Blood and sand: the war for the "Great Somalia"

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Blood and sand: the war for the "Great Somalia"


In 1977 — 1978, a bloody war broke out between Ethiopia and Somalia; The USSR was initially an ally of both countries

History Post-colonial Africa is the story of both civil and international conflicts. Nevertheless, even among them, the Ethiopian-Somali war of 1977 — 1978 or, as it is also called, the war for Ogaden, stands apart.

From the colony to the idea of ​​"Great Somalia"

Back in 1960, when the state of Somalia was only formed by merging the newly independent colonies, the British Somalia and Italian Somalia, its leaders set themselves the task of uniting all the territories inhabited by ethnic Somalis into one entity.

The flag of Somalia, both now and 50 years ago, depicts a five-pointed star. The idea of ​​the Somali tribes to unite and create on the “Horn of Africa” a strong national state - the “Great Somalia” - was reflected in it. The two beams are the two former colonies that formed the core of the new country. The remaining three are Djibouti (the sphere of influence of France), Ogaden province (Ethiopian Somalia) and Northeast Kenya. All of these territories were related to the fact that they were inhabited predominantly by Somali Muslims and the leaders of the newly formed state set as their goal to bring closer the day when all the rays of the white Somali star would unite not only on the national flag.

In the 1960 year, almost in the first days of independence, Somalia made Kenya its claim to the Northeastern Province. The parties appealed to the UK with a request to act as an arbitrator in the dispute. England did not support the Somali claims, which resulted in the rupture of relations between the former colony and the metropolis.


Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Nikolai Podgorny and Siad Barre in Kismayo during Podgorny's visit to Somalia, September 3, 1974. Photo: Yuri Abramochkin / RIA News


Realizing the need for support from any of the world powers to implement their expansionist plans, the Somalis, after the break with Great Britain, decided to take a course toward rapprochement with the USSR. In 1961, Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarka visited the Soviet Union with a friendly visit. During this visit, an agreement on friendship and cooperation between the two states was signed, which, among other things, envisaged military assistance for Somalia from the USSR.

The Soviet Union had its own interest in this agreement - Ethiopia, neighboring Somalia, maintained close ties with the United States, and in this situation, relying on Somalis, the USSR equalized the balance of forces on the Horn of Africa. Thanks to the support of the Soviet Union, Somalia was able to acquire a strong enough African-standard army trained and armed according to the Soviet model. In addition, the Soviet side actively participated in the formation and development of the industry of a young country. The coup d'état of 1969, as a result of which General Mohammed Siad Barre came to power, not only did not interfere with the ties between the two countries, but, on the contrary, only strengthened them. Barely taking the presidency, Siad Barre immediately announced the country's course towards building socialism with an Islamic bias. In Moscow, this decision was welcomed with approval, and in subsequent years the Soviet military and economic presence in Somalia only increased. So, by the middle of the 1970-s, the number of Soviet military advisers of all ranks and civilian personnel in the country amounted to three thousand. In exchange, the USSR received at its disposal a strategically important port of Berbera.

New friends and old enemies

The situation began to change rapidly after the emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 in Ethiopia. In place of the 700-year monarchy, a group of military-oriented socialist camps has come. In Mogadishu, the political destabilization in the neighboring country was considered a good reason to begin to realize their territorial ambitions in practice. In particular, Siad Barre secretly began to support the terrorist organization, the Front for the Liberation of Western Somalia. As a result, Ethiopia found itself in a difficult situation: on the one hand, Eritrean separatists were causing some concern, and on the other, in the Ogaden and adjacent territories, local Somali people, with the support of Mogadishu, launched a guerrilla war against the authorities. In these circumstances, the country needed support and support in the face of a powerful ally. As a result, the struggle for power among the military elite was won by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, who decided to take a course towards rapprochement with the USSR. So Ethiopia from an ally of the United States has become a socialist-oriented country.


