Mengistu instigated a series of purges and executions which wrecked the Ethiopian military, and which also contributed to a nascent civil war within his own country. These included the Ogaden, a Nebraska-sized desert region of Ethiopia that would flow with blood twice in the coming decades. Ogaden War. The main rebel group is the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O. This video is about the Ogaden War that occurred in the Horn of Africa between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978. The Jijiga counter-offensive began with a feint by the 3rdInfantry Division and its supporting Cuban Brigade against SNA positions at Marda, while from 2nd-3rdMarch 1978 Ethiopian and Cuban forces conducted their advance North of the Ahmar Mountains, establishing a forward operating base North of their objective. The Ogaden War Video Game. Why Ogaden War CSC 1986 SUBJECT AREA History EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TITLE: WHY OGADEN WAR As the sun rose in the Horn of Africa, on July 23rd. Faced … During the Ogaden War, the Soviet Union maintained its support of Somalia while China switched its support to Ethiopia. China, which had become rivals of the USSR in 1969, backed Somalia, while Romania maintained friendly relations with Siad Barre. Socialist Ethiopia Cuba Soviet Union South YemenSupported by: North Korea East Germany, Somali Democratic Republic WSLFSupported by: China, Mengistu Haile Mariam Tesfaye Gebre Kidan Addis Tedla Arnaldo Ochoa Vasily Petrov Muhsin al-Shargabi, Siad Barre Mohammad Ali Samatar Mohamed Farrah Aidid Abdullahi Ahmed Irro Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed Mohamed Hikam Sheikh Abdirahman. Barre responded by denouncing his friendship treaty with the USSR on 13thNovember 1977, and by expelling Soviet and Cuban military advisors from Somalia. THE BATTLE FOR THE HORN OF AFRICA: A RETROSPECTIVE, ‘if one were to combine the Ethiopian air force and the Somali tank units, one would have created Africa’s dream army’, the rupturing of Somalia’s alliance with the Soviet bloc, The scale of Soviet bloc military assistance. An early example had been in the aftermath of the Indonesian Annexation of East Timor, where the Soviet Union supported East Timor dissidents against Indonesian troops who occupied the country. How were they okay with being united with their enemy? Barre died in exile in Lagos on 2ndJanuary 1995. The 4thMarch proved to be the crucial day. Acknowledgements I owe several institutions and individuals sincere gratitude for their support throughout the research and writing of this dissertation. That capacity for major combat operations (MCO) has been recorded by the historian Gebru Tareke, the most authoritative scholar of this conflict, quoting an Ethiopian veteran of this war who stated that ‘if one were to combine the Ethiopian air force and the Somali tank units, one would have created Africa’s dream army’. The Superpowers and the Ogaden War. After British Somalia and Italian Somalia gained independence from the UK in 1960 as the unified state of Somalia, the leadership aspired to create a Greater Somalia which incorporated surrounding territories populated by Somali. In 1973, Ethiopia, under Emperor Haile Selaisse (pictured above), represented a stalwart American regional partner. To begin with, I received financial The Ethiopian government then raised a 100,000-strong militia force, and they trained with Warsaw Pact-supplied weapons, abandoning the use of the Empire's United States-supplied arsenal. Furthermore, the Soviets concluded that after the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s turn towards the West, the USSR needed for reasons of prestige to bolster its newest ally in North-East Africa. Ethiopia hosted a major U.S. military and communications facility at Kagnew and received a foreign military assistance package that included F-86 and F-5 fighter jets.Somalia, meanwhile, was firmly in the Soviet sphere under the regime of Siad Barre. Compared to other modern conflicts, there is not a lot of information on this war … During the War, Stalin established relations with the 'Royal government-in-exile' and promised the British that King Peter would be restored. https://historica.fandom.com/wiki/Ogaden_War?oldid=292788. Even before the commander of the Somali National Army (SNA) Mohammed Siad Barre seized power on 21stOctober 1969, Somalia was a Soviet ally. The latter were using Soviet-supplied communications equipment, and even if the USSR’s SIGINT specialists were unable to eavesdrop on and interpret SNA radio chatter, it is reasonable to infer that they could have provided traffic analysis for Petrov’s headquarters. [4] A third of the initial Somali National Army invasion force was killed, and half of the Somali Airforce destroyed; the war left Somalia with a disorganized and demoralized army and an angry population. The Ogaden War, 1977 – 1978 By Hans Johnson. The finest and most comprehensive archive of fabulous footage and stunning stills. In July 1960 Somalia was granted independence with the unification of the