Ethiopian-Somalia Union 1977

I've never heard of this and I can't seem to find any sources in English about it - can you explain more?
I spelt it wrong:coldsweat:
It was actually Kulub and the best link I can gather at the moment is this

https://books.google.ca/books?id=zsjuQaGLRUkC&pg=PA227&dq=kulub+harar&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKpKH46vnPAhUJLyYKHajnCPsQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=kulub harar&f=false

The SYL opened up an office in Harar to convince the Hararis to join Somalia which spurred the Kulub movement. They put in a request to the UN to join Somalia. Of course the request and movement failed and Haile Selassie responded with force to break their hold over the city. After that many of them fled to Somalia and their descendants were even fighting in the Ogaden war. In fact many of the ex-members were pushing Siad into the war. Seriously the amount if different factors pushing Somalia to war was phenomenal, it was really a race between both nations in who could make the other collapse first.
 
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The Avenger

Banned
Hm. I have a hard time seeing this happen as a union of equals.

I have entertained the idea of this happening as a way for Somalia to legitimize its expansion without "annexing" anywhere.

If they win the Ogaden war, support the overthrow of the Derg by the other socialist groups and nationalists among Ethiopia's very large ethnic minorities, then conclude a loose union that basically meant everyone agreed to colour the territory with a single colour on their maps and keep no trade barriers, coordinate on foreign policy, economic policy and on military matters, it might have a chance of turning out better than Yugoslavia.

But I really need to read up on the exact dynamics in the region before I include that idea in a timeline. It may be complete pie-in-the-sky.

fasquardon
Could this unified state have actually come up with a common identity for its population, though? I mean, Somalia couldn't even do that for all of its Somali tribes, and you're expecting this unified state to do that for not only all Somalis, but also several other different ethnic groups who might not have too much in common with Somalis.
 
Could this unified state have actually come up with a common identity for its population, though? I mean, Somalia couldn't even do that for all of its Somali tribes, and you're expecting this unified state to do that for not only all Somalis, but also several other different ethnic groups who might not have too much in common with Somalis.

Actually, I would expect such a union to discourage a common identity. We're talking about an alliance forged to end Amhara domination and further nationalistic goals without either breaking up the economic zone, or more importantly, without the Somalis annoying important foreign powers by annexing part of Ethiopia.

It would be a common identity of "we are all our own thing and will stay that way".

(Whether such a union lasted a long time is a very contingent thing - I suspect its natural life expectancy would be on the order of a decade to a generation.)

fasquardon
 

The Avenger

Banned
Actually, I would expect such a union to discourage a common identity. We're talking about an alliance forged to end Amhara domination and further nationalistic goals without either breaking up the economic zone, or more importantly, without the Somalis annoying important foreign powers by annexing part of Ethiopia.

It would be a common identity of "we are all our own thing and will stay that way".

(Whether such a union lasted a long time is a very contingent thing - I suspect its natural life expectancy would be on the order of a decade to a generation.)

fasquardon
What would've been the ethnic demographics of this union?
 
What would've been the ethnic demographics of this union?

I think the Somalis and Oromo together would form a majority. (The Oromo are close to 40% of Ethiopia's population and there would be slightly more ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia+Somalia than there are Amharas I think.)

fasquardon
 

The Avenger

Banned
I think the Somalis and Oromo together would form a majority. (The Oromo are close to 40% of Ethiopia's population and there would be slightly more ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia+Somalia than there are Amharas I think.)

fasquardon
What % are the Somalis and Oromo separately?
 
The Oromos make up the largest ethnic group whilst the Somalis are the third largest ethnic group after the Amharas.

Yeah, my mistake. I realized after I logged out that day. Amharas would be a bit larger than the Somalis in this state.

OK, but what are the %s?

Add the numbers up on wikipedia and work it out for yourself?

Of course, it also matters WHEN you are talking about, since this would shift over time with different growth rates.

fasquardon
 
Wait - I reread the OP, apparently Fidel wanted South Yemen to be a part of the union as well. That could change everything, maybe an Arab leader is chosen as a compromise between Ethiopia and Somalia?
 

Redcoat

Banned
I'm not so much upset as I am confused with why either Ethiopia and Somalia would willingly join into a federation despite having centuries of bad blood between the two.
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I'm not so much upset as I am confused with why either Ethiopia and Somalia would willingly join into a federation despite having centuries of bad blood between the two.

Yeah, I'm with my Ethiopian friend here. This really doesn't make a lick of sense. The federation would probably end up as a UAR style mess - doomed to fall apart quickly and probably dominated by one group to the detriment of the other
 
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