Mengistu Haile Mariam in Tbilisi, November 1 1978. Photo: Runov / RIA News


In Moscow, this situation was perceived ambiguously. On the one hand, Brezhnev warmly welcomed Colonel Mengistu as a new comrade and ally, on the other - for the Soviet leadership there was a stalemate - there were two pro-Soviet countries in the neighborhood that were extremely unfriendly to each other .

The Kremlin’s fears were not in vain: Siad Barre did not want to reckon with changes in the political situation in the region, putting the national interests of Somalia beyond the global strategy of the Soviet Union. In particular, 23 February 1977, during a conversation with Soviet diplomat Georgy Samsonov, he stated that Mengistu, declaring his orientation towards socialism, should follow the principle of the right of nations to self-determination proclaimed by Lenin and allow the Ogaden population to decide for themselves which state would like to see your area. Nevertheless, until recently, Moscow believed that the conflict could be avoided by occasionally advising Mogadishu to refrain from forcing the situation. It should be noted that Ogaden itself did not represent any strategic value - it was a desert, sparsely populated area. However, within the framework of the national idea of ​​building a “Great Somalia”, this area was of great importance for Mogadishu. War was inevitable.

Hot summer 1977 of the year

Since the beginning of 1977, Somalis have launched a series of provocations on the border with Ethiopia. The soldiers of the regular Somali army, disguised as civilians, together with the militants of the Front for the Liberation of Western Somalia, attack objects on Ethiopian territory, but are defeated and retreat. After an unsuccessful attack on the garrison Godé in May, during which Somalis lost more than 300 fighters, Siad Barre decides to move from sabotage and provocation to a full-scale invasion, without notifying Moscow of this.

On July 23, 1977, regular Somali units invaded the Ethiopian province of Ogaden. The Somali group numbered 42 thousand people and included 12 mechanized and infantry brigades, 250 tanks, 600 artillery pieces, about 40 aircraft. Somalis attacked in the Northern and Southern directions - the main attack was carried out by the northern grouping, while the offensive in the south carried auxiliary functions. The Ethiopian army was inferior to the Somalis both in technical equipment and numerically. In addition, the Ethiopian units were scattered throughout the province and did not represent a single force, and Siad Barre's troops, skillfully maneuvering and using the principle of concentration of troops in strategically important directions, smashed the Ethiopians in parts, with almost no casualties.

In Addis Ababa, until recently, they hoped that the USSR would be able to bring Siad Barre to rest and force his troops to retreat back to Somalia. In August, with a difference of several days, he and Mengistu visit Moscow - it was then that they decided which side the USSR would take. The Kremlin reasoned that Siad Barre, who started the war without coordination with the Soviet leadership, can no longer be considered a reliable ally. Preference was given to Mengistu and Ethiopia. In September, the Ethiopians broke off diplomatic relations with Somalia. On November 13, Somalis denounced the treaty on friendship and mutual assistance with the USSR and demanded that Soviet military and civilian specialists leave the country as soon as possible.

The Soviet Union was in a difficult situation - having decided to support Ethiopia, the leadership of the USSR had to declare war on the footed and armed Somali army. Ethiopian troops were poorly trained and armed with obsolete models. weapons and technology. The Soviet side had a difficult task in the shortest possible time and, in the conditions of war, to create an efficient new Ethiopian army that could successfully repel Somali aggression. In Ethiopia, an “air bridge” was quickly organized for the transfer of equipment, personnel and instructors. So, for example, V.Voyev Boyev recalled those events: “In September 1977 of the year with a group of military specialists in the number of 120 people under the guise of an agricultural specialist were sent to Ethiopia. He performed the duties of a driver, operator, electrician, communications officer of the airfield of the city of Diredau. The population treated us well. ”

