The first slide : general map of Somalia

Somalia is the classic example of a failed state. In the past two decades,
there have been 14 attempts to reconstitute state authority, and the country
has been constantly plagued by clan-based armed groups, Islamic extremists,
regional proxy wars, terrorists pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda, pirates,
kidnappings, and famine.
Situated on the so-called Horn of Africa, jutting out into the India Ocean,
Somalia's harbours are natural ports of call for traders sailing to and from India. So
the coastline of the region is much visited by foreigners, in particular Arabs and
Persians. But in the interior the Somali are left to their own devices.
Spread throughout the Horn of Africa, the Somali people are comprised
of numerous clans and sub-clans. Traditionally, Somali society has been marked
by nomadic-pastoralism in the north and agricultural pastoralism in the
south. Lacking a unitary government, the Somali territory was partitioned by the
European colonial powers after the late 19th century. Parts of the north were
administered as British Somaliland, while much of the South became Italian
Somalia.
There were stark differences in the colonial economic policies of Italy and
Britain, which tended to amplify regional traditions. While Italy developed a
comprehensive economic plan for the more agrarian southern Somalia, the largely
nomadic British Somaliland remained neglected. This situation produced lasting
disparities in wealth and infrastructure. Under this colonial economic order, the
clans evolved into political identities tied to economic benefits or
disadvantages. Rivalry was inevitable, particularly once the end of colonialism
produced the first unified Somali state.
The fourth slide : EARLY COLONIALISM / IMPERIAL PARTITION
The last quarter of the nineteenth century saw political developments
that transformed the Somali Peninsula. During this period, the Somalis
became the subjects of state systems under the flags of Britain, France, Italy,
Egypt, and Ethiopia. The new rulers had various motives for colonization.
Britain sought to gain control of the northern Somali coast as a source of
mutton and other livestock products for its naval port of Aden in present-day

Yemen. As a result of the growing importance of the Red Sea to British operations
in the East, Aden was regarded as indispensable to the defense of British India.
British occupation of the northern Somali coast began in earnest in February 1884.
The French, having been evicted from Egypt by the British, wished to
establish a coaling station on the Red Sea coast to strengthen naval links with their
Indochina colonies. The French were also eager to bisect Britain's vaunted Cairo to
Cape Town zone of influence with an east to west expansion across Africa.
Recently unified, Italy was inexperienced at imperial power plays. It was
therefore content to stake out a territory whenever it could do so without
confronting another colonial power. In southern Somalia, better known as the
Banaadir coast, Italy was the main colonizer, but the extension of Italian influence
was painstakingly slow owing to parliamentary lack of enthusiasm for overseas
territory. Italy acquired its first possession in southern Somalia in 1888.
The catalyst for imperial tenure over Somali territory was Egypt under its
ambitious ruler, Khedive Ismail. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, this
Ottoman vassal sought to carve out for Egypt a swath of territory in the Horn of
Africa. However, the Sudanese anti-Egyptian Mahdist revolt that broke out in 1884
shattered the khedive's plan for imperial aggrandizement. The Egyptians needed
British help to evacuate their troops marooned in Sudan and on the Somali coast.
What the European colonialists failed to foresee was that the biggest threat to
their imperial ambitions in the Horn of Africa would come from an emerging
regional power, the Ethiopia of Emperor Menelik II. Emperor Menelik II not only
managed to defend Ethiopia against European encroachment, but also succeeded in
competing with the Europeans for the Somali-inhabited territories that he claimed
as part of Ethiopia. Between 1887 and 1897, Menelik II successfully extended
Ethiopian rule over the long independent Muslim Emirate of Harer and over
western Somalia (better known as the Ogaden). Thus, by the turn of the century,
the Somali Peninsula, one of the most culturally homogeneous regions of Africa,
was divided into British Somaliland, French Somaliland, Italian Somaliland,
Ethiopian Somaliland (the Ogaden), and what came to be called the Northern
Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya.

