Jump to content

British Somaliland: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 9°33′N 44°4′E / 9.550°N 44.067°E / 9.550; 44.067
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Hadraa (talk | contribs)
454 edits
No edit summary
Hadraa (talk | contribs)
454 edits
use talk page.
Line 59: Line 59:


In 1914, the British created the [[Somaliland Camel Corps]] to assist in maintaining order in British Somaliland.
In 1914, the British created the [[Somaliland Camel Corps]] to assist in maintaining order in British Somaliland.

In 1920, the British launched their [[1920 conflict between British forces and Somaliland dervishes|fifth and final expedition]] against Hassan and his followers. Employing the then-new technology of military aircraft, the British finally managed to quell Hassan's twenty-year-long struggle. The aerial attack on the Dervish capital, [[Taleh]], killed many members of Hassan's family who had been lured there by the British for an official visit.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ross|first1=Sherwood|title=How the United States Reversed Its Policy on Bombing Civilians|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-133755144.html|publisher=The Humanist|accessdate=11 September 2014}}</ref> Hassan and his Dervish supporters fled into the Ogaden, where Hassan died in 1921.<ref>Samatar, ''The state and rural transformation in Northern Somalia'', p. 39</ref>


===Somaliland Camel Corps===
===Somaliland Camel Corps===
Line 76: Line 74:


===Education In British Somaliland===
===Education In British Somaliland===
During this period, the British Somaliland authorities started opening a chain of elementary schools throughout the Protectorate, where students studied [[English]], [[Arabic]], [[arithmetic]], the [[Qoran]] and [[nature study]].<ref>http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456</ref> After three years in elementary schools, pupils went to the Primary School at Sheikh, which was located 40 miles inland from [[Berbera]], and was a [[boarding school]] there they studied [[history]], [[geography]], [[science]], technical work and later [[gardening]] was added to the curriculum. They lived in the dormitories like the usual English boarding school lines and played [[football]], [[hockey]] and other sports. The students ages were between 13 to 17.<ref>http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456</ref> and British authorities prohibited Christian missionaries in British Somaliland.<ref>https://books.google.se/books?id=3_60AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA324&dq=Education+In+British+Somaliland&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PS4bVcKUIcbfUdm3gdgD&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Education%20In%20British%20Somaliland&f=false</ref>
During this period, the British Somaliland authorities started opening a chain of elementary schools throughout the Protectorate, where students studied [[English]], [[Arabic]], [[arithmetic]], the [[Qoran]] and [[nature study]].<ref>http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456</ref> After three years in elementary schools, pupils went to the Primary School at Sheikh, which was located 40 miles inland from [[Berbera]], and was a [[boarding school]] there they studied [[history]], [[geography]], [[science]], technical work and later [[gardening]] was added to the curriculum. They lived in the dormitories like the usual English boarding school lines and played [[football]], [[hockey]] and other sports. The students ages were between 13 to 17.<ref>http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456</ref>


The Somaliland authorities launched a campaign that resultet by the time of independence in 1960 on the existence of 38 elementary schools for boys and only three for girls.<ref>https://books.google.se/books?id=3_60AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA324&dq=Education+In+British+Somaliland&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PS4bVcKUIcbfUdm3gdgD&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Education%20In%20British%20Somaliland&f=false</ref>
The Somaliland authorities launched a campaign that resultet by the time of independence in 1960 on the existence of 38 elementary schools for boys and only three for girls.<ref>https://books.google.se/books?id=3_60AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA324&dq=Education+In+British+Somaliland&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PS4bVcKUIcbfUdm3gdgD&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Education%20In%20British%20Somaliland&f=false</ref>

