What was the background of the Ogaden War?

In the 60s of the 20th century, the vast majority of African countries gained independence. Since the borders of most African countries were arbitrarily divided by colonizers, and the process of nation-state construction was still in its infancy, how to maintain internal stability and avoid inter-state conflicts have become the two major security issues on the African continent. Under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity, the principle of non-change of existing national borders has been largely observed, and wars between States are less common than wars on the continent.

However, Somalia and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa fought a bitter war over the Ogaden region in 1977-1978. In this war, Somalia not only lost one-third of the regular army of the army, but also lost most of its armored forces and all of its air force, and the death toll of the militia is difficult to calculate. Although Ethiopia won the war and recaptured the Ogaden region, due to its huge losses in the war, its military spending as a percentage of its gross national product increased significantly, and its economic construction was seriously disrupted, making it unable to quell the independence movement in Eritrea.

Western scholars estimate that the two countries lost 150,000 people in battle and lost $55 billion, making it the deadliest war on the African continent in the 20th century. There are many reasons for such a terrible war between the two countries, but we believe that historical legacies, Somali nationalism, and Siad's efforts to regain force are the causes, triggers, and direct causes of the outbreak of the Ogaden War, respectively. (Author:.)

He Linan).

<> Ogaden means "scorching land" in Somali, and this plateau, with an average altitude of about 500 meters, is mostly desert and inhabited by nomadic Somalis. In 1973, Swedneft claimed to have discovered abundant light oil and gas resources in Ogaden. In 1974, Barre fostered the Somali community in Ogaden to form the Western Somali Liberation Front (hereinafter referred to as the "Western Somali Liberation Front").

Ethiopia in the 70s is no longer the "lion of Africa" it used to be, with the northern provinces of Tigray and Eritrea consuming nearly 80% of the country's travel tax revenue. In 1974, the venerable Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown, plunging Ethiopia into chaos.

In 1969, the descendants of herders who were full of "Greater Somaliism" defected to the Soviet Union, advocating that "all Somalis live in one homeland". However, because Kenya and Djibouti were under the protection of Britain and France, respectively, Barre set his sights on the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.

Why did Barre dare to interfere so blatantly in Ethiopia, known as the "lion of Africa"? It turned out that in 1974, Ethiopia lost military and economic assistance from the United States, which paralyzed the Ethiopian army, which had shocked Africa, due to the loss of technical support. Barre, by contrast, formed an alliance with the Soviet Union.

Barre is confident that the Ethiopian army will not be able to stop the Western Somalia and that the integration of the Ogaden Plateau with Somalia is not far off.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the opium ** had not yet developed to the point of rage, and at that time, China exported tea, porcelain, silk and other goods to the West, which could be exchanged for a large number of **. Every year, a large amount of foreign exchange flows into China, and this money is between 2 million taels and 3 million taels. The British, of course, would not let China take advantage of this, and at the end of the reign of Emperor Jiaqing, opium smuggling in China began to increase year by year.

By 1838, 40,000 boxes of opium were flowing into China each year. Next is Lin Zexu's ban on smoking and the Opium War that made the Qing Dynasty disgrace the country, in fact, the 21 million indemnity was not a big problem for the Qing Dynasty at that time, and it was opium that was the worst thing.

Since opium was no longer banned in China, the amount of opium entering China increased to 50,000 boxes per year after the war. These opiums will take away more than 10 million taels from China every year, and this is how the Great Qing Kingdom was gradually sucked dry by the foreign powers. The outflow of ** caused the depreciation of copper coins, and in 1839, one or two ** could be exchanged for 1,600 copper coins; But in 1850, one tael of ** could be exchanged for 200 copper coins.

The imperial court levied taxes only ** and did not collect copper coins, while the peasants only had copper coins and did not **, so they could only choose to exchange helplessly. After this entry and exit, the burden on the peasants increased by one-third. Zeng Guofan, who was later in charge of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, wrote in his diary:

In the past, he sold three buckets of rice, and he lost more than one acre; Today's selling rice six buckets of Cong refers to Li, and it is not enough to lose one acre. <>

The Ethiopian leader skillfully used the bottom of the kettle to draw salary, and the Somali strongman was abandoned by the backers. On July 13, 1977, the Sosodon Liberation launched a fierce attack on the southern Ethiopian city of Gode, and Barre ordered the Somalan Air Force to send support, and the Esso-Ogaden War officially broke out. On the 25th, the isolated city of Gode fell, and 60 percent of the Ogaden was under Somali control, and the excited members of the Western Soorand Army plundered the city and cut off the heads of Ethiopian soldiers in front of some Western journalists.

The Somalis immediately realized that the hope of victory had left them. Barre had to declare a state of war in the country, began to mobilize reserves, and asked for help from the United States, which he had scolded a few months ago as a "state of hooligans and bandits." Barre took out three military bases in one go to attract the attention of the Americans. However, the United States, which is in the "global strategic defense phase," has been rather slow to react, and only some American transport planes painted with Egyptian military insignia have brought 1,500 tons of arms and scrapped steel helmets to appease the Somali regime.

Soviet paratroopers crushed the Somali army's confidence in resistance, and the famous Somali warlord almost lost his life. <>

The Ogaden War was a war that took place in the Ogaden region between 1977 and 1978. The two warring parties are Ethiopia and Somalia. The war arose from Somalia's territorial claims to Ethiopia's Ogaden region.

Ogaden is a land in eastern Ethiopia that is predominantly Somalis. In Somali, Ogaden means "scorching land". In this war, the Soviet Union, Cuba and South Yemen openly supported Ethiopia.

Somalia was also supported by the Soviet Union in the early days, but the Soviet Union later switched to supporting Ethiopia. The war ended with Somalia's withdrawal from the Ogaden region.