Images

A selection of postage stamps from British Somaliland (aka the Somaliland Protectorate). The protectorate was established in 1884 and became part of an independent Somalia in 1960. Private Collection

A photograph of a Somali woman building a traditional nomadic house, an aqal.

The flag was adopted by Somalia when that state was created in 1960. The five points of the star represent the regions Somali people live in East Africa. In the colonial period, these regions were part of British Somaliland, French Somaliland...

Statue in Mogadishu, Somalia of the Somali Islamic leader Sayyid Moḥammad ‘Abdallah Hassan (d. 1920) who led a long-running series of rebellions against colonial rule in the Horn of Africa, including against the British Somaliland.

In the aftermath of the Second World War (1939–1945), Europe emerged physically devastated and politically polarized. As Allied cooperation gave way to rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin (rule 1924–1953...

An illustration by François Maréchal showing King Leopold II of Belgium (reign 1865-1909) carving up the Congo Basin, a reference to the Berlin Conference 1884-5 which set some of the ground rules for the Scramble for Africa. Russia is represented...

An illustration by Adalbert von Rössler of the delegates at the Berlin Conference 1884-5 which set some of the ground rules for the Scramble for Africa. From the German publication Über Land und Meer.

The North Africa Campaign (1940–1943) formed a decisive theater of the World War II (1939–1945), centered on control of the strategic corridor linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern oil fields. The conflict...

A 1918 photograph showing a woman mechanic in the British Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) during the First World War (1914-18). The car is a Model-T Ford. Imperial War Museums

A poster issued in 1918 during the First World War (1914-18) encouraging women to join the Women Land's Army. Imperial War Museums