Revision as of 00:54, 1 April 2015

British Somaliland Protectorate
Dhulka Biritishka ee Soomaaliya
الصومال البريطاني
1884–1940
1941–1960
Coat of arms of Somaliland Protectorate
Coat of arms
British Somaliland
British Somaliland
StatusProtectorate of the United Kingdom
CapitalBerbera
Common languagesSomali
English
Religion
Islam
History 
• Established
1884
1 July 1960
Area
1904[1]155,399 km2 (60,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1904[1]
153,018
CurrencyRupee (1884–1941)
East African shilling (1941–62)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Warsangali Sultanate
Dervish State
Italian East Africa
State of Somaliland

British Somaliland ([Dhulka Biritishka ee Soomaaliya] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), [الصومال البريطاني Al-Sumal Al-Britaniy] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) was a British protectorate in present-day northwestern Somalia. For much of its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somaliland, French Somaliland and Ethiopia. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa. On 1 July 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate united as scheduled with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic (Somalia).[2][3] The government of Somaliland, a self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia,[4][5] regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland.[6][7]

History

Treaties and establishment

Main article: Warsangali Sultanate
Mohamoud Ali Shire, the 26th Sultan of the Warsangali Sultanate.

In 1888, after signing successive treaties with the then ruling Somali Sultans such as Mohamoud Ali Shire of the Warsangali Sultanate, the British established a protectorate in the region referred to as British Somaliland.[8] The British garrisoned the protectorate from Aden and administered it from their British India colony until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the Foreign Office until 1905 and afterwards by the Colonial Office.

Generally, the British did not have much interest in the resource-barren region.[9] The stated purposes of the establishment of the protectorate were to "secure a supply market, check the traffic in slaves, and to exclude the interference of foreign powers." [10] The British principally viewed the protectorate as a source for supplies of meat for their British Indian outpost in Aden through the maintenance of order in the coastal areas and protection of the caravan routes from the interior.[11] Hence, the region's nickname of "Aden's butcher's shop".[12] Colonial administration during this period did not extend administrative infrastructure beyond the coast,[13] and contrasted with the more interventionist colonial experience of Italian Somaliland.[14]

Dervish State

Main article: Dervish State
Aerial view of Mohamed Abdullah Hassan's main fort in Taleh, the capital of his Dervish State.

Beginning in 1899, the British were forced to expend considerable human and military capital to contain a decades-long resistance movement mounted by the Dervish State. The polity was led by Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, a Somali religious leader referred to colloquially by the British as the "Mad Mullah". Repeated military expeditions were unsuccessfully launched against Hassan and his Dervishes before World War I.

1911 map of Somalia showing British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland.

On 9 August 1913, the Somaliland Camel Constabulary suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Dul Madoba at the hands of the Dervishes. Hassan had already evaded several attempts to capture him. At Dul Madoba, his forces killed or wounded 57 members of the 110-man Constabulary unit, including the British commander, Colonel Richard Corfield.

In 1914, the British created the Somaliland Camel Corps to assist in maintaining order in British Somaliland.

Somaliland Camel Corps

Main article: Somaliland Camel Corps
Somaliland Camel Corps between Berbera and Odweyne in 1913.

The Somaliland Camel Corps, also referred to as the Somali Camel Corps, was a unit of the British Army based in British Somaliland. It lasted from the early 20th century until 1944. The troopers of the Somaliland Camel Corps had a distinctive dress. It was based on the standard British Army khaki drill, but included a knitted woollen pullover and drill patches on the shoulders. Shorts were worn with woollen socks on puttees and "chaplis", boots or bare feet. Equipment consisted of a leather ammunition bandolier and a leather waist belt. The officers wore pith helmets and khaki drill uniforms. Other ranks wore a "kullah" with "puggree" which ended in a long tail which hung down the back.[15] A "chaplis" is typically a colourful sandal. A "kullah" is a type of cap. A "puggree" is typically a strip of cloth wound around the upper portion of a hat or helmet, particularly a pith helmet, and falling down behind to act as a shade for the back of the neck.

British Somaliland 1920–1930

Market in Hargeisa.

