Do You Know That? Somali Mogadishu Today And Tomorrow I.

Mogadishu, lying in Banadir region near the Indian Ocean, with its alleged three million people and growing population of one of those places of Africa, where life is not too many positive experiences. The unstable political situation, if it is possible to speak about any policy in the last 20 years speak, omnipresent chaos and fear to survive. Gangs, drugs, weapons, kidnapping, epidemics and the lack of infrastructure and service network, that is, or rather was Somalia. The Second Civil War decimated the state and its citizens, the government de facto does not exist since the early 90s and not for nothing that says that there is no worse job than being a politician in Somalia. Since most charged mandate expires next day following the election of a dose of lead from Kalashnikov ... Who has seen the Black Hawk Down, surely you can imagine what it's like to be respectively live in this city, so if you are not an American aggressor just shoted down.

The sources of historical information of the city dates back to 800, respectively 900 AD, when it was colonized by Muslims from the nearby Arabian peninsula. Then it was a thriving commercial centre of Mogadishu between the Arab world and black Africa Inland represented by Swahil´s city states. The strategic location on Horn of Africa, bringing substantial benefits as well as maritime trade with Asia, which brought the city the nickname of the most important port of East Africa. The first major conflict came up with the Portuguese led by Vasco da Gama, the city picked 15th in the last year century, since 1499. Since then, the city was a place of contention between the Ottomans, the Turks and it is Portuguese. These are skirmishes lasted during the whole 17th and 18th century, but with the advent of the Sultan of Zanzibar, the situation has calmed down. New palaces, the seat have grown up. In 1905, however, the city came under the domination of Italy, to be sure that he bought a whole rather limited so much sultans. Mogadishu then becomes the capital of Somalia's Italian! Indeed a strange idea. With the advent of fanatical Fascist establishment in the early 40th years formed plans to create a Great East African empire, its centre is about to be Mogadishu. Until then, Italy has entered the fighting in neighbouring Ethiopia, which came into history under the name Abyssinian War. Italians wickedness knew no bounds, bargain agreement, everything is permitted, and the use of deadly poison gases such as mustard gas. These struggles have carried over until the Second World War, when Italy has considerably not accomplish in the fighting on multiple fronts, and especially in direct confrontation with British troops that occupy after his victory until the Italian Somalia. The colonial system, however, persisted until 1960, when the union established a unified Somalia.

To be continue in a week.

Text: Jan Chaloupka 

Photo: Wikipedia Commons: autor. nezn. Somaliweyn