History Internal Assessment
Question: To what extent did the colonization of Somalia impact its society?
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Criterion A: Identification and Evaluation of Sources
This investigation will seek to answer the question “To what extent did the colonization of Somalia impact its society?” Since 1990, they had a very poor government in Somalia. The country was in a war zone. The Somali government was corrupted. In the mid-European nations began grabbing for control of Africa. Italy, Britain, and France all attempted to colonize parts of Somalia. This colonization period had drastic change impact on the Somali community and the society around it. In order to do this, this investigation will be a variety of both primary and secondary sources.
The first source the will be used is the article called “ Somalia: How Colonial Powers drove a Country into Chaos.” written by Grégoire Lalieu and Michel Colon. This source is valuable because it is an interview with a geopolitics and Arab world specialist, Mohamed Hassan who experienced the sudden change in society due to the colonization, therefore, it provides details about what actually happened. Living in a nearby country Ethiopia during this time period. He was able to gain intel on what was going on. This source can also show it from a perspective of someone in this community. One major limitation is that although this is a written interview we don't get much information about the man being interviewed. Another limitation is that this information is not quoted so it hard to know if these were his actual words or were the tarnished. Making it hard to tell whether this is a primary or secondary source because there isn't much information about Mohamed Hassan. This means that source may not be reliable when using it as a primary source of the investigation.
The second source that will be used in this investigation is the article “ Colonization of Somalia” by Chucky Sosinski. Not much information is provided about this author. Although he talks about his purpose in writing this article. He spent a lot of time near Somalia and was attracted by the people and the history of Somalia which lead him to further his research. This source is also valuable because it is written years after the colonization period, and therefore can speak on the entire story as opposed to only parts. Finally, this source is valuable because it contains a lot of information and isn't biased. A few limitations of this source is that it's very detailed. Not much information about what was happening. Another limitation is that a significant factor in this investigation is that it doesn't state reasons it impacted society. This is not relevant to this investigation.
Criterion B: Investigation
The colonization of Somalia began in the mid 19th century, when European nations began grabbing control of Africa. Italy, Britain and France all attempted to colonize parts of Somalia. These countries wanted control hoping it could provide use for their nation. England wanted to colonize Somalia as a way to help export goods out of the middle east while France hoped to utilize it agriculturally and steady supply of goods. Also, Italy was going through reconstruction of its government after World War II, they had a lot to gain from Somalia. “Somalia had every reason to succeed: an advantageous geographical situation, oil, ores and only one religion and one language for the whole territory; a rare phenomenon in Africa” (Lalieu). The three nations took portions of what is called Somalia today. British Somaliland, French Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, Ethiopian Somaliland and the Northern Frontier District were formed from what had been one nation.
Throughout the colonization, Italy was the most involved in the governing and development of its portion of Somalia. During, World War II Italian troops took over Ethiopia and British Somaliland to bring it all under the control of one foreign power. Italy gained its power in 1927 by creating a treaty that granted territories under the banner of Italian Somaliland. However, in 1940 Italian troops from Italian Somaliland invaded British Somaliland and tried to get rid of the British. A year later, the British regained and seized the italian territory gaining control of most of Somalia.
Colonization creates difference between the people. This process is created inequalities within the Somali people, regions, and communities. The people of Somalia were affected differently by colonization and they react in a variety of ways. Somalia illustrates the complexity of this transformation.
One thing that the people of Somalia were not affected by was that most countries in Africa during colonization period were enslaved. The main reason for this was that going to Somalia for slaves was a waste in resources for the western countries, because of the distance they would have to travel to collect them. They would rather go to a closer locations to enslave people. Somali society had a strong tribal groups based on ethnic lineages. The colonization caused Somali tribes to split into protectorates based on the country that imperialized them. Into the three major states British Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, and French Somaliland. The tribes were separated, due to foreign powers territory. Somali had formed into social groups. “ Everyone created his own political party, without any real program, and recruited voters among the existing clans. This increased the divisions and turned out to be totally useless.” (Lalieu). Causing division and hate within the Somali community. To understand this failure it is necessary to describe Somali society before the arrival of the European powers.
There was no politics in Somalia since the society was formed and divided on ethnic and clan bases. Clans and lineages became the basis of society. The colonization period cause the people to be so divided that there was a change in dialect within the states. This caused the Somali people to feel even more separated.
This has affected the nation till this day. Currently Somalia is without a government and is extremely corrupt. After Somalia gained independence in 1960, power was handed over to Abdirashid Ali Shermarke in 1967. They were then ruled as a democracy. In 1969 he was assassinated. Till this day, there's no stable form of government has lasted. To this day they are mainly ruled by rivals and clans.
Criterion C: Reflection
This investigation has allowed me to learn about the challenges historians face. One challenge I discovered was finding reliable sources. It was also difficult to tell if the information was accurate.and where they might have changed. I was also getting completely different stories from different perspectives. For example the article“ Somalia: How Colonial Powers drove a Country into Chaos.” it was difficult to rely on this primary source because although this was a interview from a person who experienced this period. It was written in a way where it could also be a secondary source due to lack of quotes and citations.
One skill I learned in conducting this investigation that is important for historians is there ability to find valid and accurate information for multiple perspectives in order to come up with a accurate conclusion. This is very important for a historian exceptionally when studying time periods.
Works Cited
“Globalization and Its Impact on Somalia – Somalia.” ReliefWeb, 28 Jan. 2000.
Janzen, Jörg H.A., and Ioan M. Lewis. “Somalia.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc., 28 Aug. 2018.
Lalieu, Gregoire. “Somalia: How Colonial Powers Drove a Country into Chaos.” InvestigAction
Ghassan Kanafani Revolutionary Writer and Journalist Comments, 25 Mar. 2010.
Lewis, Loan. Peoples of the Horn of Africa: Somali, Afar and Saho. International African
Institute, 1955.
“Somalia: The Forgotten Story.” GCC News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 2 Nov. 2016.
Sosinski, Chucky. “Colonization of Somalia.” SiOWfa15 Science in Our World Certainty and
Controversy, 8 Oct. 2014.