The Somali Democratic Republic (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Dimuqraadiya Soomaaliyeed; Arabic: الجمهورية الديمقراطية الصومالية, al-Jumhūrīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah aṣ-Ṣūmālīyah) was a socialist state that existed in Somalia from 1969 to 1991.
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Somali Democratic Republic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969–1991 | |||||||||
| Anthem: Soomaaliya Ha Noolaato (Somali) "Somalia will live on" | |||||||||
-Blue_version.svg) | |||||||||
| Capital | Mogadishu | ||||||||
| Official languages | Somali | ||||||||
| Common languages | Somali Arabic English Italian | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian military dictatorship | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1969–1991 | Mohammed Siad Barrea | ||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||
• 1976–1991 | Mohamed Ali Samatar | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||
| 21 October 1969 | |||||||||
| 13 July 1977 | |||||||||
| 10 March 1978 | |||||||||
| 26 January 1991 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1972[1] | 637,657 km2 (246,201 sq mi) | ||||||||
| 1977[2] | 957,657 km2 (369,753 sq mi) | ||||||||
| 1991[3] | 637,657 km2 (246,201 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1972[4] | 2,941,000 | ||||||||
• 1977[2] | 6,709,161 | ||||||||
| Currency | Somali shilling[5] (SOS) | ||||||||
| Calling code | 252 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SO | ||||||||
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The Somalia Democratic Republic was established in October 1969 as a socialist one-party state following a coup d'état by Major General Mohamed Siad Barre and the Somali military.[6][7][8][9] The coup took place six days after a bodyguard assassinated the second President of the Somali Republic, Abdirashid Shermarke.[8] Barre's administration ruled Somalia for the next 21 years until the advent of Ethiopian backed Somali rebel groups that led to the collapse the government into civil war in 1991.[10]
Coup d'etat
On 15 October, while president Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was touring drought stricken Las Anood, his personal bodyguard shot and killed him. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissenger concluded that the bodyguard was acting on his own accords.[11] President Sharmarke came to power in 1964 with the Soviet Union and other communist states funding President Abdirashid's election.[12]
On 21 October 1969 at 3:00 am, the nine-year-old parliamentary government was overthrown by General Siad and the military, and modern political analysts have asserted that one of the major contributing factors to the coup was the Dente and the crippling corruption prevailing.[13]
President Sharmarke's bodyguard was trialed, tortured and executed by the Supreme Revolutionary Council. The assassin was of the same clan background as President Sharmarke.[14]
History
The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) that assumed power after President Sharmarke's assassination was led by Lieutenant general Salaad Gabeyre Kediye and Chief of Police Jama Ali Korshel. Kediye officially held the title of "Father of the Revolution", and Barre shortly afterwards became the head of the SRC.[15] The SRC subsequently arrested members of the former civilian government, banned political parties,[16] dissolved the parliament and the Supreme Court, and suspended the constitution.[17]
The revolutionary army established large-scale public works programs and successfully implemented an urban and rural literacy campaign, which helped dramatically increase the literacy rate. In addition to a nationalization program of industry and land, the new regime's foreign policy placed an emphasis on Somalia's traditional and religious links with the Arab world, eventually joining the Arab League (AL) in 1974.[18] That same year, Barre also served as chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the African Union (AU).[19]
In July 1976, Barre's SRC disbanded itself and established in its place the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), a one-party government based on scientific socialism and Islamic tenets. The SRSP was an attempt to reconcile the official state ideology with the official state religion. Emphasis was placed on the Muslim principles of social progress, equality and justice, which the government argued formed the core of scientific socialism and its own accent on self-sufficiency, public participation and popular control, as well as direct ownership of the means of production. While the SRSP encouraged private investment on a limited scale, the administration's overall direction was proclaimed as socialist.[17]
Ogaden campaign
On 13 July 1977, the Ogaden War against Ethiopia broke out after Barre's government sought to incorporate the predominantly Somali-inhabited Ogaden region into a Pan-Somali Greater Somalia. The war was part of a broader SNA effort to unite all Somali territories (Soomaaliweyn). In the first week of the conflict, the Somali National Army scored spectacular victories over the Ethiopian forces, surprising many American military observers who took on a position of neutrality during the war. Southern and central Ogaden were captured in the early stages of conflict and for most of the war, the Somali Army scored continuous victories on the Ethiopian Army and followed them as far as Sidamo. By September 1977, Somalia controlled 90% of the Ogaden and captured strategic cities such as Jijiga and put heavy pressure on Dire Dawa, threatening the train route from the latter city to Djibouti. After the siege of Harar, a massive unprecedented Soviet intervention consisting of 20,000 Cuban forces and several thousand Soviet advisers came to the aid of Ethiopia's communist Derg regime. On 15 March 1978, a ceasefire was negotiated putting an end to the war. This shift in support by the Soviet Union motivated the Barre government to seek allies elsewhere. It eventually settled on the Soviet Union's Cold War arch-rival, the United States, which had been courting the Somali government for some time. All in all, Somalia's initial friendship with the Soviet Union and later partnership with the United States enabled it to build the largest army in Africa.[20]
New Constitution
A new Constitution was ratified on 25 August 1979 through a popular referendum, under which elections for a People's Assembly were held. The Constitution of 1979 provided for a presidential system under which the president served as both head of state and head of government. As head of government, the president selected the members of the Council of Ministers, which he chaired. The Constitution of 1979 initially called for the president to be elected to a six-year, renewable term of office by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature.[21]
Decline
After the unsuccessful Ogaden campaign, Barre's administration began arresting government and military officials under suspicion of participation in the abortive 1978 coup attempt.[22][23] Most of the people who had allegedly helped plot the putsch were summarily executed.[24] However, several officials managed to escape abroad and started to form the first of various dissident groups dedicated to ousting Barre's regime by force.[25]
A new constitution was promulgated in 1979 under which elections for a People's Assembly were held. However, Barre's Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party politburo continued to rule.[7] In October 1980, the SRSP was disbanded, and the Supreme Revolutionary Council was re-established in its place.[17] By that time, Barre's government had become increasingly unpopular. Many Somalis had become disillusioned with life under military dictatorship. The regime was weakened further in the 1980s as the Cold War drew to a close and Somalia's strategic importance was diminished.
The government became increasingly totalitarian,[26][27] culminating in the Isaaq genocide (1987–1988), largely destroying several major cities and targeting members of the Isaaq clan. Estimates of civilian deaths range from 50,000 to 100,000[28][29][30] up to over 200,000.[31] Such tactics from the government prompted resistance movements, supported by Ethiopia, which sprang up across the country and eventually led to the Somali Civil War. Among the militia groups were the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), United Somali Congress (USC), Somali National Movement (SNM) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), together with the non-violent political oppositions of the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM), the Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) and the Somali Manifesto Group (SMG).[citation needed]
Barre was removed from power on 26 January 1991, and Somalia subsequently collapsed into chaos.[citation needed]
President
- Mohamed Siad Barre (October 21, 1969 – January 26, 1991)
Prime ministers
- Mohamed Farah Salad (November 1, 1969 – March 1970)
- Post abolished (March 1970 – February 1, 1987)
- Muhammad Ali Samatar (February 1, 1987 – September 3, 1990)
- Muhammad Hawadle Madar (September 3, 1990 – January 24, 1991)
References
Further reading
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