and politics. After the occupation of Albania in April 1939, Mussolini sent nearly 11,000 Italian colonists to Albania (and started to "create" Italian irredentism claims on Albania). Most of them were from the Veneto region and Sicily. They settled primarily in the areas of Durazzo, Valona, Scutari, Porto Palermo, Elbasani and Santi Quaranta. 

They were the first settlers of a huge group of Italians to be moved to Albania to create Mussolini's Greater Italia. In addition to these colonists, 22,000 Italian casual laborers went to Albania in April 1940 to construct roads, railways and infrastructure. Most of the 1939 colonists were men enrolled in the so-called Albanian Militia. This organization was an Albanian fascist paramilitary group, part of the Blackshirts. Later even Albanians were recruited in the group. It was headquartered in Tirana and consisted of four legions in Tirana, Korçë, Vlorë and Shkodër. The Albanian Militia was disbanded in 1943 following the fall of Italy in World War II.

The Italians adopted the existing Albanian system of prefectures (Italian:"Prefetture"). In line with the administrative structure of the rest of Italy these were also called provinces (Italian:"Provincia"). However, unlike Italy the Albanian sub-prefecture (Italian:"Sotto Prefetture") was retained. There were initially 10 "Provincie": Berati, Peshtopi, Durazzo, Elbasan, Argirocastro, Coritza, Kukesi, Scutari, Valona and Tirana. Under this was 30 sub-prefectures and 23 municipalities (Italian:"Municipalità"). Each Prefecture was run by a Prefect located in the city of the same name. In 1941, following the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, three new Prefectures were added: Kossovo, Metohija and Debar, with 5 sub-prefectures.

Following the Italian capitulation, numerous Italians (perhaps 20,000) remained in Albania. There were nearly 1,000 women among the Italian colonists and some of them remained in Albania after World War II, mainly through marriage with Albanians.

Upon the occupation of Albania and installation of a new government, the economies of Albania and Italy were connected through a customs union that resulted in the removal of most trade restrictions. Through a tariff union, the Italian tariff system was put in place in Albania. Due to the expected economic losses in Albania from the alteration in tariff policy, the Italian government provided Albania 15 million Albanian "leks" each year in compensation. Italian customs laws were to apply in Albania and only Italy alone could conclude treaties with third parties. Italian capital was allowed to dominate the Albanian economy. As a result, Italian companies were allowed to hold monopolies in the exploitation of Albanian natural resources. In 1943, the number of companies and industrial enterprises reached 430, from just 244 in 1938 and only 71 such in 1922. The degree of concentration of workers in industrial production in 1938 doubled compared with 1928 and increased further under Italian control in 1941.

Following the Italian capitulation, the occupation ceased but numerous Italians (perhaps 20,000) remained within the country. These were rounded up by the Germans and taken to Germany (many officers being shot) or else they evaded capture and adopted some disguise, for example, as agricultural laborers. A small number even joined Albanian partisan groups. Only a few collaborated with German authorities, because were fascists and adhered to the RSI of Mussolini in 1944. 

Flag of "Albania italiana" (showing Italian fascism symbols) inspected in a 1941 ceremony

Conclusions

There are several reasons why King Zogu was not willing to use force to confront the Italian troops. First, Zogu, did not have the support of the neighboring countries, Yugoslavia and Greece. Both of these countries did not want to supply armament to the Albanians, as they had been scared off by the Italian military capabilities. Secondly, the Yugoslav army declared that they would not enter the Albanian territory unless there was conflict in a Fifteen mile radius of the northeastern border. However, Yugoslavia was restrained from entering into Albanian territory by a previous agreement with Italy. Thirdly the Albanians showed little interest in fighting under the leadership of King Zogu. In fact, many Albanians spent their first week under Italian occupation debating whether Zogu was worth keeping as king. Zogu’s regime had failed to keep control of the local leaders because Italy had found a way to eliminate Zogu as a middleman and finance these “chieftains” directly. Whatever resistance there was to be, it would be waged by communist groups that fought tirelessly throughout the war.

 Mussolini was able to find a pretext in order to make his strategic invasion legitimate and as necessary as possible even from the Albanian point of view. The Italians pretended that in order to preserve peace in the Balkans it was important to overthrow the Zogu regime. It was interesting to see an Italian puppet become their number one enemy 14 years later. Zogu explained, “I knew what Italians were after and I prevented them from getting control of the country by peaceful means…international politics left us no other choice to come to an understating with Italy. But the megalomania of the fascist regime made us certain that one day we should have to fight to defend ourselves.” Interestingly, count Ciano and his clique never really had to depose Zogu as his Albanian support had already dried up. And as for “preserving peace in the Balkans,” the Italians had merely blown apart a very fragile time of Balkan quietude. As a French Journalist once said, “Pays Balkanique, Pays Vulcanique,” peace in the Balkans is like a “peaceful” volcano.

However the unification -even if nominal and done only with the king Victor Emmanuel III- was effective and accepted by the population of Italy and Albania without any real disagreement from the first day of the Italian military occupation of Albania in 1939 until September 1943. Some Albanians still remember those years as a period when they were part of western Europe and out of Balkan problems.