At the same time, the Somali Blitzkrieg unfolded at the front - by the end of the year, the forces of Siad Barre controlled up to 90% of the Ogaden territory. Ethiopian units were crushed and retreated in disarray. For the countries of the socialist camp came a critical moment. Moscow and Havana decided to resort to the reception that was already used in Angola and send Cuban armed forces to Ethiopia, which would strengthen the Mengist army. In December, the Cuban military from Angola and Congo (Brazzaville) begins the 1977 of the year. In total, six brigades of a total of 18 thousand men were deployed under the command of General Arnaldo Ochoa. At the same time, the official presence of Cuban soldiers in Ogaden was denied by both Havana and Addis Ababa. Cubans, who arrived in Ethiopia, were immediately transferred to the front line, which made it possible to partly stabilize the situation at the front by the end of the year. In addition to the Cubans on the side of the Ethiopians fought about two thousand militants from South Yemen, also the Soviet Union.

The collapse of hopes for the "Great Somalia"

In parallel with how the Cubans restrained the Somali offensive, the Soviet military specialists re-created the Ethiopian army. One Soviet instructor described the state of affairs there later: “The Ethiopian army made an oppressive impression. The officers were not accustomed to the conduct of hostilities, and their role was incomprehensible. For them to climb into the trench ... No, that you ... The division commander did not appear at all for ten days at the front. There was not a single battle map. Left at night on the cutting edge. Trenches - no. The tent stands, the fire is smoking, some kind of brew gurgles. Why? When they saw the Somali tanks, they simply fled. And when the artillery beat off the attack - they returned. 12 thousand people kept the front and a half miles! Before us, their advisers were Americans. But the level of assistance is already indicated by the fact that the sergeant was an adviser to the division commander! ”


Ethiopian soldiers armed with Soviet AK-47 during a counter attack in Ogaden, February 16 1978. Photo: Amin / AP


Nevertheless, the active assistance from the USSR soon began to bear fruit. In January, 1978, the Ethiopians and the Cubans launch a counter-offensive and reject Somalis from the city of Harar, the capital of Ogaden. The presence of Cubans and Soviet military specialists in the ranks of the Ethiopian army, in addition to practical benefits, had a tremendous moral impact on Ethiopians. Retired Major General P. A. Golitsyn recalled: “As we approach the front with Captain Imam, we see the Ethiopian battalion throwing its position in the trenches and retreating in panic, two tanks departing with the battalion. Captain Imam, holding a machine gun over his head, shouts: "With us is a Soviet general, behind is reinforcement, forward to the Somalis!" The battalion began to stop, the tanks went forward, and the battalion regained the position it held before it left. During this battle, the Ethiopians captured five Somalis. I asked the Imam: "What are you shouting?" - he through the translator informed the text resulted above ".

Starting in 2 February 1978, the Ethiopian armed forces are launching a full-scale offensive against the Somali units. The forces of Siad Barre by that time exhausted and completely lost their strategic initiative. In the first half of February alone, about 70% of Somali tanks, more than 80% of field artillery guns and mortars were destroyed and captured. The front began to shift in the opposite direction - Ethiopian units systematically liberated the cities previously captured by Somalis. March 3 Cuban-Ethiopian troops began fighting for Jijiga - the most important strategic unit of Ogaden and the last frontier of the Somali defense. By the morning of March 5, the city was taken by the efforts of the Ethiopian units and the Cuban tank brigade. Somalis no longer have bases and significant fortified positions in Ogaden. They randomly retreated to the border, pursued by the Ethiopian troops. By March 9, the Ethiopians reached the borders of Somalia. 15 March Siad Barre announced the "withdrawal of troops" from the territory of Ethiopia, in fact they were almost there. By 16 March, the last Somali military personnel was expelled from Ogaden.


Ethiopian soldiers during the attack on the Somali army in the Ogaden Desert, 14 June 1978. Photo: AFP / EAST-NEWS


The losses on both sides were in the tens of thousands. Especially hard to perceive losses in the technique, the completion of which was a long and costly matter. As for the long-term consequences, they were undoubtedly more serious for Somalia. The army of Siad Barre never recovered from the Ogaden disaster, which led to a weakening of power and destabilization of the country. Already at the beginning of 1980, an anti-government guerrilla movement began in Somalia, which eventually led to the coup and the removal from power in 1991, Siad Barre, which subsequently plunged the country into the abyss of a civil war that continues to the present.

