Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0328/03286.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 35KB | 551 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03286}
$Pretitle{286}
$Title{Somalia
Chapter 1C.   The British Military Administration}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Robert Rinehart}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{somali
british
syl
political
italian
administration
independence
somalia
government
party}
$Date{1981}
$Log{}
Country:     Somalia
Book:        Somalia, A Country Study
Author:      Robert Rinehart
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1981

Chapter 1C.   The British Military Administration

     British military administrations were set up in the protectorate and in
both Somalia and the eastern portions of Ethiopia that had been annexed to it
in 1936. Nearly all of the Somalis-except some in southern Ethiopia and the
small number in French Somaliland-had thereby come under British control. No
common administration for the three areas was contemplated, however, and
Britain agreed to an eventual return of the Ogaden to Ethiopian jurisdiction.
In British Somaliland a military governor, assisted by an army council,
carried on the work formerly assigned to civilian colonial service officers.
In Somalia a small corps of army political officers reported to the area
military commander.

     The priority of the British military administration in wartime was
naturally to restore order and provide security in the region. The Somaliland
Camel Corps was reorganized in the protectorate, and five battalions were
raised for the Somaliland Scouts, incorporating former irregular units. In the
south the Italian security organization was dismantled, and the Somalia
Gendarmerie was formed to police the occupied territory under British
officers. Initially manned by askari (African soldiers) from Kenya, serving
with British forces, and reinforced by Somali irregulars, the paramilitary
organization was later composed of local recruits who received training in a
police school established by the military administration. Forces in the two
territories cooperated in rounding up Italian stragglers and in the difficult
task of disarming Somali nomads in the interior who had taken advantage of the
windfall in weapons provided by the war. Combating the well-armed bands of
shifta (bandits), who raided the Ogaden from Ethiopia, remained a troublesome
problem throughout the period of military administration.

     But the British military administrators who controlled the two Somali
colonies from 1941 to 1949 also accomplished more social and political change
than had their Italian and British predecessors since colonial rule was first
imposed. London's reversal of the prewar policy requiring that British
Somaliland be self-supporting allowed additional funds to be made available
for development. The protectorate's capital was moved from Berbera to Hargeysa
(Hargesa), a religious and trading center for the nomadic herders in the
interior, to indicate greater British involvement in Somali problems. Although
the civil service remained inadequate in numbers, efforts were undertaken to
improve agricultural and health services and to influence Somali opinion in
favor of development. The military administration succeeded in opening a
number of secular schools where there had been only subsidized Quranic schools
before 1939.

     The local court system was also reorganized, and local advisory and
planning committees were established in the towns. In 1946 the Protectorate
Advisory Council was created in which districts were represented by Somali
appointees of both modern and traditional orientation.

     In Somalia the military administration ensured better pay and working
conditions for the agricultural labor force. By 1947 the number of pupils in
the elementary schools had increased to twice the prewar figure, and a center
for training elementary school teachers was opened. The British also provided
the opportunity for Somalis to qualify as junior officials in the civil
service and the gendarmerie. In addition the first chance for Somali political
activity opened up as Italian-appointed clan chiefs were gradually displaced
by elected advisory assemblies at the clan level. District and provincial
councils were also created to advise the military administration.

     The military administration continued to depend on Italian civilians in
the colony to keep the economy functioning and to operate public services.
Only those civilians who were regarded as security risks were interned. In
early 1943 Italians were allowed to form political associations. New Italian
organizations of all political persuasions immediately sprung up and began to
agitate for an eventual return to Italian rule. In the face of such pressure
the British and Somalis saw each other as allies. The British accordingly
encouraged the formation of the first modern Somali political organization,
the Somali Youth Club (SYC), founded in Mogadishu in May 1943.

     SYC was strengthened from the beginning by the inclusion of better
educated civil servants and police officers in its membership and leadership.
Under any other British jurisdiction this group would have been prevented from
engaging in politics by civil service rules, but in Somalia they were allowed
to join SYC because it served as a counterweight to the Italian interests.

     The SYC grew rapidly in popularity and had gained an estimated membership
of 25,000 by 1946. Its name was changed to the Somali Youth League (SYL) in
1947, at which time branches operated not only in Somalia but also in British
Somaliland and in the Somali-populated areas of Ethiopia and Kenya. The SYL
had announced as its aims the unification of Somali territory, creation of
widespread opportunity for modern education, development of the Somali
language through the adoption of a standard written form, and general
protection of Somali interests, including opposition to the reimposition of
Italian colonial rule. The organization's thirteen founding members
represented five of Somali's six clan-families, and its members made strong
efforts to promote the concept of a common Somali nationality without regard
for clan divisions, going so far as to refuse to use their clan names. A
second political body, initially called the Patriotic Benefit Union, was
established in the same period. In 1947 it became the Somali Digil Clan Party
(Hizbia Digil-Mirifle Somali-HDMS). The HDMS represented the agricultural
clans of the regions between the Juba and Shabeelle rivers against what its
supporters saw as the dominance of the SYL by pastoral interests. In its
opposition to these interests, the HDMS was willing to accept considerable
financial support from the Italians. Although the SYL had some northern
supporters, the chief parties in British Somaliland were the Somaliland
National League (SNL), which represented the dominant Isaaq clan-family, and
the United Somali Party (USP), which had the backing of the Dir and northern
Darod.

     Technically, British-administered Somalia remained an Italian possession
at the end of World War II, but at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 the Allies
agreed that Italian colonies seized during the war would not be returned to
Italy. Responsibility for deciding their disposition fell to the Allied
Council of Foreign Ministers, which delegated the Four Power Commission
(composed of representatives of Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the
United States) to study the question of Somalia's future. In January 1948 the
commission arrived in Mogadishu to hear testimony. The SYL obtained permission
from the military administration for a rally to demonstrate popular support
for its opposition to the reimposition of Italian jurisdiction in any form.
Rioting occurred, and fifty-one Italians and seventeen Somalis lost their
lives when Italian-backed groups attempted to disrupt the rally and discredit
the SYL in the commission's eyes. In spite of the disorder the commission
continued its hearings and was impressed by the program presented by the SYL's
spokesmen, Abdullahi Issa and Haji Mohamed Hussein. In addition to the
unification