175 Chapter 7 The Cartographic Lives of the Italian Fascist Empire Laura Lo Presti INTRODUCTION Over the last decades, critical scholarship on historical cartography has explored the epistemological, ontological and political role of cartography in preparing for conquest; orienting oneself in the space travelled; and gov- erning, controlling, and ordering the conquered space (i.e. Buisseret 1992, 2003; Edney 1997; Harley 2001). The relationship between mapping, navi- gation and conquest was, however, apparently overlooked by Italy. Italian colonialism started, in fact, without a map. Long before the advent of Fas- cism (1922–1943), the country, under a liberal regime ruled by a moderate centre-left party, attempted to satisfy its imperialistic aspirations by taking part in the Scramble for Africa (1880). However, critics usually emphasized the unpreparedness that the young nation (Italian unity was only reached in 1861) manifested when deciding to extend its dominion overseas (Labanca 2018; Romano 2005; Segré 1979). It is no coincidence that Lenin (1917), in his famous analysis of different imperialisms and the growing link between empire and the affirmation of global financial capitalism, referred to the ‘beggar imperialism’ of Italy. This military and economic unpreparedness also involved the lack of cartographic training. Colonel Tancredi Saletta, commissioned for the mission in Africa in 1885, was in fact aware of the expedition’s final destination only on the eve of the landing, when the Brit- ish Colonel Chermside reached the Italian contingent in Suakim to help Saletta invade Massawa – an important harbour of Eritrea, at that time under Egyptian influence. As Saletta wrote in his diary: ‘I could see for the first time a map of Massawa and have an idea of the particularities of those coasts, from Colonel Chermside’ (Palma 1999, 9; author’s translation). On February 5, 1885, Colonel Saletta invaded Massawa with 1500 riflemen 16028-0394d-1pass-r02.indd 175 4/19/2021 7:37:52 PM