Workers League - Behind the US invasion of Somalia - Mehring Books

justify mass slaughter of the native populations. Torture was also
used. The attitude of the British ruling class was summed up by Cecil
Rhodes, who made his fortune in the diamond mines of South Africa. 2
In 1877, Rhodes stated: "We are the first race in the world and... the
more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race."
In 1884, the Egyptian garrisons on the Somali coast were evacuated
and the troops withdrawn to deal with an uprising in the Sudan,
then ruled by Egypt. This led to the direct carve-up of the Somali
territories by the European powers. British troops moved in to take
control of part of the area vacated by Egypt and the French immediately
grabbed Djibouti. France also made a bid for part of the area
claimed by Britain. A potential conflict between the two powers was
averted by a settlement in 1888 which fixed the border of French and
British Somaliland approximately half way between Zeila and Djibouti.
As a result, one clan, the Ise, was divided between the two colonies.
In an attempt to offset the French claims, Britain encouraged Italy
to take over the Eritrean port of Massawa, which had also been
evacuated by the Egyptians, and by February 1885, Italy had proclaimed
a protectorate on the Eritrean coast from Massawa to Assab.
In 1889, the Italians extended their claim into the Horn region,
declaring the coastal terrain along the Indian Ocean to be the
protectorate of Italian Somaliland.
The carve-up of Africa was officially ratified at a conference of the
major colonial powers in Berlin in 1885, hosted by Bismarck. 3
But the
complete subjugation of Africa by the European imperialists — only
Ethiopia (Abyssinia) 4
and Liberia retained even nominal independence
— merely set the stage for new struggles to redivide the vast
tracts of the second largest continent.
For instance, the conference awarded the island of Madagascar to
France in exchange for French concessions to British interests
elsewhere in Africa. France had also acquired holdings in China.
These developments gave France an even greater impetus to establish
a base on the Red Sea route which was now a vital link in her
overseas communications. Moreover, the British authorities at Aden
were refusing to allow French transports to coal there so work began
on the neglected port of Obock to establish an efficient coaling
station.
France did not attempt to extend her direct holdings in the Horn
region further, but worked instead to cultivate good relations with
Ethiopia. The semifeudal regime in Ethiopia was hemmed in by
colonial powers on all sides, but retained some residual indepen-
27