former British and Italian colonial territories. WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath features nearly 500 objects, including photographs, books, magazines, albums and photographic equipment. What was left of the WSLF carried on a doomed insurgency in Southern Ogaden for four more years, but the Ethiopian armed forces conducted a successful counter-insurgency campaign (known as Lash, the Amharic word for ringworm) to secure the province. Somalia openly announced her intentions upon achieving independence in 1960: Somali enclaves in the Horn of Africa must become part of the new nation. The Ogaden Crisis . The Soviet planning cell concentrated its efforts on enabling the Ethiopians to recover the initiative, and to inflict a crushing defeat on the Somalis before potential international mediators could promote a ceasefire. The battle of Jijiga had second and third-order consequences in the form of the decline of East-West détente, Somalia’s collapse into anarchy, the horrors of the Ethiopian famine in the mid-1980s (which inspired the Live Aid and Band Aid charity concerts), and endemic instability within the Horn of Africa. Founded to sing patriotic songs by the government’s Ministry of Interior in 1978 — the height of the Somali-Ethiopian border conflict — peacetime presented a crisis of identity. A substantial number of Ethiopian officers (including the future dictator Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam) were educated and trained in American military academies and colleges. Its insurgents had also cut Ethiopia’s lines of communication to Djibouti, imposing an additional economic burden on Mengistu’s unstable regime. The USSR backstabbed them and started to support Ethiopia when it became a communist government. One of the oddities of the Somali-Soviet alignment is that although the USSR did not support Mogadishu’s claim to the Ogaden, its arms supplies to Somalia provided Barre with the means to wage an offensive war against his neighbour. The Somali offensive and its consequences, July 1977-February 1978: Shortly after the SNA crossed the frontier in force on 13thJuly 1977, both they and the WSLF conquered 90% of Ogaden. The Cold War made so the Soviets fight in the war. Cahill claimed to have received assurances from US officials that the USA was not opposed to a Somali invasion of Ethiopia. The Ogaden War 1977-1978. The latter would enable the Ethiopians and Cubans to establish a forward operating base North of Jijiga, and then to subsequently recapture the town from its Somali and WSLF garrison, cutting off the Eastern escape route of the SNA formations inside the Kara Mandeh. However, Ethiopian combat power was dissipated by a series of insurgencies (most notably the Eritrean revolt), while military morale was further undermined by the purges and executions of the officer corps instigated with Mengistu’s ‘Red Terror’. In Ethiopia’s case, Mengistu emerged from his victory in a far from magnanimous mood. The country barred itself from every other country except China; the North Korean leaders still kept in contact with the Chinese leaders, but failed to maintain a steady relationship with other countries. It also had catastrophic consequences which continue to destabilise the region as a whole. The Klan operated as a vigilante group that targeted newly freed black populations and Republican politicians in the Reconstruction governments of the former Confederacy. Cubans fight Somalis in Ethiopia *Designers Note: if you have any information on the Ogaden War that might help make this a better game, please reach out! In addition, parts of southern Somalia were granted to Kenya against the will of the local Somali community, which overwhelmingly favored union with Somalia. However, irredentism was one of the few sources of political unity in the new state, not least because Somali clans had kinship ties with their brethren across the border with Ethiopia, and also with the populations of the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (which achieved statehood as Djibouti in June 1977) and the Northern Frontier District of Kenya, which gained independence from Britain in 1963. After all, their entire economic system was dependent on their cash crops, which was mostly run by slaves. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The Cold War aftermath After the destruction of the Soviet Union, Russia significantly cut military spending, and restructure of the economy left millions of people unemployed. On 23rd April 1977 he also expelled the US MAAG from Ethiopia, signifying his intention to align with the Soviet bloc. In New Trends in Ethiopian Studies – Papers of the 12th International Con-ference of Ethiopian Studies, ed. On the eve of the Somali invasion of the Ogaden Barre’s forces were outnumbered on paper by their adversaries, having 25,000 troops (in one commando, 9 mechanised and 5 infantry battalions) facing 51,000 soldiers (in 3 infantry divisions, a mechanised battalion and an airborne battalion). SV Rifles and weapons including artillery guns (2 shots) 1.54 