Imperial Policies and Nationalism in The Decolonization of Somaliland, I954–I960

English Historical Review

Volumn 117, Issue 474, 2002, Pages 1177-1203

  Mohamed, Jama ^a  

^a NONE   (United Arab Emirates)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 84917410132     PISSN: 00138266     EISSN: 14774534     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/117.474.1177     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. I. P[ublic]R[ecord]O[ffice], CAB I29/33/2, Constitutional Development in Smaller Territories, Cabinet memorandum by Creech Jones, I0 March I949.
2. PRO, CAB I29/I29/7I, Commonwealth Membership, Cabinet memorandum by Lord Swinton, II October I954.
3. PRO, CAB I34/I203, Small Colonial Territories, Cabinet Memorandum by Lennox-Boyd, 27 September I956.
4. Bethwell A. Ogot and Tiyambe Zeleza, ‘Kenya: The Road to Independence and After,’ in Prosser Gifford and Wm. Roger Louis (ed.), Decolonization and African Independence: The Transfers of Power, I960–I980 (New Haven, I988), pp. 40I–426
5. John Darwin, ‘Decolonization and the End of Empire,’ in Robin W. Winks (ed.), Oxford History of the British Empire: Vol. V: Historiography (Oxford, I999), pp. 54I–557
6. John Darwin, Britain and Decolonization (London, I988)
7. J. D. Hargreaves, Decolonization in Africa (London, I988)
8. Prosser Gifford and W. Roger Louis (ed.), The Transfer of Power in Africa: Decolonization, I940–I960 (New Haven, CT, I982)
9. Thomas Hogdkin, Nationalism in Colonial Africa (London, I956)
10. Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (New York, I993)
11. W. Roger Louis, Empire at Bay (Oxford, I978); R. H. Holland, European Decolonization, I9I8–I98I (London, I994). For brief discussions on the decolonization of Somaliland see Abdi Ismail Samatar, The State and Rural Transformation in Northern Somalia, I886–I986 (Madison, WI, I989)
12. I. M. Lewis, The Modern History of Somaliland (New York, I965); Sadia Touval, Somali Nationalism (Cambridge, MA, I967).
13. Wm Roger Louis, ‘The Dissolution of the British Empire,’ in Judith M. Brown (ed.), The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Twentieth Century (Oxford, I999), vol. 4, p. 332
14. Wm. Roger Louis and Ronald Robinson, ‘The Imperialism of Decolonization,’ Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, xxii, no. 3 (I994), 467
15. A. J. Stockwell, ‘Imperialism and Nationalism in South-East Asia,’ in Judith M. Brown (ed.), The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Twentieth Century, vol. 4, p. 485.
16. PRO, F.O.78/3857, James Blair, Secretary of State for the Colonies, I885.
17. The story has been told brilliantly in David Levering Lewis, The Race to Fashoda: European Colonialism and African Resistance in the Scramble for Africa (New York, I987).
18. Ibid., pp. 7–8.
19. James Rennell Rodd, Social and Diplomatic Memories (Second Series), I89I–I90I: Egypt and Abyssinia (London, I923), p. vi.
20. I0. David Levering Lewis, Race to Fashoda, p. I2.
21. I2. Sir Rennell Rodd, Social and Diplomatic Memories, p. I74. See also David Levering Lewis, Race to Fashoda, p. I30.
22. I3. Sir Rennell Rodd, Social and Diplomatic Memories, p. I63.
23. I5. David Levering Lewis, Race to Fashoda, p. I28.
24. I6. Sir Rennell Rodd, Social and Diplomatic Memories, p. I87.
25. I9. David Levering Lewis, Race to Fashoda, p. I30.
26. PRO, F.O.37I/II3459, Treaty Between Great Britain and Ethiopia, Signed by the Emperor Menelek II, and by Her Majesty’s Envoy, Addis Ababa, May I4, I897.
27. Sir Rennell Rodd, Social and Diplomatic Memoirs, p. I82.
28. Ibid., p. I22. H. C. Swayne wrote a book on his experiences: Seventeen Trips Through Somaliland (London, I895).
29. H. B. Gilliland, ‘An Approach to the Problem of the Government of Nomadic Peoples; With Special Reference to Experience in Eastern British Somaliland’, The South African Geographical Journal, xxix (April I947), 5I.
30. PRO, C[olonial]O[ffice] I0I5/I354, ‘The Haud Problem: History to the End of I956’, April I957. The rest of this and the following paragraph are based on this document.
31. PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, ‘The Zeila-Haud Negotiations,’ December I95I.
32. Ibid. See also PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, ‘Zeila-Haud Negotiations: Notes of Meeting Held at the Colonial Office on I3 December, I95I’.
33. PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, C. H. A. Judd to J. E. Marnham, Esq., Colonial Office, 20 June I952.
34. PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, British Embassy to the Right Honourable Anthony Eden, M.P., 26 May I952.
35. PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, Oliver Lyttelton, Colonial Office, to Governor of Somaliland, Gerlad Reece, I8 September I952.
36. PRO, C.O.I0I5/507, ‘Enclosure No.I to Mr. D. L. Busk’s Addis Ababa Despatch no. 4I, dated 26 May I952’.
37. Harold Marcus, A History of Ethiopia (Berkeley, CA, I994), p. I54. See also Harold Marcus, Ethiopia, Great Britain, and the United States, I94I–I947 (Berkeley, CA, I983). For a general discussion of the role of the United States in the decolonization of the British Empire, which stresses global rather than local or regional themes, see Wm. Roger Louis, Imperialism at Bay: The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, I94I–I945 (New York, I978).
38. PRO, C.O.I0I5/I354, Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ethiopia relating to certain matters connected with the withdrawal of British Military Administration from the territories designated as the Reserved Area and the Ogaden, London, November 29, I954. The rest of this paragraph is based on this document.
39. Colonial Office, The Haud Problem: History to the End of I956, April I957.
40. Colonial Office, Colonial Office Annual Reports on the Somaliland Protectorate, I954 and I955 (London, I957), p. 3.
41. It was an organization, not a party. Henceforth it will be referred to as N.U.F.– the short and more widely known acronym. The N.U.F. became a registered party in I958. No extended analysis of the form (parties) and content (ideology) of nationalism can be made here for lack of space. For a brief discussion on these issues see I. M. Lewis, Modern History of Somaliland
42. Sadia Touval, Somali Nationalism
43. and Abdi Samatar, State and Rural Transformation.
44. PRO, F.O.37I/II3458, Record of meeting with Somaliland delegation over the Haud Agreement held in the Secretary of State’s room at the Colonial Office, I4 February, I955.
45. PRO, F.O.37I/II3458, Somali Delegation to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 5 May I955.
46. PRO, F.O.37I/II3458, Somali Delegation to the Secretary General of the United Nations, I955.
47. Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa (London, I856), 2 volumes. The narrative was based on his I854 travels from Zeila to Harar to Berbera.
48. PRO, F.O.37I/II3458, Somali Delegation to the Secretary General of the United Nations, I955.
49. ‘Somaliland: Background to a Grievance’, Africa Digest, cxi, (I) (May–June I955), p. I4.
50. ‘The Moving Caravan,’ Daily Mail, Monday, February 28, I955.
51. ‘The Somali’s Plea’, Daily Express, 25 February I955.
52. ‘Somalis May Seek U.N. Intervention’, Sunday Observer, 27 February I955.
53. PRO, F.O.37I/II346I, Parliamentary Question, October and November I955.
54. Colonial Office, The Haud Problem: History to the End of I956.
55. PRO, F.O.37I/II364I, The National United Front, (Report), I955.
56. The Ethiopian delegation was led by Colonel Kefle Erguetou, Deputy Governor General, Harar Province, while the Somaliland delegation was led by J. R. Stebbing, Chief Secretary to the Somaliland Protectorate Government. The two delegates met fifteen times during the conference.
57. Oxford University, Rhodes House Library, Mss.Afr.S.2I09, Box 2, J. R. Stebbing, Harar Conference: I2 December I955 to 20 December I955 and 2 January I956 to 2I January I956. The box contains all the agenda of the conference, and the discussions that took place. The perspective, nonetheless, is limited since no direct archival research in Ethiopia has been undertaken for the writing of this paper.
58. Ibid., J. R. Stebbing to Sir Theodore Pike, Governor of Somaliland, 27 January I956.
59. Ibid., Theodore Pike to Alan Lennox-Boyd, Secretary State for the Colonies, 28 January I956.
60. PRO, CAB I29/80, Cabinet: The Somaliland Protectorate: Memorandum by the Secretary of the State for the Colonies, 23 March I956. The rest of this paragraph is based on this document.
61. Harold G. Marcus, Ethiopia, Great Britain, and the United States, I94I–I947 (Berkeley, CA, I983); Wm. Roger Louis, Imperialism at Bay: The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, I94I–I945 (New York, I978).
62. PRO, CAB I29/8I, Strategic Importance of the Somaliland Protectorate, 30 April I956. This paragraph is based on this document.
63. Ibid. See also CAB I29/80, The Horn of Africa: Joint Cabinet Memorandum by Selwyn Lloyd and Lennox-Boyd on Security Problems, 25 March I956.
