Great Power politics overrode Somali majority opinion on the trusteeship question

Evidence

Having studied the views of a considerable cross-section of the population, the Commission9 in due course submitted its findings on Somalia to the Council of Foreign Ministers, reporting, correctly, despite frequent jibes at S.Y.L. delegates during the hearings, that the League’s programme commanded the largest public support in the territory. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the manifest opposition to a return of Italian authority, Britain, like France and America, had now definitely come round to supporting trusteeship under Italy, while Russia, although previously also advocating this, had now decided in favour of Four Power control. … With this failure to reach agreement which involved also the other ex-Italian colonies, the whole turgid issue was passed for settlement to the General Assembly of the United Nations. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 348

Categorization

• XREF: Continues the pattern of Somalis’ fate being decided by extraneous Great Power interests, echoing the earlier partition era. — connects to: A fixed trusteeship deadline forced Somalia while British Somaliland drifted; European refugee politics motivated international pressure for Somali state formation.; Somali elders petitioned both for and against the Bevin plan in 1946 (+6 more)

Related

• Italy flew pro-Italian Somalis to petition for its trusteeship (similarity 0.91)
• Somali elders petitioned both for and against the Bevin plan in 1946 (similarity 0.89)
• Ethiopia sought trusteeship over Somalia while publicly refusing to aid the SYL (similarity 0.87)
• European refugee politics motivated international pressure for Somali state formation. (similarity 0.85)
• Great-power coalition interests determined Italy’s ten-year return to Somalia. (similarity 0.81)
• Postwar Great-Power talks could not agree on Somalia’s future. (similarity 0.81)
• Somali politics cannot be explained purely by clanship loyalties. (similarity 0.80)
• Somalis accepted Italian trusteeship because it was limited to ten years. (similarity 0.80)
• Italian-backed Somali groups sought thirty-year Italian trusteeship (similarity 0.79)
• The Bevin plan for Somali unification failed among the four powers (similarity 0.79)
• Britain abandoned Somali unification because its strategic stakes there were too low (similarity 0.79)
• Big-power jockeying over Italy forced a ten-year Italian trusteeship on Somalia. (similarity 0.79)
• A fixed trusteeship deadline forced Somalia while British Somaliland drifted (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Somali clan maneuvering between rival empires weakened the Somali position #complicates (0.40)
• Haile Selassie’s claim over Somalis accelerated Protectorate demands for autonomy #qualifies (0.35) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 400