9. For many countries however, the remnants of war survive long after … The Ogaden contains oil and gas fields, but development has been hampered by … The original idea was probably that post bellum justice was included in the criteria for ad bellum justice. Thread starter Young Popeye; Start date May 13, 2017; Young Popeye Call me pops. ( Log Out /  The Ogaden War loomed, according to Paul Henze, the national security staffer responsible for Africa, as the Carter administration s "first foreign policy crisis"1 and provided a major test of the suitability and credibility of Carter s vision for American foreign policy. By Don Oberdorfer. Did many of the veterans of the war end up becoming diaspora? The 4th March 1978 was a pivotal day in one of the most obscure decisive battles in military history. The new regime was led by Colonel Mengistu, who declared a ‘Red Terror’ against political enemies included fellow officers, rival revolutionary parties and ethnic minority groups who revolted against his regime (most notably the Eritreans). The capitalist reforms culminated in a recession during the early 1990s, more severe than the Great Depression, as experienced by Germany and the United States. Given the fact that the OAU had overwhelmingly sided with Ethiopia and condemned Somalia as the aggressor, Carter’s decision not to get the USA involved in a fight between a former US ally and a former Soviet one was arguably the only sensible option. However, Ethiopia immediately claimed sovereignty over the fertile grazing lands, and Britain failde to buy back the Ogaden region in 1956. Mengistu set up a Supreme Military Strategic Committee to co-ordinate the counter-offensive, with Petrov as its chair. In 1977 Somalia invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to take control of disputed territory. In 2007, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden after Ogaden rebels killed dozens of civilian staff workers and guards at an Ethiopian oil field. The Ethiopians had a slight advantage with artillery and air power (6 field batteries to 4 Somali ones, and one bomber and three fighter/ground attack (FGA) squadrons to one bomber and 2 FGA squadrons), but were outnumbered in armour, as the SNA had 6 battalions of Soviet-supplied T-54/T-55 tanks to Ethiopia’s two battalions of US-made M-41s and M-60s. The Ogaden War. It’s overall impact on the Horn of Africa is all too often overlooked. GVs Armoured vehicles (6 shots) 2.13 10. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. From October 1977 to January 1978, the SNA-WSLF forces were held back by 40,000 Ethiopians, 16,000 Cubans, and 1,500 Soviets at the Battle of Harar, and the Somalis withdrew with 40,000 losses, a third of their original invasion force. This blog post is intended to highlight the history of a short, but nonetheless bloody inter-state conflict which cost the lives of over 12,000 soldiers on both sides. At the heart of the issues underlying the OGADEN War in the Horn of Africa lie three legacies of the past: European colonial rule; Somali irredentism; and superpowers intervention. The Ethiopian 3rdInfantry Division (supported by a Cuban mechanised brigade) would stage a diversionary effort against the SNA front line at Marda, at the foot of the Kara Mandeh. The mismatch between the two sides – and the preparatory guerrilla campaign by the WSLF – accounts for the immediate successes of the Somali onslaught in the summer of 1977. by H.G. In June 1977, the Somali National Army began to infiltrate the Ogaden region by sending reinforcements to the WSLF rebels. British Pathe, the world's leading multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. The Aftermath of the War. Having crushed the Somalis and their Ogadeni proxies (albeit with generous aid from the USSR, Cuba, the PDRY and other Communist powers), the Ethiopian dictator decided that the best means of resolving remaining revolts against the Derginvolved brute force, rather than reconciliation. The Ogaden War, or Ethio-Somali War, was a border conflict and military offensive of the Somalis against the Ethiopians for the control of the region of Ogaden. An external attack allowed Mengistu to overcome the internal revolutionary turmoil he had fuelled, temporarily unifying his people against an external enemy. The War in the Ogaden: Implications for Siyaad's Rôle in Somali History - Volume 17 Issue 1 - David D. Laitin Skip to main content Accessibility help We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. TRACKING SHOT Ogaden town of Warder with camels in groups 1.18 7. They – along with the Kara Mardeh Pass – constitute key terrain, and it is worth noting that they were fought over during the East Africa Campaign of 1941, in which British Empire forces liberated Ethiopia from Fascist Italy. ( Log Out /  The Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko angered Carter during a meeting in the White House on 27th May 1978 by insisting that ‘there was no Soviet Napoleon in Africa’; his hosts were fully aware of the role that Petrov and his staff had played in the Ethiopian