Somalia broke its Soviet treaty and ejected 6,000 personnel

Evidence

No progress in this direction was achieved, however, and on 13 November the predictable breach with Russia was announced in Mogadishu. All naval, air and ground military facilities – including the important communications and submarine missile handling station at Berbera – were withdrawn, the Somali-Soviet treaty of friendship (whose terms Russia had violated by supplying arms to Ethiopia) was renounced, and 6,000 military and civilian personnel and their families given a week to leave the country. Diplomatic relations with Russia were retained; while with Cuba there was an abrupt and complete severance. This long-anticipated, but still delicate breach with Russia and her satellites received a tumultuous public welcome. In contrast to the Chinese, the Russians had never been popular in Somalia. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 567

Categorization

• XREF: The Cold War client-switching theme matches the Russian-Iranian dynamics in other decolonization histories; note the popular enthusiasm for anti-Russian rupture foreshadows the later alliance switch to the West. — connects to: The Ogaden War forced Somalia to sever its military alliance with the Soviet Union; Post-war aid dependency and urban poverty breeding riots replaced Soviet alliance; The 1963 Soviet military accord armed a ten-thousand-man Somali army. (+2 more)

Related

• The Ogaden War forced Somalia to sever its military alliance with the Soviet Union (similarity 0.91)
• The 1963 Soviet military accord armed a ten-thousand-man Somali army. (similarity 0.91)
• Moscow’s tilt toward Ethiopia drove Somalia to seek Saudi arms (similarity 0.80)
• Post-war aid dependency and urban poverty breeding riots replaced Soviet alliance (similarity 0.79)
• By 1978 Somalia had lost superpower patronage while Ethiopia switched camps (similarity 0.79)
• Somalia rejected Western for Soviet military aid to regain domestic prestige (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Post-Ogaden Somalia shifted from Soviet arms to broad Western and Arab food aid dependency #expands (0.70) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 609
• The 1988 Ethiopian-Somali accord triggered the civil wars that destroyed Somalia #responds-to (0.50) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 613