64. PRO, CAB I29/80, Cabinet: Horn of Africa: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 24 March I956. This paragraph is based on this document.
65. PRO, CAB I29/82, Cabinet: Somaliland Protectorate and the Horn of Africa: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 25 July I956.
66. Cabinet: Somaliland Protectorate and the Horn of Africa: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 25 July I956.
67. PRO, CAB I29/82, Appendix A: Report by Lord Lloyd on his Visit to Somaliland, 20–3I May, I956. The rest of this paragraph is based on this document.
68. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 24 March I956.
69. PRO, CAB I29/8I, Cabinet: Somalia: Memorandum by Selwyn Lloyd on the Prospects of Extending Italian Trusteeship, 29 May I956.
70. PRO, CAB I29/8I, Cabinet: Somalia: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 29 May I956.
71. PRO, F.O.37I/I3I232, J. L. Morgan, Somaliland Protectorate and Somalia: Comments on the F.O. Draft Reply to the Conservative Commonwealth Council, I5 August I957.
72. PRO, F.O.37I/I3I229, The Conservative Commonwealth Council, Somaliland Protectorate, May I958.
73. PRO, F.O.37I/3I229, R. W. L. Wilding, Secretary, ‘Steering Committee,’ 4 November I958. The rest of the paragraph is based on this document.
74. PRO, F.O.37I/I3I230, J. H. A. Watson, Foreign Office, to G. W. Furlonge Esq., Addis Ababa, I4 November I958.
75. J. L. Morgan, Somaliland Protectorate and Somalia: Comments on the F.O. Draft Reply to the Conservative Commonwealth Council, I5 August I958.
76. PRO, F.O.37I/I3I232, Cabinet: Colonial Policy Committee: Policy in Aden and Somaliland: Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, December I958.
77. Ibid. Aden by then had become vulnerable to ‘current trends of world opinion’, British relations with Arab states, nationalist agitation in Aden itself and Soviet subversive activities. Despite all these problems, the ‘essential Defence requirements of H.M.G’ in the region must be secured. For such ‘requirements’ Somaliland had become very important indeed, even more so than in I956, when the Chiefs of Staff considered the country of great and central importance in the defence of Western interests in the region.
78. PRO, F.O.37I/I383I7, J. R. A. Bottomley, British Embassy, Washington D.C., Paper on Somaliland Protectorate, 3I December I958.
79. PRO, F.O.37I/I38325, Lennox-Boyd to The Rt. Hon. Harold Macmillan, I0 Downing Street, I2 February I959. The rest of the paragraph is based on this document.
80. I00. Great Britain. Colonial Office, Colonial Office Annual Reports on the Somaliland Protectorate, I958 and I959 (London, I960), pp. 60–6I.
81. I02. PRO, C.O.830/I9, Constitutional Reform – Assessment of Reactions to Secretary of State’s Speech: Memorandum by the Local Intelligence Committee, 2 February I959.
82. I03. Sir Douglas Hall, ‘Somaliland’s Last Year as a Protectorate’, African Affairs, (60) (January I96I).
83. I04. ‘Somaliland, British: Talks in London’, Africa Digest, vii (6) (I7 May I960), p. I95.
84. I06. PRO, F.O.37I/I46967, Secret, by E. B. Boothby, 6 May I960.
85. I07. I. M. Lewis, The Modern History of Somaliland, p. I64.
86. I09. PRO, CAB I29/82, Somaliland Protectorate and the Horn of Africa, Cabinet Memorandum by Lennox-Boyd, I956.
87. II0. ‘Somali Republic: London Conference’, Africa Digest, viii (I) (August I960), p. I6.
88. III. PRO, F.O.37I/I46968, D. B. Hall to J. Watt, Esq., I9 May I960.
89. II2. ‘Joint Statement’, Africa Digest, viii (6) (August I960), p. I6.
90. II3. PRO, F.O.37I/I46966, D. B. Hall, Hargeysa, to I. Watt, Esq., I0 February I960.
91. II4. PRO, F.O.37I/I46966, J. S. G. Drysdale, British Consulate General, Mogadisho, to the Hon. Nigel Bruce, Research Department, Foreign Office, 4 December I959.
92. II5. PRO, F.O.37I/I46966, A. C. Kendall, British Consulate General, Mogadisho, to H. F. T. Smith, Esq., Africa Department, Foreign Office, I9 February I960.
93. II6. PRO, F.O.37I/I46966, Sir D. Hall to Secretary of State, I3 April I960.
94. II7. PRO, F.O.37I/I4698I, H. F. T. Smith, British Embassy, Washington, DC, to Foreign Office, I960.
95. II8. Margery Perham, ‘The Horn of Africa,’ Corona (June I959).