Introduction

Abstract

This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of the origins and development of the first civil war in Sudan, which occurred between 1955 and 1972. This was one of the longest and most devastating wars in Africa during the twentieth century. It was the culmination of ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, political, and economic problems that had faced Sudan since the Turco-Egyptian conquest of the country in 1821. The hostilities between the Northern and Southern regions of Sudan also involved foreign powers that had their own political, economic, religious, and military interests in the region. The first Sudanese civil war is therefore a classic example of the inter- and intra-regional conflicts that have plagued much of the African continent from 1950 to the present.