The first phase of Imperial Partition

IN THE YEARS following the middle of the nineteenth century, Somalia was rapidly drawn into the theatre of colonial competittion between Britain, France, and Italy. On the African continent itself, Egypt was also involved; and later Abyssinia, expanding and consolidating her realm in this period. By 1897 the partition of Somaliland was virtually complete; and though subsequent adjustments occurred, the frontiers of the new Somali territories had been defined, at least theoretically. Such gaps as remained in the division were later adjusted in subsequent colonial consolidation. Only the frontiers remained to be demarcated, a practical step which turned out to be infinitely more difficult than could have been envisaged in 1897.

Britain's interest in the Somali area stemmed from her possession of Aden which had been acquired by force in 1839 as a station on the short route to India. With its poverty in local resources, the Aden garrison was almost entirely dependent upon northern Somaliland for supplies of meat. There was also a considerable Somali community at Aden, many of whom found employment with the new rulers there. The Aden authorities and the Bombay government were thus directly concerned that orderly conditions should prevail on the Somali coast, and more especially that the feeder caravan routes from the interior, and the ports of Berbera and Zeila, should function freely. But although travellers like Burton and local officials at Aden might advocate a definite British occupation of the Somali coast, their plans fell on deaf ears in Westminster. The British government was only interested in Somaliland's meat supply as a necessary ancillary to the garrisoning of Aden. Only if this were seriously threatened would any occupation of the Somali coast be justified. This attitude on the part of Whitehall towards the Somali coast, given different emphasis by different administrations in England, was still the guiding policy when events had driven Britain to establish a Somaliland Protectorate in 1887. This evaluation is also reflected in the character of the Anglo-Somali treaties of protection. It figures strongly in the negotiation of the 1897 treaty with Ethiopia, and it later bred a tradition of parsimony and neglect which dominated British action in her Somali Protectorate throughout most of its life.