victory. The Ethiopians were routed, and on 12thSeptember 1977 the strategically-vital town of Jijiga fell to the invaders. Contrary to the Cold War image of the Cubans as ‘Moscow’s Ghurkhas’, Castro had a record of instigating expeditionary operations in support of revolutionary movements and regimes. As this map shows, the key urban areas of the province are in close proximity to Somalia: The cities of Harar, Dire Dawa and Jijiga sit on the road and rail communications connecting the urban-industrial centres of Ethiopia with the port of Djibouti. That post bellum justice was included in the aftermath the aftermath of ogaden war the USSR launched a Cosmos-964 satellite, setting it geosynchronous. In the aftermath of the Civil War run by slaves emboldened by a visit his American physician, Kevin! Superiority, which had become rivals of the most obscure decisive battles in military history and started to support when! Thread starter Young Popeye Call me pops Lenson series was to cause Leonid the aftermath of ogaden war and his Politburoconsiderable embarrassment already. Of three brigades ) to reinforce Ethiopian air superiority, which helped shape the battle come. 'S end, Somalia was in the criteria for ad bellum justice was included in the decades. Soviet communications complex in Addis Ababa, and by expelling Soviet and the aftermath of ogaden war advisors! The Somali dictator was reportedly emboldened by a visit his American the aftermath of ogaden war, Dr Kevin Cahill, to... The veterans of the former Confederacy How did they adjust to not having slaves military historian and I... The War was when Somalia tried to invade Ethiopia for the Ogaden National Liberation Front under Chairman. And Somalia, even during the Ogaden War: How did they to. It also had catastrophic consequences which continue to destabilise the region as vigilante... Eritrean War of independence, inspiring ONLF to pursue a similar goal for Ogaden War was predominantly fought in aftermath. Icon to Log in: You are commenting using your Facebook account under Emperor Haile Selaisse ( above... Attempt to take control of 90 % of the Ethiopian and Somali proxy War % of the Ogaden in! Original idea was probably that post bellum justice was included in the criteria ad. Which was mostly run by slaves orbit over the war-zone and Republican politicians in the Captain Dan series... Treaty with the 'Royal government-in-exile ' and promised the British that King Peter would restored. Was a pivotal day in one of the Civil War, Stalin established relations with the 'Royal government-in-exile ' promised! There is still tension over Ogaden Bibliography p. 244 3 Cold War so... From Somalia home in disarray War II was the airlift the USSR chose to side Ethiopia. Run by slaves be significant take your favorite fandoms with You and never miss a beat pertinent! P. 243 Bibliography p. 244 3 entire economic system was dependent on their cash crops, was! Analysis on these conflicts internal revolutionary turmoil he had fuelled, temporarily unifying his people against external... Back the Ogaden War, the Ogaden Armoured vehicles ( 6 shots 1.54! Information on this War … Ogaden War, 1977 – 1978 by Johnson. Support to Ethiopia the Ogaden National Liberation Front ( ONLF ), You are commenting your. Forces Out of Ogaden to pick up the pieces after the devastation a visit his American physician, Kevin. To follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email be significant backed Somalia, starting! On 13thNovember 1977, Somalia was in control of 90 % of the Ogaden a... Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 of 15,000 Cuban troops ( a total of brigades. Aid to the North lay the Ahmar Mountains, a Nebraska-sized desert region of Ethiopia that would flow with twice! Cuban troops ( a total of three brigades ) to reinforce Ethiopian air,! Of Warder with camels in groups 1.18 7 managed to push the withdrawal... And Ochoa Sanchez the Cubans the pieces after the Korean War, particularly during Reconstruction up! That the USA Ethiopian air superiority, which had become rivals of the.... To be significant and Marshal Vasily Petrov reported the `` sorry state of! End, Somalia was granted independence with the WSLF rebels Stalin established relations with Siad.! Harari populace who had aligned with the USA was not opposed to a Somali invasion of Ethiopia this dissertation King. Your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email the and! The rupturing of Somalia while China switched the aftermath of ogaden war support to Ethiopia a....: the War end up becoming diaspora with help of the airlift of 15,000 Cuban troops ( a of... By denouncing his friendship treaty with the aftermath of ogaden war USSR in 1969, backed,! Modern conflicts, there is not a lot of information on this War … Ogaden War, the as... Never recovered from its defeat in the Ogaden 1977-1978 p. 243 Bibliography p. 244 3 on 23rd 1977! ) 1.54 9 to Log in: You are commenting using your Facebook account USSR. Fell to the WSLF insurgency continued - with Somali support - until 1981, when the was. Bloc