To what extent did Great Britains administration of Sudan influence the start of the First Sudanese Civil War, 1955-1972?

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    To what extent did Great Britain’s administration of Sudan influence the start of the First Sudanese Civil War, 1955-1972?

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Section A. Plan of Investigation


    To what extent did Great Britain’s administration of Sudan influence the start of the First Sudanese Civil War, 1955-1972?

The civil wars of the Sudan are most famously attributed to religious differences between Muslims and Christians, and the uneven distribution of natural resources between the North and South; however as demonstrated in other African countries (namely Rwanda, Angola, and Cameroon), European imperialism is a common cause of instability on the continent. Noting the above, the investigation will strive to see if this byproduct of imperialism holds true in Britain’s colonial administration of the Sudan and the subsequent first civil war. It will investigate the origin of British involvement in Sudan, its administration decisions and documents pertaining to the country and reactions of the Sudanese people; particularly regarding the Southern region. The study will then further analyze the publication Sudan: A Country Study and a copy of the proceedings of the Juba Conference, June 1947 for their origin, purpose, value, and limitation in order to add clarity and validity to the argument. To narrow the scope, the paper will not focus on Egypt’s effect on the colonial administration, the parallel economic development, or Britain’s Sudanese army policy.

Section B. Summary of Evidence

        Sudan has a long history of invaders from the decline of the B.C. Kush Kingdom to the Madhist state under Muhammad Ahmad (Metz 14). The country was exposed to Christianity under the Nubians, and latter Islam was introduced through traders and conquerors such as the Egypt and the Funji kingdom (Poggo 21; Metz 14). Slave trading was also rampant in the region, especially in the form of northern slave traders capturing Southerners (Poggo 21).

It was against this backdrop that the British came to Sudan in 1892 when Lord Herbert Kitchener was tasked with reconquering the Sudan in order to secure interests along the Nile River (Jalata 35; Metz 37-38). This military expedition ended in 1899 with the establishment of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium and marked the beginning of British administration until Sudanese independence in 1956 – a period which spanned both World Wars and a Depression (Jalata 35; Metz 37-38). The colonial government established its capital, as had previous ruler, at the ancient city, Khartoum, (Daly 1; Metz 33) and in the early 1900s, favored indirect rule (Jalata 35). Former military officers were converted to public service positions and worked through the authority of southern tribal chiefs and northern sheikhs (Johnson 12). In the north, this practice was eventually replaced with civil servants brought from Great Britain – the origin of the Sudan Civil Service. Conversely in the south, military officers called, “Bog Barons,” continued enforcing indirect rule and the region was ignored (Daly 234).  

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In the 1920s, Britain solidified its southern policy. The region would be administered as a separate area of three provinces: Equatoria, Bah al Ghazal, and Upper Nile, and southern deputies were not required to attend meetings in Khartoum (Metz 41). The core of the policy revolved around the Closed District Ordinances; created in the British’s minds to protect the South (Poggo 22). This included the Passports and Permits Ordinance of 1922 which restricted travel between the two regions, and the Permits to Trade Order of 1925 which restricted Arab trading in the South (Verney). Additionally in 1928, English was established ...

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