British withdrawal into coastal forts unleashed clan feuds and mass starvation.

Evidence

Consequently, far from throwing up a leader to lead the friend-lies against the Dervishes, the clans now launched into a frenzied pursuit of old scores and feuds, and the interior of the country lapsed into a state of unparalleled confusion and chaos. Soon indeed the situation was so desperate that a large proportion of the population was reduced to a state bordering on starvation, and food was so scarce that people had to eat rats and other unclean animals. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 228 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

But having already expended large sums of money totally out of proportion to their limited interest in the Somali coast, the British government decided that before any further military operations were undertaken a new appraisal of the whole situation was necessary. A fresh opinion, it was felt, was called for; and to supply this General Sir Reginald Wingate, Governor-General of the Sudan, was appointed to visit Somaliland to assess the situation and if possible to treat directly with Sayyid Muhammad. In this latter respect the Wingate mission was singularly unsuccessful, and having considered its report, which was never published, the British government decided to cut its losses and embark upon a new policy of coastal concentration. In 1910, accordingly, the Administration withdrew to the coast evacuating the interior – little of which was in any case under stable civil rule – and arming the Isaq clans – the ‘friendlies’ as they were called – thus leaving them to protect themselves against the Dervishes. … That the Dulbahante were left utterly unprotected was considered justified in view of the fact that they had no treaty with the British. This, however, had not prevented Britain in the past from regarding the Dulbahante as part of the Somaliland Protectorate when it was convenient to do so. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 226 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: British withdrawal unleashed clan feuds and mass starvation in the interior — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 228; Britain withdrew to the coast in 1910, arming allied clans and abandoning the Dulbahante — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 226

Related

• Britain withdrew to the coast in 1910, arming allied clans and abandoning the Dulbahante (similarity 0.94)
• British withdrawal unleashed clan feuds and mass starvation in the interior (similarity 0.90)
• British protectorate treaties covered select northern clans and not the Dulbahante (similarity 0.81)
• Britain’s 1897 withdrawal of protection exposed Somali clansmen to Ethiopian occupation (similarity 0.80)
• British miscalculation ignored population drift that pushed protected Somali into Ethiopia’s sphere (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• British withdrawal unleashed clan feuds and mass starvation in the interior #corroborates (0.95) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 228
• Britain withdrew to the coast in 1910, arming allied clans and abandoning the Dulbahante #expands (0.70) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 226