Somali clans playing imperial rivals off each other weakened their position

Evidence

Thus, with Russian officers attached to their forces, the Ethiopians had continued their forward thrust and enlarged their sphere of influence since 1894. Now, not merely in the north, but over most of their western periphery, the Somali clansmen were experiencing Ethiopian pressure, which though for the most part irregular and spasmodic in its application nevertheless produced a considerable effect. And caught between the conflicting ambitions of the Ethiopians on the hinterland, and the French, British, and Italians, on the coast, individual Somali clans and lineages sought to profit from this rivalry by playing one side off against another. The effect of this was to weaken the general position of the Somali and to encourage the entrenchment of foreign interests. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 181

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 181
• XREF: connects to: Somali clan maneuvering between rival empires weakened the Somali position; Somalis’ clan disunity prevented unified opposition to foreign rule; Somali clan fragmentation made clans easy prey for Italian and Ethiopian rivalry — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 301 (+9 more)

Related

• The Somali clan system made Ogaden clans prey to Italian and Ethiopian competition (similarity 0.91)
• Somali clan maneuvering between rival empires weakened the Somali position (similarity 0.90)
• Somalis’ clan disunity prevented unified opposition to foreign rule (similarity 0.90)
• Somali clan fragmentation made clans easy prey for Italian and Ethiopian rivalry (similarity 0.89)
• Ethiopia countered Somali nationalism by buying off clan leaders with higher salaries (similarity 0.86)
• Internal clan divisions fatally undermined the Western Somali liberation struggle (similarity 0.86)
• Internal clan and ethnic divisions crippled the Western Somali struggle for the Ogaden. (similarity 0.85)
• Somali clans shifted alliances opportunistically in response to trade wealth (similarity 0.85)
• Italian administrators pursued a divide-and-rule strategy to split Somalis into rival tribal states (similarity 0.84)
• Ogadenis and Mogadishu each tried to manipulate the other (similarity 0.84)
• Somali clan rivalries shaped political alignments with Italy in 1948 (similarity 0.84)
• Clan segmentation had blocked Somali national unity since the sixteenth century. (similarity 0.83)
• Siyad’s survivalist rule reinforced clan segmentation to Ethiopia’s advantage (similarity 0.82)
• Somali clans rarely united; Gran’s leadership was exceptional. (similarity 0.82)
• Menelik’s 1891 circular asserted Ethiopian sovereignty over Somali clans (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Somali clan maneuvering between rival empires weakened the Somali position #exemplifies (0.95)
• The Somali clan system made Ogaden clans prey to Italian and Ethiopian competition #exemplifies (0.85)
• Somali clan fragmentation made clans easy prey for Italian and Ethiopian rivalry #exemplifies (0.70) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 301
• Somalis’ clan disunity prevented unified opposition to foreign rule #corroborates (0.60)
• Internal clan divisions fatally undermined the Western Somali liberation struggle #exemplifies (0.55)