This is an excerpt of the book Cold War Fallout: Boundary Politics and Conflict in the Horn of Africa  written by Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe

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The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created a geopolitical situation which increased the competition among the European colonial powers for control of the coast along the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Britain settled in Aden in 1839 using it as a supply station for the route to the Far East.It took interest in the Horn because it was the source of fresh meat and vegetables for its Aden garrison. To prevent other European powers from entering its zone of influence, Britain agreed with Turkey to take the role of direct control of the Red Sea coastal area.

In the early 1860s, the Khedive Ismail of Egypt, in the name of the Pasha of Turkey and the Sublime Porte, began to establish his sovereignty over the ports of the Red Sea by appointing an Egyptian governor for the whole coast from Suez to Cape Guardafui. In 1875 the Egyptians took possession of Zeyla, marched inland and occupied Harar (present Ethiopia) where they set up an administration which was to last ten years.

The Khedive claimed dominion over the whole Red Sea area, including the Somali coast, and dispatched a naval expedition to the mouth of the Jubba river to link the southern Sudan and the great lakes with East Africa. Egyptian troops landed at Kismayo but were withdrawn following a protest from Britain, on behalf of the Sultan of Zanzibar, who also claimed this part of the coast. Britain’s objection to the Turkish and Egyptian claim was settled with an agreement signed in September 1877 recognizing Egyptian jurisdiction over the Somaliland coast.

The successful uprising in the Sudan by the Mahdist Movement in 1885 precipitated an unexpected geopolitical event in the region. To reinforce its presence in the Sudan, Egypt had to withdraw its forces from the Somaliland coast and the route to Harar.

And to stop its European rivals from filling the vacuum left by the Egyptian withdrawal, the British government from 1884 to 1889 concluded agreements with the coastal Somali clans. On l September 1896, a treaty of Protection with the Ogaden people was signed (Appendix).

In 1886, Britain and Germany, who were both competing for spheres of influence’ in East Africa, agreed to recognize the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar over parts of the East African coast up to a depth of ten miles, including certain ports as far as Warsheikh. The vagueness of the 1886 Anglo-German Agreement gave Germany a chance to secure possession of the great lakes, for not only was the country north of the River Tana left free to German enterprise, so was the country to the north-west of the British sphere. The matter was settled in 1890 when Germany, in consideration for Britain’s secession of Heligoland, withdrew its protectorate over the adjoining coast up to Kismaayo, and surrendered its claims to territories north of the Tana. Thus a vast area, reaching up to the western watershed of the Nile, fell into the British sphere of influence, an influence then exerted by the Imperial British East Africa Company. This company was formed primarily as a trading venture, but by Royal Charter in 1888, it was charged with the administration of this area. Following Germany’s withdrawal, therefore, the Company, by agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar, assumed responsibility, in 1891, for the administration of Jubbaland.

What began, then, as a trading venture in Jubbaland ended in a colonial administration, and the Company was vested with political and administrative functions that were beyond its capacity. In 1895 A. H. Hardinge of the British Foreign Office visited the ‘Province’ and proclaimed the establishment of British colonial rule. From this period Britain created another area out of the Jubbaland, a territory which was later to be known as the Northern Frontier District (NFD).

The need for a refuelling station on the Red Sea to strengthen their naval communication with their Indo-China and Madagascar dominions led France to gain access to Obok, on the extreme north-west edge of Somaliland territory, establishing a formal French colony and protectorate in 1885, which was to become known as French Somaliland (later Djibouti).

Following an agreement between France and Britain in 1888, the two countries recognized each other’s claims to a Protectorate’ on the west and east side respectively of the Zeyla to Harar caravan route. This was bound to conflict with Italy’s interpretation of the Treaty of Uccialli with Abyssinia.2

By this treaty Italy acquired, in its view, a protectorate over the whole of Abyssinia. Britain acceded to this view but France contested, and Menelik, for the time being, ignored it.

Menelik’s interpretation of the Uccialli Treaty resulted in antagonizing Italy, and his relations with France became more cordial. By a concession in 1894 and again in 1896 he permitted France to construct a railway connecting Abyssinia with French Somaliland (Djibouti). On March 1896, tension between Abyssinia and Italy culminated in a confrontation between the two armies at Adowa where the Italians were overwhelmed and out-maneuvered, resulting in complete victory for Menelik. A peace treaty was signed in the autumn of 1896 in which Italy renounced the Treaty of Uccialli and recognized full sovereignty and independence of Abyssinia.

Read more :The Historical_Context of_The_Conflict_of_the_Horn

Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe
Email: binsalwe@aol.com