Due to recent events in the news cycle putting a spotlight on Somalia, I'd like to remind people that Somalia has a socialist past that is completely unknown to most people. It was called the Somali Democratic Republic and its history with the USSR was mixed mostly due to the controversial figure Siad barre (picrel).
The most notable thing about the state was its literacy campaign. On August 1st, 1974, Somalia embarked on a revolutionary literacy campaign that defied global expectations. Against all advice, the government sent newly graduated students, armed only with whiteboards, chalk, and books, to teach nomadic populations across vast semi-desert landscapes. These young educators, who had just learned a brand new Somali script themselves, took on the monumental task of teaching reading and writing to unlettered communities. In less than a year, Somalia's literacy rate skyrocketed from a mere 15% to over 80%, earning the country a UNESCO award.
The republic eventually collapsed in 1991 due to rebel groups backed by Ethiopia which in turn was backed by the United States and lead to Somalia's civil war that is ongoing to this day.
So what’s the truth about the Isaaq genocide?
Siad Barre was a nationalist in red paint even by the standards of third world cold war marxism. Played the Soviets for military aid only to ally with the US and start shit with Ethiopia over a desert. Then he broke the country with clannism to stay in power after getting crushed in Ethiopia and Somalia has never recovered. The US and Ethiopia bear a lot of the blame in terms of how bad things got after 91 but the country was already fucked well before then. No Somalis themselves even like this guy besides for clannist reasons.
Childhood is admiring Barre, adulthood is understanding that Mengitsu was right.
>>2639936what are some good books on somalia
>>2639986Weren't they a mercantile clan
>>2640461>picI hate ᴉuᴉlossnWs