Following the defeat of the Dervish resistance, the two fundamental goals of British policy in British Somaliland were the preservation of stability and the economic self-sufficiency of the protectorate.[16] The second goal remained particularly elusive because of local resistance to taxation that might have been used to support the protectorate's administration.[17] By the 1930s, the British presence had extended to other parts of British Somaliland. Growth in commercial trade motivated some livestock herders to subsequently leave the pastoral economy and settle in urban areas.[18] Customs taxes also helped pay for British India's patrol of Somalia's Red Sea Coast.[19]

Economy in British Somaliland

Main article: Economic history of Somalia

There was still less investment in British Somaliland, which British India had administered. During the prime mininstership of William Ewart Gladstone in the 1880s, it was decided that the British Indian government should be responsible for administering the Somaliland protectorate because the Somali coast's strategic location on the Gulf of Aden was important to British India. Customs taxes helped pay for British India's patrol of Somalia's Red Sea Coast. The biggest investment by the British colonial government in its three-quarters of a century of rule was in putting down the rebellion of the dervishes. In 1947, long after the dervish war of the early 1900s, the entire budget for the administration of the British protectorate was only £213,139. If Italy's rhetoric concerning Somalia outpaced performance, Britain had no illusions about its protectorate in Somaliland. At best, the Somali protectorate had some strategic value to Britain's eastern trading empire in protecting the trade route to Aden and British India and helping assure a steady supply of food for Aden.[19]

Education In British Somaliland

During this period, the British Somaliland authorities started opening a chain of elementary schools throughout the Protectorate, where students studied English, Arabic, arithmetic, the Qoran and nature study.[20] After three years in elementary schools, pupils went to the Primary School at Sheikh, which was located 40 miles inland from Berbera, and was a boarding school there they studied history, geography, science, technical work and later gardening was added to the curriculum. They lived in the dormitories like the usual English boarding school lines and played football, hockey and other sports. The students ages were between 13 to 17.[21]

The Somaliland authorities launched a campaign that resultet by the time of independence in 1960 on the existence of 38 elementary schools for boys and only three for girls.[22]

Italian invasion

The Italian invasion of British Somaliland in August 1940.
Further information: East African Campaign (World War II) and Italian conquest of British Somaliland

In August 1940, during the East African Campaign in World War II, British Somaliland was briefly occupied by Italy. During this period, the British rounded up soldiers and governmental officials to evacuate them from the territory through the capital of Berbera. In total, 7,000 people, including civilians were evacuated.[23] The Somalis serving in the Somaliland Camel Corps were given the choice of evacuation or disbandment; the majority chose to remain and were allowed to retain their arms.[24]

In March 1941, after a six-month occupation, the British Imperial forces recaptured the protectorate during Operation Appearance. The final remnants of the Italian guerrilla movement discontinued all resistance in British Somaliland by the fall of 1943. In 1947, the entire budget for the administration of the British Somaliland protectorate was only £213,139.[19]

Independence and The of State of Somaliland

Main article: State of Somaliland

The State of Somaliland was a short-lived independent state in the territory of present-day northwestern Somalia.[25] It was the name assumed by the former British Somaliland protectorate in the five days between June 26, 1960 and July 1, 1960, when the territory prepared for union as scheduled with the Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian Administration (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic (Somalia).

On June 26, 1960, the former British Somaliland protectorate briefly obtained independence as the State of Somaliland, with the Trust Territory of Somaliland following suit five days later.[2][3] The following day, on June 27, 1960, the newly convened Somaliland Legislative Assembly approved a bill that would formally allow for the union of the State of Somaliland with the Trust Territory of Somaliland on 1 July 1960.[26]

During its brief existence, the State of Somaliland received international recognition from 35 countries,[27] that included China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Israel, Libya, the Soviet Union.The United States Secretary of State Christian Herter sent a congratulatory message, [28][29][30]and the United Kingdom signed several bilateral agreements with Somaliland in Hargeisa on June 26, 1960.[31][32][dubious – discuss] There were also fears of clashes with populations in Ethiopia.[33]

