On April 8, 1941, the former Italian colony of Eritrea was placed under the British Military Administration (BMA) pending an international decision of its fate as an independent nation. Ethiopia laid claim to Eritrea and the United Nations passed a motion to federate Eritrea with imperial Ethiopia in 1952. However, the UN mandated that Eritrea was to remain as a semiautonomous, self-governing territory with legislative, executive, and judicial powers over its own domestic affairs. This was to last ten years, at which time Eritrea would become liberated. However, the autocratic Ethiopian monarch began to dismantle the federation soon after its formation. The Eritrean-Ethiopian federation (1952-1962) was short-lived and Eritrea was annexed into Ethiopia. Eritrean’s discontent ultimately intensified, first as resistance, then rebellion, and finally an armed struggle for Eritrean national liberation that persisted until 1991.
In October 1954, Sudan also voted for independence from its Egyptian and British colonizers. However, the people of South Sudan did not want to be subject to their historically cruel neighbors in Northern Sudan. They wanted to be given autonomy in a federal system, or they insisted on self-determination, including the possibility of independence from the North. It would take fifty-one long and bloody years and 2.5 million deaths before this would be realized.
A number of variables contributed to the independence movements of Eritrea and South Sudan such as the central government’s refusal to grant these areas any autonomy, the government’s imposition of religious and ethnic ideals and taking control of the area’s natural resources. The South Sudanese and Eritrean wars of independence are some of the long...
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... plagued with internal conflict amongst the rebels themselves. Strong leadership and evolving political organizations needed time to develop a platform on which all Eritreans and Southern Sudanese could unite in order for their long awaited secessions to be realized.
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Gebru, Tareke. The Ethiopian Revolution War in the Horn of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
Iyob, Ruth. The Eritrean Struggle for Independence: Domination, Resistance, Nationalism, 1941-1993. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Jok, Jok Madut. Sudan: Race, Religion, and Violence. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009.
Kibreab, Gaim. Eritrea a Dream Deferred. Oxford: James Currey, 2009.
Ethiopia is one of the most unique among African countries for maintaining its freedom from colonial rule, with the short exception of an occupation by the Italians from 1936-1941. A socialist state was established in 1974 with the overthrow of Emperor Selassie, who had been in control since 1930. A junta or group of military officers called the Derg was responsible for the coup. Yet, this corrupt administration has lead only to warfare and wide scale public suffering. In 1991, the junta was finally brought down by a combination of revolutionary forces who called themselves the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front. In 1994, a constitution was drafted and 1995 marked Ethiopia’s first multiparty elections. Recently, a boarder feud with Eritrea, that lasted over 2 years, was ended in December of 2000; yet recent objections by Ethiopia have delayed a final declaration of border.
In 1898, Britain and Egypt took control over Sudan. This didn’t include Darfur, which was an independent territory ruled by a sultan. In 1916, Britain added Darfur to the territory it controlled. After World War II, in 1945, Britain and Egypt began preparing Sudan for independence. From 1945-1989, Darfur -remote from Khartoum and having invaluable resources- suffered neglect from all governments. Sudan has been independence since 1956. However, the journey that led to Sudan’s genocide in Darfur began in the late 1800s. It’s a complicated tale that involves conquest; internal politics; social, ethnical, racial, and re...
It is due this circumstance that the fight in Darfur, which originated from conflict over land, water and additional capitals amongst black farmers and Arab nomads, has transformed into a gory tragedy. The Darfur crisis has exposed the racial issues in Sudan which had been ready to burst into flames for a long period time. What makes it a racial conflict is that the Muslim Arab Janjaweed militia, are attacking black African Muslims. Both sides share the same Muslim beliefs but cannot live in harmony. If the southerners are not awarded the same rights as the northerners, they will continue to fight.
The Web. November 22, 2010 http://web.ebscohost.com>. Hargreaves, John. The. “The Scramble for Africa.”
In spite of various failed attempts of secession in many African countries, Eritrea and South Sudan were successful in getting independence, with international and regional actors’ recognition. But the question remains whether these countries are on the right track to address the main challenges that emerge in the aftermath of secession, in the process of peacebuilding and state building in particular with issues of human rights, political stability and development for their people who voted for secession during referendums.
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
Reeves, Eric, Massimo Calabresi, Sam Dealey, and Stephan Faris. “The Tragedy of Sudan.” Time. Time Inc, 4 Oct. 2004. Web and Print. 15 April 2014. .
After the Italian second defeat, Haile Selassie led Ethiopia by the vision of modernization and advancement of his people live. Emperor Haile Selassie established modern schools, universities, and military, naval, air force and police academies. He even donated one of his palaces to the first university in th...
South Sudanese independence thus far has been quite detrimental than beneficial to the people of South Sudan. On July 9, 2011, the 54th African state was born. Independence was fought to fight challenges that, as part of Sudan it endured for 56 years; however its current state has brought about challenges from within . This essay will discuss a brief history of Sudan and South Sudan and then analyse President Salva kiir’s speech in contrast to Former Nelson Mandelas’.
The Web. The Web. 25 Sept. 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/194084/Ethiopia>. The "Ethiopia" - "The World" Encyclopedia of the Nations.
The first twenty-five years of Syrian independence was filled with extreme political instability and p...
Tucker, Carole. "African Nationalism and Liberation in Post World War II Africa." Suite. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
... and trying to make them cooperate was the biggest flaw of the British colonialism. Then when that didn’t work out, the British developed the North far more than the South, thus creating resentment in the South. With the end of colonialism the British left a nation that was unstable politically and culturally. The region, culture, language, and historical differences between the South and North leads to two civil wars for independence. Which further leads into an ethnic conflict in South Sudan. If no action is taken to bring peace between the two. There is a threat of those ethnicity fighting over resources, which could then potentially lead into a territorial conflict. And if South Sudan further divides there could be a possibility of a power vacuum happening, creating more chaos. All it takes is a single spark to trigger a series of unfortunate events.
The New Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa 1880-1914. Jeff Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.