Colonization of Somalia

During the early colonization of Somalia there was a competition between multiple countries to seize Somalian territory. In the early 19th century England, France, Italy, Ethiopia, and Egypt all seized land from this country for their own agendas. This is similar to what happened in the Americas. Where there were three main countries Spain, England and France that claimed territories and even fought wars over them, as seen in the French and Indian war.  Egypt was the first player to seize territory in Somalia in 1875. However, 5 years later the British and French players pushed the Egyptians out of Somalia. This is also seen with the French that originally wanted a portion of Egypt for a coal station in order to strengthen international relations with china. However, they were unable to receive the territory so they occupied a portion of Somalia instead.  The French region was around Djibouti known as Côte Françcaise des Somalis and remained a colony until they gained their independence in 1977 becoming the Republic of Djibouti. This again is very similar to what happened in the Americas the colonies that were set by the occupying countries later became states, or in the case of South America and Canada, they became countries.somalia_colonial_map

After France had taken their portion it was between Italy, Britain, and Ethiopia to claim their portions. Ethiopia like every other African country was excluded from the Berlin Conference of 1884 and England and Italy divided the country. The English took the north and the Italians took the south. The English occupied the territory to the north in order to safe guard their trade route through the Suez Canal that had been open in 1869. This was a strategic location for their ships going back and forth from Asia. The Italians took a similar approach, because they needed a foothold along the Indian Ocean Coast. During colonization in both the Americas and Africa, occupation of key terrain is seen allot. The European countries were not only trying to take from the countries they were colonizing, but also compete against other European countries by blocking them off from territories or forcing them out. 

The other country that had their hand in the colonization of Somalia was Ethiopia. During the colonization period Ethiopia remained free from European occupation. The two countries shared the east and west boarders, which allowed Ethiopia to gain power over Somalia and become a treat to European Nations. Their leader Emperor Menelik II competed with Britain and Italy over Somalia territory claiming that it was part of Ethiopia. Emperor Menelik prevailed and received small divisions of the land that they competed over. A similar comparison to this would be that of the Native Americans during early colonization of the United States. In the 1700s the Natives fought against the Europeans, and continued resistance later as the colonist pushed west through their lands.        

            The one thing that Somalians weren’t effected on, that most countries in Africa during colonization period were, was slavery. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, going to Somalia for slaves was a waste in recourses for the western countries, because of the distance they would have to travel to collect them. They instead could go to closer locations to receive their slaves. The second reason was religion slavery was primarily based off racism. However the Somalia people were already engaged to Islam, so they shared the same religious beliefs as the Arabic countries that made them less acceptable to being enslaved. In conclusion Somalia and the Americas share many similarities in their colonization processes. It can be seen from the distribution of areas on the continent that later became states and countries to the defensive stance of the natives in those countries.

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