Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Anglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan in 1896–8 toppled the Mahdist revolution , which had occurred in 1885. The British and the Egyptians consolidated their power through the Condominium Agreement of 1899, which created a theoretical dualism. It named the territory south of the 22nd parallel the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, technically restoring Egypt's control over the region. Even so, it left the British actually in control of the region until after 1924, at which point they took sole charge. Of course, the Sudanese resisted this dual imperialism. The Sudanese nationalist movement was a peaceful struggle for freedom and independence, but it was characterized by factional conflict, which in the 1940s crystallized into a “dualism” that was to dominate Sudanese politics even in the post-independence era. Two opposing nationalist ideas developed. One advocated an independent Sudanese identity and demanded independence for the Sudan from both Egypt and Britain. Its motto was “The Sudan for the Sudanese.” The other nationalist idea advocated unity of the Nile Valley under the Egyptian crown, and a united struggle of both parts of the Nile Valley against the common colonial power, Britain. The Sudanese case, then, contradicted the general rule of the existence of one nationalist idea and the inclusiveness of the nationalist movement's platform of self-government and independence. In the Sudanese ... log in or subscribe to read full text