Fight Against Colonialism - Term Paper Example

During the colonization of Africa Sudan was an object of colonization by the Belgians, French and the British. For a brief period under the Mahdi, they seemed to be prevailing against colonialism. A joint British and Egyptian invasion finally defeated the Sudanese and Sudan became a joint colony of both Egypt and Britain under the Condominium arrangement. After Egypt attained its independence Sudan was divided between those who wanted Sudan to become part of Egypt and those who wanted independence and the former prevailed.

The condominium arrangement ended in 1953 and in 1955 Sudan became an independent nation.      Under colonization, the British focused on developing the north. The south was left to be run by local chieftains with no involvement from the central government. Britain’s design had been to incorporate the South into an East African Federation of states (Kenya and Uganda).  Post-independence             Sudan’s post-independence history has been dominated by civil war and military coups.

The government has been dominated by Northern Arab-speaking people. The Southern blacks have felt excluded from power. They have been fighting for autonomy. The first civil war lasted for 17 years (1955-1972). In 1983 a fresh civil war started after the government introduced Islamic Sharia law to cover even the non-Moslems. The Southerners fought the government until a peaceful settlement was implemented in 2005.           Sudan has experienced four coups de tats since independence 50 years ago.

It has been under military rule for most of these years. The power has remained confined within the Arab population to the exclusion of ethnically black Sudanese. Sudan has defined itself as an Arab state and even tried to unite with Egypt and Syria in the 1970s. It is a member of the Arab league and the official language was declared to be Arabic even though the Southern part of the country is not Arab speaking.    It should be noted that ethnicity is a complex issue in Sudan because both the Arabs and non-Arab (African) Muslim groups are black by western constructs of race.