The fifth slide: The Dervish War

The first uprising against colonialism occurred when Somalis sought to push
the Ethiopians out of the Ogaden region but then expanded to target European
colonists as well. The Dervish State, headed Mohammed Abdille Hassan, an
Ogaden himself who the British referred to as Mad Mullah, conducted
a religious-based war of resistance against the Ethiopians and British from 1899 to
1920, resulting in the death of nearly one third of northern Somalias population.
Great Britain defeated Hassan in 1920.
The first attack by the dervishes was directed against Ethiopia. Then, in
August 1899 he occupied Burao in British Somaliland and gained control over the
watering places of two Isaq lineages. Declaring himself the Mahdi he proclaimed
holy war against infidels, and called upon all Somalis to join him, denouncing
those who did not acknowledge his authority as infidels. Therewith Sayyid
Muhammed simultaneously fought on a variety of fronts against several enemies.
He waged his war on three fronts: firstly against colonial, Christian Ethiopia
raiding Somalis'; secondly against the British (colonial and Christian) government
holding state power in the northern territory and Kenya; and finally against
Somalis who did not join the movement. The Italian government (for a short
period) agreed to assign him a territory of his own under Italian protection.
The sixth slide: Late Colonialism
A new era of conflict begins in Somalia in 1923 with the arrival in the Italian
colony of the first governor appointed by Mussolini, newly in power as Italy's
fascist dictator. A vigorous policy is adopted to develop and extend Italian imperial
interests, culminating in the defeat and annexation of Ethiopia in 1936.
The local situation is therefore tense when World War II begins, though there
is little immediate chance for the two relatively small colonies of the allies. French
and British Somaliland are entirely surrounded by Italian Eritrea, Somalia and
Ethiopia - now jointly known as Italian East Africa.
Italy maintained control of Italian Somaliland as a part of its African empire
(including Ethiopia and Eritrea) until 1941. During WWII Great Britain also took
over these areas and ruled them as military protectorates until 1949, at which time
the newly formed United Nations granted Italy a trusteeship over most of present-

day Somalia. The British maintained a trusteeship over what is today the selfdeclared state of Somaliland.
Meanwhile French Somaliland is being blockaded by the allies. In 1942 the
local administration changes allegiance and throws in its lot with the Free French.
The seventh slide: The Independence
Between 1948 and 1950 the situation reverts to the colonial boundaries agreed
in 1897. Ethiopia retains the Ogaden and the Haud. French and British Somaliland
continue as before. And in 1950 the Italians return to Somalia under a UN
trusteeship, with the commitment to bring the colony to independence within ten
years.
In the event the year 1960 brings independence to both the British and Italian
colonies, in June and July respectively. They decide to merge as the Somali
Republic, more usually known as Somalia. The French colony has to wait until
1977 before becoming independent as Djibouti.
Independence of British Somaliland and the UN Trusteeship were
enthusiastically welcomed by the Somali people. The nationalist enthusiasm for
independence day was however soon overshadowed by disruptions at the state
level, such as clientalism and corruption. After the disappointment about the
civilian government, the Somali people welcomed the military coup under the
leadership of Siyad Barre. The established regime promoted a Pan-Somali
nationalism and initially proved successful. At the same time however new social
strata emerged, along with tensions between the North and South. While the
minorities people from rural areas in general were neglected, elite competition was
nonetheless encouraged. The main sources of wealth were agricultural land and
foreign aid. Having assumed the form of trade union the clan system which had
been fought before finally became reinforced.

