Siad Barre
1919 – 1995 Somali military ruler, president of Somalia
Military ruler of Somalia from 1969 to 1991 whose fall opened decades of state collapse.
- Religion
- Sunni Muslim
- Affiliations
- Supreme Revolutionary Council, Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
Mohamed Siad Barre seized power in a 1969 coup and ruled Somalia for over two decades, declaring scientific socialism and aligning first with the Soviet Union. He switched to the Western camp after the disastrous Ogaden War against Ethiopia in the late 1970s. His rule grew increasingly repressive and clan-based, culminating in the bombing of the northern city of Hargeisa; his overthrow in 1991 was followed by state collapse, warlordism, and famine. His birth year is given variously and is not firmly established.
In the timeline
- 1969 Siad Barre seizes power in a military coup the coup leader
- 1970 Barre declares scientific socialism and Soviet alignment the ruling head of state
- 1977 The Ogaden War and the Cold War switch of patrons the ruler who switched patrons
- 1978 Somalia's Siad Barre switches to the West the ruler who switched patrons
- 1988 The bombing of Hargeisa the ruler whose forces bombed the city
- 1991 Somali Civil War mentioned
- 1991 The fall of Siad Barre and the collapse of the state the overthrown ruler