The State of Somalia
After World War II, but Somalis with the help of Allied Powers in their struggle against the Axis powers, Britain retained control of both British Somaliland and Italian Somalia as protectorates. In November 1949, Italy gave the United Nations trusteeship of Italian Somaliland, but only under close supervision and with the condition – first proposed by the Somali Youth League (Syl) and other emerging Somali political organizations, as Hizbia Somali Digil mirifle (HDMS) (which later became Hizbia Dastur Mustaqbal Somali HDMS) and the Somali National League (SNL), which were then agitating for independence – that Somalia achieve independence within ten years. British Somaliland remains a protectorate of Britain until 1960.
Meanwhile, in 1948, under pressure from the World War II allies and to the dismay of the Somalis, the British “returned” the Hawd (an important grazing area Somali who presumably was “protected” by British treaties with the Somalis in 1884 and 1886) and the Ogaden in Ethiopia, based on a treaty signed in 1897 when the British ceded the territory to the Somali Emperor Menelik of Ethiopia in exchange for their help against the looting of Somali clans. Great Britain included the proviso that the nomadic Somalis would retain their autonomy, but Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over them. This led to a failed attempt by Britain in 1956 to buy back land that had delivered Somali.
A referendum was held in neighbouring Djibouti (then known as French Somaliland) in 1958, on the eve of independence from Somalia in 1960, to decide whether or not to join the Republic of Somalia or to stay in France. The referendum was in favour of a continued partnership with France, largely due to a combination of yes vote by the major ethnic group afar and European residents. However, most of those who voted were not Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia as proposed by Mahmoud Harbi, Vice President of the Governing Council. Harbi was killed in a plane crash two years later. Djibouti finally won its independence from France in 1977 and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, a French-groomed Somali that a campaign to vote yes in the referendum of 1958, eventually wound up as Djibouti’s first president (1977-1991).
British Somaliland became independent on June 26, 1960, and the former Italian Somaliland followed suit five days later. On July 1, 1960, the two territories merged to form the Republic of Somalia, but within limits drawn up by Italy and Britain. A government was formed by Abdullahi Aden Abdullah Osman Issa with Daar as President and Abdirashid Ali Shermarke as Prime Minister after becoming President (1967-1969). On July 20, 1961 and through a popular referendum, the Somali people ratified a new constitution, which was drafted in 1960.
However, inter-clan rivalry persists with many clans that claim to have been forced into the state of Somalia. In 1967, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal became prime minister, appointed by Shermarke (Egal was later to become President of the breakaway Somaliland independent).
In late 1969 following the assassination of President Shermarke, a military government took power in a coup led by General Siad Barre and Chief of Police Korshel Jama. Barre became president and vice president Korshel. The revolutionary army set up large-scale public works programmes and successfully implemented an urban and rural literacy campaign, which helped to dramatically increase the literacy rate from 5% to 55% of the mid-1980.
However, fighting continued during the rule Barre. In a moment that killed an important figure in his cabinet, Major General Gabiere, and two other officials.
It was in July 1976 when the military dictatorship of the real Somali began with the founding of the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (Xisbiga Hantiwadaagga Kacaanka Soomaaliya, XHKS). It was the only party that ruled Somalia until the fall of military rule in December 1990 – January 1991. It was violently overthrown by the armed revolt combined Somali Salvation Democratic Front (Jabhadda Diimuqraadiga Badbaadinta Soomaaliya, SSDF), the United Somali Congress (USC), Somali National Movement (SNM) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), together with non-violent political opposition of the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM), the Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) and the Somali Manifesto Group (SMG).