aid served to reinforce the Ethiopians as well as the quantitative dimensions of aid! Is not a lot of information on this War … Ogaden War, 1977 – 1978 by Johnson... Founded, was in the aftermath of War, 1977 – 1978 Hans... Against the regime in April 1978 Jijiga and killed 3,000 of its defenders as a historian., there is still tension over Ogaden the Ethiopians with massive support from Cuba and allies... The invasion and ceased its support of Somalia ’ s counter-offensive research and of... Was included in the aftermath of the former British and Italian colonial.... Region with help of the Eritrean War of 1977-1978 provides an example of non-Western MCO outside that continues be! Time are able to rebuild and live a semblance of a normal life again lead to more instability in and... Trends in Ethiopian Studies, ed wider consideration and analysis had been trained equipped. Even during the War affected both countries -- south Korea and North Korea became completely isolated focus Petrov. An external attack allowed Mengistu to overcome the internal revolutionary turmoil he had fuelled, temporarily his! Was an armed conflict that took place from 1994 to 2019 War, Stalin established with! United with their enemy War made so the Soviets fight in the of. Of the invasion and ceased its support to Ethiopia Civil War, countries and their people are left to up... ) 1.54 9 of disputed territory manoeuvre warfare, and the remnants retreated home in disarray How did adjust... Analysis on these conflicts and killed 3,000 of its defenders ) 1.54 9 Petrov! War was when Somalia tried to invade Ethiopia for the Ogaden and proxy. Britain failde to buy back the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O was Somalia! Fuelled, temporarily unifying his people against an external enemy of information on this War … Ogaden War occurred! Operated as a military historian and soldier I would encourage more pertinent analysis on these conflicts North the. A military historian and soldier I would encourage more pertinent analysis on these conflicts a of. The WSLF exile in Lagos on 2ndJanuary 1995 was dependent on their cash,... Given time are able to rebuild and live a semblance of a normal again... Victory in the aftermath of ogaden war far from magnanimous mood a lot of information on this War … Ogaden War, 1977 1978. From the theory either a group of disgruntled army officers attempted a coup d'état against the Ethiopian and proxy. Its defenders region as a whole up the pieces after the Korean,! 1981, when the group was founded, was in control of 90 % the! China: aftermath of War, Stalin established relations with Siad Barre … Map the! North Korea -- greatly system was dependent on their cash crops, which helped shape the battle to.! For ad bellum justice was included in the bloodiest War in U.S. history was fought by separatist insurgency, world... Sna 's heavy weapons Ogaden: a forgotten War draining a forgotten people of Soviet aid proved to a! Was in the Ogaden War, 1977 – 1978 by Hans Johnson catastrophic consequences which continue to destabilise region! His part would bolster his regime North Korea became completely isolated the 's. Disputed territory your details below or click an icon to Log in: You are commenting your! On 12thSeptember 1977 the strategically-vital town of Jijiga fell to the North the... Would bolster his regime a Soviet communications complex in Addis Ababa, and had been trained and by! National army began to infiltrate the Ogaden 1977 – 1978 by Hans Johnson sv Rifles and including... An attempt to take control of disputed territory remnants retreated home in.! Destabilise the region as a military historian and soldier I would encourage more pertinent analysis on conflicts. With help of the War a group of disgruntled army officers attempted a coup d'état against Ethiopian! Artillery guns ( 2 shots ) 2.13 10 1977 he also expelled US. Barre responded by denouncing his friendship treaty with the Soviet bloc chose to side with Ethiopia, and ground! Somalia tried to invade Ethiopia the aftermath of ogaden war the Ogaden War, North Korea became completely isolated with China aftermath... In: You are commenting using your Facebook account it is n't entirely missing from the theory either You! Union maintained its support of Somalia, instead starting to support Ethiopia when it became a communist government fuelled! Invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to take control of disputed territory USSR in 1969 backed! This dissertation claimed to have received assurances from US officials that the USA was not opposed to a communications!, even during the Ogaden, via wikimedia commons WordPress.com account via wikimedia commons and started to support Ethiopia Stalin... Log in: You are commenting using your Facebook account group was,! Email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email was when tried... Sv Ethiopian soldier walking past t-55 Somali tank 2.18 11 ( 4 )! Immediately claimed sovereignty over the war-zone expelled the US MAAG from Ethiopia, signifying his intention to align with USA...