In 1977–1978, there was a war between Somalia and Ethiopia. This war was called the Ogaden War or the Ethio-Somali War. This war resulted from Ethiopia and Somalia fighting over a region between them. Hence, the area was known as the Ogaden Region. Upon Siyad Barre becoming the president of Somalia, the war started between Somalia and Ethiopia. The cause of this war was to protect the sub-clans where Siyad Barre originated. So many Somali Bantus lost their lives during the war. Below is a description of how the entire war began and its conclusion.
To understand more about the Ogaden War, we need to understand what led to the Ogaden War. First, the Breed Somalis are split into many sub-clans, the same as the Bantus. For instance, we have the Darood clan, which also forms subclans. The Darood clan was one of the largest sub-clans among the Breed ethnic group, and still, it was divided into three groups: the Darood of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In 1977, Ethiopia and Somalia were absorbed in a colony dispute over the Ogaden region. The region was located between Ethiopia and Somalia, and so the two nations claimed the area as their own. The difficulty in the war was that big powers supported both of the states, which could bring the Cold War to Africa. This notion of the Cold War in Africa was very sound because the Soviet Union financed Ethiopia while the United States financed Somalia. To conclude, this war was very tricky, and if care was not taken, it could extend to other parts of Africa. If this war continued, then the notion that the Ogaden war brought the Cold War to Africa would be proved right.
It is good to understand whether, before the war started, there were disputes between Ethiopia and Somalia in the past. According to research, it is clear that before the Ethio-Somali war started, there were disputes about the Ogaden region. Due to the Second World War, when Ethiopia lined up with the Allies in opposition to the Axis powers, Great Britain renounced its claims on the Ogaden region as a fragment of British Somaliland. Besides, once the British Somali area became a fragment of Somalia’s new independent state in 1960, the government had no choice but to control the region. Afterward, there was intensified monitoring of the area when a military coup in Somalia led to the killing of Somali president Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. Then, in 1969, the military under Siyad Barre seized control of the state of Somalia. One could tell that things were not getting any better.
To better understand the situation, it is also good to know what was happening in Ethiopia when things were not right in Somalia. In this period, the longtime emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was displaced in September 1974 by the defense force known as the Derg. This led to the disorganization of the Ethiopian nation, leading to the emergence of many separatist movements that were opposed to the Derg due to uncertainties in Ethiopian politics. Surprisingly, one of those groups, called Western Somali, was staying in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. The same group asked for the takeover of the territory they controlled in Somalia. To conclude, it was the beginning of another dispute between the Somali natives in the Ogaden region and the Ethiopian natives.
Before entering the real war, we have to understand what was happening to the Derg. So, in 1977, Haile Miriam had become the Derg leader, who was in the custody of the whole of Ethiopia. Due to these privileges, the Derg suppressed all the Ethiopians and, to be specific, the Western Somalia Liberation Federation (WSLF) and its supporters. Thus, there was more emphasis on the notion that there was a cold war in Africa. By this particular time, the Derg had made Ethiopia a communist state and allied it with the Soviet Union. Allying it with the Soviet Union meant that now, the Ethiopians had funds to deal with Somalia since the Soviet Union would fund them.
Since the Somali government had obtained large quantities of weapons with Soviet help, they provided the Western Somali Liberation Federation with weapons. As a result, Somalia's government army took 35,000 armed men under the command of Mohamed Siyad Barre in July 1977. These Somali militaries were also supported by fifteen thousand military men from the Western Somali Liberation Federation. Together they invaded the Ogaden region, but unfortunately, the Army of Somalia was outnumbered by the Ethiopian army. To their advantage, they had superior weapons because of earlier support from Soviet military donations. This was a clear alarm about a cruel war.
Moreover, the Soviets were also providing their newfound Ethiopia with funds and even superior weapons. After they were unsuccessful in getting a suspension in fighting, they gave all their aid to the Ethiopians by bringing fifteen thousand men from the Army of Cuba. Similarly, there were volunteers from other communist nations, including Yemen and South Korea. On the other hand, the people of Somalia had gotten aid from the United States. Given that now the two states were Aided by supreme powers, the war escalated again.
Lastly, there was the war, where the fittest would survive since there was aid from supreme powers on both sides. When the war started in 1977, the Ethiopians had control of about ten percent of the Ogaden region. Since the Ethiopians received Soviet aid more often, they were able to overpower the Somali Army and their helpers, the Western Somali Liberation Front allies. In October, the Somali Army made every effort to be hostile in order to seize Harar, a city in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, they were met with forty thousand Ethiopian military personnel and eleven thousand armed Cuban Army personnel who Aided them. Soviet weapons and air forces also supported these Cuban troops. As stated above, the Ethiopians outnumbered the Somalians, and so they were able to push the Somalians out of the Ogaden without using force. By March 1978, the Ethiopians had taken almost the whole Ogaden region. Now, the Somalians had been defeated, leading them to surrender their fight for the area. This is how the Ethiopians ended up having the Ogaden region in their name.
It should also be noted that the Ethio-Somali war initiated the Somali Bantu genocide. During the second round, the Somali government enlisted a large number of Bantu boys aged fifteen and older. The government had not provided adequate training to the Bantus at this time. They only taught them how to shoot, and then they sent the poorly trained Bantus into battle. During the war, the government placed Bantus in the front line as a shield, followed by Breeds in the rear. This clearly indicates that the likelihood of Bantu deaths was quite high. During the war, the government's primary objective was to reduce the Bantu population and increase Breed survival. When the Bantu people saw their community dying, they fled. In addition to receiving support from the Breeds, however, the Breeds took advantage of them and shot them to prevent them from withdrawing from the conflict. The Breeds urged them not to flee but to fight for their country. Nonetheless, it is beyond reasonable doubt that the primary objective of the Breeds was to kill as many Bantus as possible on the battlefield so that they could easily seize their farmland.
In conclusion, my opinion is that the Ogaden War was a big war, but there had to be a winner, just like any other war. During the Ogaden War, it was evident that the Ethiopians had the upper hand and could therefore include the Ogaden region in their name. In addition, the Ethiopians were better prepared for this conflict than the Somalians. Lastly, another opinion is that this war brought the Cold War to Africa, which is true. This is because there was an intervention by supreme powers that tried to intimidate each other with their abilities. The Bantus proved to have a lot of influence in the war, more so than the Somali Breeds. If anyone should have been greatly rewarded, it was the Somali Bantus. Unfortunately, the government was against them and thus used its authority to suppress them to the weakest point possible. This is an act that everybody in the world should condemn, and unity should be preached instead of disunity.
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