Foreign Relations, 1960-69

Somalia's government was in the hands of leaders who were favorably
disposed toward the Western democracies, particularly Italy and Britain, in whose
political traditions many of them had been educated. Nevertheless, as a reflection

of its desire to demonstrate self-reliance and nonalignment, the Somali government

established ties with the Soviet Union and China soon after independence.
The growth of Soviet influence in Somalia dated from 1962, when Moscow
agreed to provide loans to finance the training and equipping of the armed forces.
The Soviet Union also provided nonmilitary assistance, including technical
training scholarships, printing presses, broadcasting equipment for the government,
and agricultural and industrial development aid. By 1969 considerable nonmilitary
assistance had also been provided by China. Such projects included the
construction of hospitals and factories and in the 1970s of the major north-south
road.
Somalia's relations with Italy after independence remained good, and Italian
influence continued in the modernized sectors of social and cultural affairs.
In contrast to the cordial relations maintained with Italy, Somalia severed
diplomatic ties to Britain in 1962 to protest British support of Kenya's position on
the NFD. Somalia's relations with France were likewise strained because of
opposition to the French presence in the Territory of the Afars and Issas (formerly
French Somaliland, later independent Djibouti). Meanwhile, the Federal Republic
of Germany (West Germany) provided Somalia with a moderate amount of aid,
most notably sharing with Italy and the United States the task of training the police
force.
Throughout the 1960s, the United States supplied nonmilitary aid to Somalia,
a large proportion of it in the form of grants. But the image of the United States in
the eyes of most Somalis was influenced more by its support for Ethiopia than by
any assistance to Somalia. The large scale of United States military aid to Ethiopia
was particularly resented. Although aid to that country had begun long before the
Somali-Ethiopian conflict and was based on other considerations, the Somalis'
attitude remained unchanged as long as the United States continued to train and
equip a hostile neighbor.
Slide eight: Somali conflicts, 1969-1999
From the start a major political theme in independent Somalia was the need to
reunite with three large Somali groups trapped in other states - in French
Somaliland, in Ethiopia (the annexed Ogaden and Haud regions) and in northern
Kenya.

Failure to make any progress on this issue is largely due to western support
for Ethiopia and Kenya, which causes Somalia to look to the Soviet Union for
military aid. Nevertheless the Somali government manages to maintain a fairly
neutral stance in international affairs during the 1960s - a position which changes
dramatically after 1969.
The winning party in the first elections of the new republic was the SYL or
Somali Youth League, formed originally to campaign for independence within
British Somaliland. Elections in March 1969 bring the party a larger majority. It is
becoming increasingly authoritarian in its rule until - in October of this same year a policeman assassinates the president, Muhammad Egal.
A few days later, in a mounting political crisis, the commander of the army,
Mohamed Siad Barre, seizes power. President Siad has no doubt on which side of
the Cold War he intends to align himself. Comrade Marx, Comrade Lenin and
Comrade Siad are soon appearing together on banners and posters at government
rallies.
Siad introduces a brutal Marxist dictatorship, insisting upon the supremacy of
party and nation as opposed to the local clan loyalties which are a strong feature of
Somali culture. But it is the clans of Somalia which finally demolish his totalitarian
state. The collapse results from Somalia's running sore, the question of the Ogaden.
In 1977, with Ethiopia in chaos after the fall of Haile Selassie, Somalia
attacks Ethiopian garrisons in the Ogaden. Soon a Somali army is even besieging
the city of Harar. But President Siad is betrayed by his chosen superpower. The
Soviet Union sees a more important potential client in the new Ethiopia.
Early in 1978 the Ethiopian army, using Soviet equipment and reinforced by
troops from Cuba, recaptures the Ogaden. The result is the mass exodus of
hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees over the borders into Somalia.
An accord was signed with Kenya in December 1984 in which Somalia
"permanently" renounced its historical territorial claims, and relations between the
two countries thereafter began to improve. Complicating matters for the regime, at
the end of 1984 the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) (a guerrilla
organizaton based in Ethiopia seeking to free the Ogaden and unite it with
Somalia) announced a temporary halt in military operations against Ethiopia.
In the same time, many guerrilla groups, clan-based and regional, are formed
in and around Somalia with the intention of toppling Siad's repressive and
centralizing regime. By 1988 the result is full-scale civil war, resulting in the

overthrow of Siad in 1991. He withdraws to the safety of his own clan, becoming
one warlord among many in this increasingly chaotic nation. In 1991 the faction
controlling the former British Somaliland confuses matters by declaring its
independence as the republic of Somaliland.