On 26 June 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate briefly gained independence as the State of Somaliland before uniting as scheduled five days later with the Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic (Somalia) on 1 July 1960.[2][3]

Somaliland

In 1991, after the breakdown of the central government of the Somali Republic, parts of the area which formerly encompassed State of Somaliland which was independent. In May 1991, the formation of the "Republic of Somaliland" was proclaimed, with the local government regarding it as the successor to the former State of Somaliland. However, the Somaliland region's self-declared independence remains unrecognised by any country or international organisation.[4][34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Census of the British empire. 1901". Openlibrary.org. 1906. p. 178. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Somalia
  3. ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, (Encyclopædia Britannica: 2002), p.835
  4. ^ a b Lacey, Marc (5 June 2006). "The Signs Say Somaliland, but the World Says Somalia". New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2010. Cite error: The named reference "NYT" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ "The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic" (PDF). University of Pretoria. 1 February 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2010. "The Somali Republic shall have the following boundaries. (a) North; Gulf of Aden. (b) North West; Djibouti. (c) West; Ethiopia. (d) South south-west; Kenya. (e) East; Indian Ocean."
  6. ^ "Somaliland Marks Independence After 73 Years of British Rule" (fee required). The New York Times. 26 June 1960. p. 6. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  7. ^ "How Britain said farewell to its Empire". BBC News. 23 July 2010.
  8. ^ Hugh Chisholm (ed.), The encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 25, (At the University press: 1911), p.383.
  9. ^ Samatar, Abdi Ismail The state and rural transformation in Northern Somalia, 1884–1986, Madison: 1989, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 31
  10. ^ Samatar p. 31
  11. ^ Samatar, p. 32
  12. ^ Samatar, Unhappy masses and the challenge of political Islam in the Horn of Africa, Somalia Online [1] retrieved 10-03-27
  13. ^ Samatar, The state and rural transformation in Northern Somaliap. 42
  14. ^ McConnell, Tristan (15 January 2009). "The Invisible Country". Virginia Quarterly Review. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  15. ^ Mollo, p. 139
  16. ^ Samatar, p. 45
  17. ^ Samatar, p. 46
  18. ^ Samatar, pp. 52–53
  19. ^ a b c Ofcansky and LaVerle Berry, Thomas P. "Ethiopia in World War II". A Country Study: Ethiopia. Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  20. ^ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456
  21. ^ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205058456
  22. ^ https://books.google.se/books?id=3_60AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA324&dq=Education+In+British+Somaliland&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PS4bVcKUIcbfUdm3gdgD&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Education%20In%20British%20Somaliland&f=false
  23. ^ Playfair (1954), p. 178
  24. ^ Wavell, p. 2724
  25. ^ Somalia - British Somaliland and Somaliland
  26. ^ http://wardheernews.com/Articles_09/June/Roobdoon_Forum/29_Independence_week_series.html
  27. ^ http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/anotes_0211.pdf
  28. ^ http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-dept-of-state-office-of-public-co/department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin/page-25-department-of-state-bulletin-volume-v-43-jul--sep1960-tin.shtml
  29. ^ https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v14/d62
  30. ^ http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/anotes_0211.pdf
  31. ^ http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/anotes_0211.pdf
  32. ^ THE BRENTHURST FOUNDATION Strengthening Africa’s economic performance AFRICAN GAme ChANGeR? The Consequences of Somaliland’s International (Non) Recognition

    This list includes China (Republic of ), Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Israel, Libya, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, and the United States.
  33. ^ "Somaliland Marks Independence After 73 Years of British Rule" (fee required). The New York Times. 26 June 1960. p. 6. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  34. ^ UN in Action: Reforming Somaliland's Judiciary

9°33′N 44°4′E / 9.550°N 44.067°E / 9.550; 44.067

Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=British_Somaliland&oldid=654423814"