South Sudan Second Civil War
By: Payton Kwintner
Issues of The South Sudan Second Civil War and The American Civil War
-These issues compare to the issues fought over in the U.S. Civil War because both issues arose between two sides that each had different views upon a dispute. President Nimeiri and the Muslim government in the North tried to impose Sharia Law on South Sudan, forcing them to follow different paths of religion. Likewise, the antislavery Northerners in the U.S. Civil War wanted the South to change their views upon slavery and stop it. Also, the South Sudan War was partially fought over resources and religion, which is similar to fighting over slave's rights due to their religion and ethnicity.
Issue #1
-This is a picture of an oil field in South Sudan.
Issue #2
-Sudanese government and Sudan’s People Liberation Movement had disagreements in ethnicities and religion.
-This is a picture of the Sudanese flag on a person's hand that symbolizes peace and a united country, in which Sudanese citizens wish to be made.
Issue #3
-This picture is of a young Sudanese girl, holding the Sudan Flag. She is advertising for the country to reunite.
Map #1
-This map helps me understand the location of the Sudanese government, Sudan's People Liberation Movement, and certain battles fought between them.
Map #2
-This map shows the amount of displaced people in the
different South Sudan regions in the 1900's.
-The colors of each region represent the areas being affected by the violence that took place.
-DARK BROWN being the most violent areas (Jonglei, Bentiu, Upper Nile) and LIGHT GRAY beng the least violent areas (Warrap, Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr El Ghazal.)
-This map shows me how many people were displaced and at risk of great violence, starvation, and malnutrition.
Map #3
-This map shows me that the largest ethnic groups, which are the Dinkas and Nuers.
Precursor Events:
- The agreement that ended the First Sudanese Civil War's fighting in 1972, The Addis Ababa Agreement, failed to completely dispel the tensions that had originally caused it, leading to a reigniting of the north-south conflict during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
- Sources describe the conflict as ethnoreligious, where Muslim’s central government and President Jaafar Nimeiri tried to impose Sharia Law on non- Muslims in the south, which led to violence and war.
The precursor event of the South Sudan Second Civil War when The Addis Ababa Agreement failed to hold off the tensions that originally caused the war reminded me greatly of the Compromise of 1850. I think this because both The Addis Ababa Agreement and The Compromise of 1850 were made to end or hold off the growing tensions of two conflicting sides. Similar to this, the two agreements failed and eventually led to war.
Leaders:
The leaders of the South Sudan Second Civil War compare to the leaders of the American Civil War. For example....
- Abraham Lincoln is quite similar to John Garang De Mabior.
- Both men were wise, ambitous, and recognizable leaders.
- Lincoln ran in the Senate race in 1858 and debated with a man named Stephen A. Douglass. His strong views about slavery led his publicity to rise, which helped him become President of the United States in 1860.
- John Garang De Mabior's military organization skills allowed his ranking to rise very quickly after he rejoined the Anyanya I revolt. His guidance and direction led him to be the leader of SPLA/M.
Jaafar Nimeiri:
-He became powerful in 1969 due to military coups, ending the 1st civil war and signed the agreement.
-He sparked the 2nd Sudanese Civil War in 1983 by imposing Sharia Law on the whole country.
Omar Hassan Ahmad al Bashir:
-He is the head of the national congress party.
-He came to power in 1989 when he led a group of officers in a military coup.
John Garang de Mabior:
-He died in 2005.
-His strong leadership qualities led him to set up a command base on the Sudan-Ethiopia border known as, SPLA.
Arms and Amry:
Types of weapons used:
- Israel had a big advantage for the Sudanese government due to their weapons.
- They made rifles used in the South Sudan Civil War.
- Israel produced IWI ACE automatic rifles (in the photo above.) The main weapon was ace, which was an upgraded version of the Galil Assault rifle developed by the Israeli Military Industries.
- SPLA had enormous available manpower and large personnel (most fit for service).
- They used land systems: tanks, armored fighting vehicles, self-propelled guns, launch rocket systems, airpower, and artillery.
Strengths/tactics of each army:
- The Sudanese government had Sudan armed militias, known as the Janjaweed ("evil man on horseback" in Arabic.)
- The Janjaweed used scorched-Earth tactics aganist civilians and SPlA. They are also blamed for killings, widespread rape, and abductions.
- Refugees were scared of the Janjaweed.
- In 1991, SPLA had at least 40 battalions formed.
- SPLA divided itself into 3 main factions: the SPLA Torit faction, the SPLA Bahr-al-Ghazal faction, and the South Sudan Independence Movement.
Resource #1- Oil:
-Sudan's number one resource is oil.
