Historic Timeline of Somalia

1
Historic Timeline of Somalia

• By Michaela C.

2
Historic Backround

• The Somali are ancient people, indigenous to the
  Horn of Africa. They came to the stage of the
  world history as businesslike people trading with
  ancient civilizations. The Somali never came
  under the unifying rule of a single political
  authority.

3
The First Occupants 600s-1870s

• Somalias ostrich feathers, butter, and other
  animal biproducts have been open to the outside
  world for centuries. In the 600s, Muslim Arabs
  and Persians established themselves along the
  Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean Coasts, developing
  a series of trading posts. Later in the 1500s,
  these trading posts disintegrated into small
  states. In the 1800s, a scramble for Somali
  possession started by Britain, France, and Italy.

4
1880s The Start of the Scramble

• When the European nations began to invade Africa
  in the late 19th century, France had control over
  a coaling station near the Red Sea and continued
  to expand itself to the area of present Djibouti.
  At the end of the 1880s, Britain had proclaimed a
  protectorate over the north coast and called it
  Somaliland. Italy controlled the remainder of the
  country a protectorate in central Somalia, later
  consolidated with territory in the south.

5
Early 1990s Whos in Control?

• In the north, a Muslim leader went to war against
  the British in 1899 and maintained his hold until
  his death in the 1920s. The Italians aquired the
  South after World War 1, but soon after, the
  British won control of the Italian zone in World
  War 2.

6
1943 Strive for Indepedence

• The Somali Youth League (SYL) wanted independence
  by all territories and reunification under one
  national flag. They won the elections of 1959 and
  a year later the Somali National League (SNL) and
  United Somali Party (USP) won the elections. It
  was a peaceful and political campaign.

SYL
7
1960 The Merge

• June 26, 1960, the British and Italian parts of
  Somalia became independent and merged to form the
  United Republic of Somalia. Aden Abdullah Osman
  Daar was elected president. A constitution was
  soon to be made, but the country suffered a
  unhealthy political atmosphere and the president
  was assassinated ten years later.

Aden Abdullah Osman Daar
8
1961 Constitution Formation

• The SYL and SNL-USP formed a coalition government
  headed by Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke
  of SYL. The SYL soon took leadership and then the
  competiton started between the SYL and SNL-USP
  governments. There were secessionist rebellions,
  border clashes with Ethiopia, and extreme hostile
  relations with Kenya. A corrupt and unwieldly
  bureaucracy started to grow.

9
1969 Army took over

• On October 21, 1969 the army took over the state.
  They suspended the 1961 constitution and
  appointed themselves the Supreme Revolutionary
  Council (SRC). The renamed the country Somali
  Democratic Republic and adopted the scientific
  socialism as its guiding principle. Muhammad Siad
  Barre became Somalias new president.

10
1979 New Constitution

• On July 1, 1976, the SRC handed leadership to the
  Somali Revolutionary Socialist Part (SRSP). A new
  constitution was formed in 1979 and there were
  elections for new parliament The Peoples
  Assembly, who chose Mohamed Siad Barre as their
  president. His regime was militaristic socialism
  and repressive personal dictatorship.

Siad Barre
11
1978Defeat of Ogaden War

• An abortive military coup made way for the
  formation of two opposition groups The Somali
  Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the Somali
  National Movement (SNM). They undertook
  operations from bases in Ethiopia. A peace accord
  with Ethiopia was signed in 1988 obliging to
  cease supporting Somali antigovernment guerrillas
  which had unfortunately precipitated civil war in
  Somalia.

Bases in Ethiopia
12
1979-1989 Fight against Siad Barre

• The Somali Democratic Action Front (SDAF)
  declared war. Many other groups joined the fight
  over time including the SSDF, the SNM, the
  Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), and the United
  Somali Congress (USC). Finally on January 27,
  1991, USC Militia drove Siad Barre out of
  Mogadishu.

13
1991 Unilateral Independence

• In May of 1991 the SNM declared that the former
  British protectorate was seceding from the Somali
  Union to form the independent Republic of
  Somaliland. An internal rift within USC put Gen.
  Mohammed Farah Aideed against Ali Mandi Mohamed.
  The war caused 30,000 lives and destruction of
  Mogadishu.

14
1991 Disintegration

• By the end of 1991, Somalia was divided into a
  dozen or so units under the control of clan
  elders or local warlords. Chaos with drought and
  devastating famine in which 500,000 people
  starved to death. Attempts to distribute relief
  food were undermined by rake-offs by militias.

15
1992-1995 Outside Countries decide to help

• In 1992, US Marines land near Mogadishu ahead of
  a UN peacekeeping force sent to restore order and
  safeguard relief supplies. In 1993, US Army
  Rangers are killed when Somali militias shoot
  down two US helicopters in Mogadishu and a battle
  ensues. Hundreds of Somalis die in the battle and
  the US mission formally ends in March of 1994.
  Not soon after, UN peacekeepers leave, having
  failed to achieve their mission.

16
2006 War

• A conflict involving Ethiopian and Somali
  Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Forces
  versus the Islamic Court Union (ICU) officially
  started on July 20, 2006 when the US backed
  Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to prop up the
  TFG. The TFG had invited the Ethiopians to
  intervene which actually failed to strengthen the
  government. After several successful battles, the
  Ethiopians withdrew in January 2009. Islamist
  groups however are still trying to attack certain
  areas.

17
January 31, 2009 Elections

• The most up to date recent history in Somalia
  were the elections that took place on Saturday.
  Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has
  been elected Somalias new president. He is said
  to be the one man that might be able to control
  the secular warlords who have been dominating the
  government. Mr. Ahmed says he wants to rebuild
  Somalias social services.

18
Works Cited

• Islamist elected Somali President.
• BBC news. 2009. Feb. 1, 2009. http//news.bbc.co.
  uk/2/hi/africa/7860925.stm
• Middleton, John. Encyclopedia of Africa South of
  the Sahara, Volume 4. New York 1997. Simon
  Schuster Prentice Hall Int.
• Somalia. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009.
  Encyclopedia Britannica online. Feb. 1, 2009.
  http//www.britannica.com/Ebchecked/topic/553877/S
  omalia
• Somalias Struggle for Stability. PBS online.
  2009. Aug. 25, 2008. http//www.pbs.org/newshour/i
  ndepth_coverage/africa/somalia/timeline/
• Timeline Somalia. BBC news, 2009. Jan. 29,
  2009. http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1072611.st
  m
• War in Somalia. Wikipedia. 2009. Wikimedia
  Foundation, Inc. Feb. 2, 2009. http//en.wikipedia
  .org/wiki/war_in_somali_(2006-present)