La mancata «valorizzazione» dell’impero. Le colonie italiane in Africa orientale e l’economia dell’Italia fascista

The aim of this paper is to analyze the economic goals of the Ethiopian War and the results of the Fascist Empire in Italian East Africa (Africa orientale italiana). In this respect, the creation of the new colony in East Africa gave rise undoubtedly to a failure. It was the consequence of the weakness and the lack of planning that characterized the origin of the “Empire” – as it is testified, for instance, by confused and contradictory laws and frequent conflicts of jurisdiction – and was also the consequence of big companies’ lack of interest in colonial investments.