-The north wanted to control majority of the oil because they are situated on the edge of the Sahara desert, which is unsuitable for agricultural development.-Oil revenues make up about 70% of Sudan's export earnings, and contribute contribute to the development of the country.
-The south control more oil than the north during the war because the south is closest to most of the oil.
Resource #2- Food/Water:
-July 26th, 1988 SPLA declared a unilateral 3 month cease fire to help the flow of aid to areas who were experiencing malnutrition.
-The World Food Programme delivered food to the Bahr el Ghazal province, where more than 700,000 people are starving.
-Due to the 1988 drought, Equatoria was able to meet less than its food needs for that year, which led to the deaths of 900,000 people due to starvation.
Technology
-In this time period, technology was just beginning to advance.
-There was not many technologies used in this particular war.
Alliances
- SPLA: The Sudan People's Liberation Amry is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. They were founded as a guerilla movement in 1983. While based in Southern Sudan, SPLA identified itself as a movement for all oppressed Sudanese citizens, and was led by John Garang. The SPLA campaigned for a "United Sudan," criticizing the central government for policies that were leading to national disintegration.
- NIF: The National Islmamic Front was an Islamic political orginization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi. The group influenced the Sudanese government starting in 1979 and dominated it from 1989 to the late 1900's.
- Dinka Tribe: The Dinka Tribe was an ethnic group that inhabited the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei, and parts of Kordofan and Upper Nile regions. They believed that they derived religious power from nature.
- Nuer Tribe: The Nuers were a Nilotic ethnic group that primarily inhabited the Nile Valley. They spoke the Nuer langauge, which belonged to the Nilo-Saharan family.
- National Democratic Alliance: The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was a group formed in 1989 that was made up of different Sudanese politcal parties. They wanted to oppose the new regime of Omar Hasan al-Bashir after he seized strength and power in 1989 on a military coup. The NDA also signed the peace agreement of the second civil war. Parties such as The Democratic Unionist Party, The Umma Party, and The SPLA are examples of organizations that are on The Leadership Council of the NDA.
Society
Society in Sudan
-The protection of civilians was the primary humanitarian challenge in South Sudan.
-In many areas, security forces are divided and or unable to provide security for either residents or foreigners.
-Reports by human rights groups say that members of the security forces committed serious abuses against civilians.
Military Government
-When it took power on June 30th, 1989, the government of Al Bashir carried out a large arrest of political leaders who opposed Al Bashir and his supporters.
-Throughout the country, political parties were disbanded or prohibited.
Children in Society
-By 1994, there were about 20,000 displaced children between the ages of 7 and 17.
-Most of these children had lost their parents in the war.
-The United Nation Children's Emergency Fund called these children, "Lost Children of Sudan."
Graph 1
-This pipeline pumped thousands of barrels of oil per day.
-This was one of the most successful pipelines owned by the North.
-This affected the civil war because oil was very hard to control during the second civil war, and the North did well off of this particular pipeline.
Graph 2
-This graph was made in the 2000's.
-South Sudan's percentages of everything except for clean water access is higher than Sudan's.
-This bar graph shows the great effects that the war is having on both Sudan and South Sudan.
Graph 3
-The graph shows what percentage of family members were killed, non family members were killed, shooting, death from displacement, abduction, beating, rape, hearing racial epithets, village destruction, theft of livestock, aerial bombing, destruction of personal property, and looting of personal property.
-8 out of the 13 bars of this graph are above 43%.
-This graph shows the great effects that were caused to civilians in Darfur during the war.
The Arts:
- The arts help people deal with war because it helps open their eyes to bigger things.
- Art is the way that people express their feelings or emotions towards any issue, event, or particular person.
- The people of South Sudan dealt with the war through writing, painting, singing, and other artistic expressions.
- Art is relaxing and therapeutic for many people.
- Art can be used to tell stories of civil wars. Paintings are very precise and detailed, like a war.
- Music and poetry are great ways to tell stories. Singing songs get the words across, as does writing a poem.
Example 1:
-The Nubas' passion for physical excellence was displayed through the young men's vanity.
-They spent hours painting their bodies with complex patterns (picture to the left.)
-This vanity reflected the Nubas' belief in the power and importance of strength and beauty, which can help them display this in the war.
Example 2:
http://www.thehypertexts.com/Adrie%20Kusserow%20Poet%20Poetry%20Picture%20Bio%20Sudan%20Darfur.htm
-Skull Trees, South Sudan is a poem written by Adrie Kusserow.
-The intense poem was expressing survival and imagination. -The poem showed people’s desperation to get to safety and how people in hiding are visualizing what is happening to the city.
-The poem displays a sense of the protagonist’s fear of death. The author used the word “skull” multiple times to symbolize death due to the war.