The First Sudanese Civil War

First Sudanese Civil War
Part of the
Date 18 August 1955 – 27 March 1972 (16 years, 7 months, 1 week and 2 days) Location Southern Sudan Result Stalemate Addis Ababa Agreement Establishment of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region with various defined powers
Belligerents
United Kingdom (1955-1956)  Egypt (1955-1956) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1955-1956) Republic of the Sudan (1956-1969) Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1969-1972) Supported by:  Soviet Union	Southern Sudan Liberation Movement Azania Liberation Front (1965-1970) Anyanya (1969-1972) Equatorial Corps (1955-1963) Supported by:  Ethiopia  Uganda Training and arms:  Israel
Commanders and leaders
Ismail al-Azhari Gaafar Nimeiry	Joseph Lagu Gordon Muortat Mayen
Strength
Military of Sudan: 12,000	Anyanya: 5,000-10,000
Casualties and losses
500,000 dead

Stalemate

Southern Sudan Liberation Movement

The First Sudanese Civil War (also known as the Anyanya Rebellion or Anyanya I, after the name of the rebels, a term in the Madi language which means 'snake venom') was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the southern Sudan region that demanded representation and more regional autonomy. Half a million people died over the 17 years of war, which may be divided into three stages: initial guerrilla war, Anyanya, and South Sudan Liberation Movement.

However, the agreement that ended the First Sudanese Civil War's fighting in 1972 failed to completely dispel the tensions that had originally caused it, leading to a reigniting of the north-south conflict during the Second Sudanese Civil War, which lasted from 1983 to 2005. The period between 1955 and 2005 is thus sometimes considered to be a single conflict with an eleven-year ceasefire that separates two violent phases.

Until 1946, the British government, in collaboration with the Egyptian government (under a condominium governing arrangement) administered south Sudan and north Sudan as separate regions. At this time, the two areas were merged into a single administrative region as part of British strategy in the Middle East.

This act was taken without consultation with southern leaders, who feared being subsumed by the political power of the larger north. Southern Sudan is inhabited primarily by Christians and animists and considers itself culturally sub-Saharan, while most of the north is inhabited by Muslims who were culturally Arabic.

After the February 1953 agreement by the United Kingdom and Egypt to grant independence to Sudan, the internal tensions over the nature of the relationship of north to south were heightened. Matters reached a head as the 1 January 1956 independence day approached, as it appeared that northern leaders were backing away from commitments to create a federal government that would give the south substantial autonomy.

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