Ethiopia, although it reflected the Somali aggression, also significantly lost in military resources, which led to the escalation of the conflict in Eritrea and the separation of the latter in 1993 year. The border dispute of these states has not been resolved so far; Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa.

As for the Soviet Union, despite the unfavorable consequences for both sides, it was the war for Ogaden that became perhaps the only conflict in Africa during the Cold War, where the USSR was able to win a clear victory.
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  1. +4
    12 November 2014 13: 40
    They helped, but Ethiopia did not return the money for the help provided.
    1. +2
      12 November 2014 13: 59
      Quote: bekjan
      They helped, but Ethiopia did not return the money for the help provided.

      Quote: bekjan
      but about Somalia and there is nothing to pay them.

      The most interesting thing is that both of them fought with Soviet weapons and were trained in Soviet instructors.
      1. Alex_Popovson
        0
        12 November 2014 14: 07
        Now I’ll find it, I recently read it, it turned out so, on both sides there were either artillerymen, or mortar men were Russian. They fired by themselves. Horror.
        1. Alex_Popovson
          0
          13 November 2014 08: 42
          I apologize, I did not find it. But I hope anyone interested will get confused.
  2. +1
    12 November 2014 13: 41
    but about Somalia and there is nothing to pay them.
  3. +2
    12 November 2014 13: 42
    So Russia also needs to uncompromisingly support its allies, for example Syria.
    1. +1
      12 November 2014 14: 00
      Quote: Giant thought
      So Russia also needs to uncompromisingly support its allies, for example Syria.

      Uncompromisingly like whom? How is Ethiopia?
    2. 0
      12 November 2014 14: 00
      Quote: Giant thought
      So Russia also needs to uncompromisingly support its allies, for example Syria.

      Uncompromisingly like whom? How is Ethiopia?
  4. 0
    12 November 2014 13: 44
    Reading this article, as Somalia did not agree with the USSR, they began military operations and immediately remembered how King Saul, not having waited for the prophet Samuel, made a sacrifice to God. There, too, the consequences were similar.
  5. 0
    12 November 2014 14: 36
    something similar happens near us, the name of the place is different and events are similar.
  6. 0
    12 November 2014 14: 52
    Quote: atalef
    Quote: Giant thought
    So Russia also needs to uncompromisingly support its allies, for example Syria.

    Uncompromisingly like whom? How is Ethiopia?

    Africa is a very difficult region. Numerous tribes and clans, who have been at war with each other for many years, under various pretexts, and who tend to violence due to extreme poverty. Therefore, I would not be so categorical in assessing the actions of the former Soviet leadership, the ideas of socialism are not so bad and any top manager in these parts is a dictator; otherwise, not being able to stay at the top, democracy in Africa is very problematic!
    1. 0
      12 November 2014 14: 57
      Quote: gladysheff2010
      Africa is a very difficult region. Numerous tribes and clans have been at war with each other for many years, under various pretexts, and are prone to violence due to extreme poverty.

      No different from the Middle East
      Quote: gladysheff2010
      .Therefore, I would not be so categorical in assessing the actions of the former Soviet leadership - the ideas of socialism are not so bad

      Ideas then maybe yes, but the implementation ....
      Quote: gladysheff2010
      and any top manager in these parts is a dictator; otherwise, not being held upstairs, democracy in Africa is very problematic!

      Well, in general --- yes.
  7. The comment was deleted.
  8. +1
    20 November 2014 09: 19
    The USSR received at its disposal a strategically important port of Berbera.


    It would be more accurate to say about the naval base in Berbera.
  9. The comment was deleted.

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