French Somaliland was formally established in 1896 when the ruler and elders of the Issa clan signed treaties with the French. [2] On March 25, 1885, the French signed a treaty with the Gadabuursi, effectively making them a protectorate of France.[3] On March 26, 1885, the French signed another treaty with the Issa making the latter a protectorate under the French. No money changed hands and the Somalis did not sign away any of their land rights; the agreement was meant to protect their land from outsiders with the help of the French. However, after the French sailors of the Le Pingouin vessel were mysteriously killed in Ambado in 1886, the French first blamed the British, then the Somalis, using the incident to lay claim to the entire southern territory.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
The construction of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway west into Ethiopia turned the port of Djibouti into a boomtown of 15,000[10] at a time when Harar was the only city in Ethiopia with a greater population.[11] Although the city's population fell after the completion of the line to Dire Dawa and the bankruptcy (and subsequent government bail-out) of the original company, the rail link allowed Djibouti to quickly overtake the caravan-based trade out of Zeila[12] (then in British Somaliland) and become the premier port for coffee and other goods leaving southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden through Harar. Before the French aligned with the Issa, the Gadabuursi held the position of the first Senator of the country, and is the first Somali head of state to lead the territory compromising Djibouti today. Djama Ali Moussa, a former sailor, pursued his political aspirations and managed to become the first Somali democratically elected head of state in French Somaliland.[13][14]
^France Ministère des colonies, Sous-secrétariat des colonies; DÉCRET N° 120, ARTICLE PREMIER (1896). "Bulletin officiel du Ministère des colonies". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2020-10-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
