Sudanese Civil War

Before the “Lost Boys”, before the poetically gruesome depictions of survival in ‘They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky’, and even before South Sudan gained independence as a country in 2011, there were two civil wars lasting a combined 39 years which resulted in the deaths of almost 3 million people. These deaths were the outcome of starvation, thirst, fighting and the harsh wildlife of Africa. Up until 1946, North and South Sudan were considered to be separate. Meaning their economics, politics and religions developed differently as they continued to grow beside the other. During this time Northern Sudan was given more special interest in the growth of their economy and upgrades in infrastructure while the South was being taught Christianity and learning English. These differences in their developments became apparent in 1946 when the British decided to unify the North and South under one government. This was done without the consent of the southerners who felt betrayed and were grossly underrepresented in this new government which operated with the Arabic language that the North already governed with. Years later, in August of 1955 a fake telegram was discovered by Southern Sedan military forces falsely depicting the encouragement of Northern forces to suppress Southerners in the area. Discovery of this telegram caused for an immediate reaction from the Southerners who mutinied in many cities, thus beginning the first civil war. After years and years of war, both Northern and Southern Sudan began to lose substantial resources and more importantly began to experience large drops in the population. The Addis Ababa Accords were written as a peace agreement and allowed both forces to regain control of their areas and rebuild momentarily. In 1983, the Northern government declared all of Sudan to be an Islamic state violating the agreement set only a few years earlier. This violation was the last straw and began the Second Sudanese Civil War.