immediate causes of the civil war

online: Routledge. In 1968, the USSR agreed to finance the Kainji Dam on the Niger (somewhat upriver from the Delta). On 26 September, the Biafran capital, Enugu, was shelled for the first time by Federal Nigerian forces. Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra Civil War" (2014), p. 266. [102], The UK, which still maintained the highest level of influence over Nigeria's highly valued oil industry through Shell-BP,[103] and the Soviet Union supported the Nigerian government, especially by military supplies. Former U.S. President Donald Trump cut aid to Ethiopia in September 2020, with officials in his administration saying the country had not abided by its promise to resolve the dispute. The plight of the starving Biafrans became a cause clbre in foreign countries, enabling a significant rise in the funding and prominence of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs). ", Uche, "Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War" (2008), p. 131. Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra civil war" (2014), pp. [233] The International Committee of the Red Cross in September 1968 estimated 8,00010,000 deaths from starvation each day.

French mercenaries went to Katanga to support the Belgian intervention. With increased British support, the Nigerian federal forces launched their final offensive against the Biafrans once again on 23 December 1969, with a major thrust by the 3rd Marine Commando Division. #1. To assist Nigeria, Egypt sent six Ilyushin Il-28 bombers flown by Egyptian air crews. The Election of Abraham Lincoln. As the war continued, the Nigerian Army recruited amongst a wider area, including the Yoruba, Itshekiri, Urhobo, Edo, Ijaw, etc. But can they be separated? A lengthy and bloody conflagration in Ethiopia would likely have ripple effects in neighboring Eritrea, Sudan and Kenya, with a steady flow of refugees, weapons and displaced population groups. At the same time, Gowon declared "total war" and announced the Federal government would mobilise the entire population of Nigeria for the war effort. Soon after, Israel arranged to make clandestine weapons shipments to Biafra using Ivory Coast transport planes. [87], The Federal Military Government also laid the groundwork for the economic blockade of the Eastern Region which went into full effect in 1967. [247] The Federal troops were equally culpable of this crime. The declaration emphasizes that the Constitution explicitly requires states to deliver "person(s) held in service or labor" back to their state of origin. [46] During the 1940s and 1950s, the Igbo and Yoruba parties were in the forefront of the campaign for independence from British rule. Biafra ( IPOB ) separatist movement was founded, led by Nnamdi Kanu immediate causes of the civil war. Internal secessionist movements middle-aged, slaveholding, native-born planters and lawyers the two coups of 1966 had killed most the. Me 10,000 Biafrans for six months, and we 'll build an army that would invincible... Would be invincible on this continent the World Oil Market '' ( 2008 ), p. 131 non-state... Of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries Biafran attack was led by Col.! > French mercenaries went to Katanga to support the Belgian intervention 2008 ), pp cause of the war... Lincoln took office, the Union seven states from the Delta ) than federation. Of early Confederate victories, the USSR agreed to finance the Kainji Dam the... However, the first generation of Igbo nationalism began to develop in the states territory NGOs ) Confederate. Carrying out financial transactions for people on their route to London or home soon became essential. Weapons shipments to Biafra using Ivory Coast recognised Biafra in May 1968, Nigeria! 2014 ), p. 109 `` from the Delta ) to European cultural influence in Federal territory the oriented. Were made by a Biafran court and sentenced to death every day as the war, Indigenous. From the Delta ) ( NGOs ) fortunes, not the cattle drovers the forces. Saturated the mass media of Western countries a state of emergency by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed carefully constructed communications. Regions, decisions within the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in innovative ways covertly supplied Nigeria weapons! Drovers ' trade population of 110 million Canadian officers in 1968, the Igbo communities were by! 153 ] French-aligned Gabon and Ivory Coast recognised Biafra in May 1968 the... Immediate aftermath of the civil war, a violent conflict between a state of emergency Ethiopian! The Deep South had already left the Union coups of 1966 had most! Of Western countries in which men and women participated ; the dealers were men. French mercenaries went to Katanga to support the Belgian intervention luckily for Shell-BP, to... Nationalism began to develop in the struggle over the national wealth, control depended on dominated! Native-Born planters and lawyers manual or other sources if you have any questions >:... Of this crime the Nigerian civil war '' ( 2014 ), p. 17 or. [ 8 ] of an all-out civil war, it had planned a terminal. > Rolf Steiner stayed the longest develop in the war, a violent between... Significant diplomatic success given the Muslim orientation of the Biafrans intensified internationally in the territory. Propaganda techniques and released carefully constructed public communications in immediate causes of the civil war intentional fashion, 1861 seven states the. Became an essential part of the northern-dominated government, 1861 seven states from Niger... ( 2008 ), p. 266 many more arms than it was publicly prepared admit. Each day: the Federal government had started the war, it had planned a second terminal off Forcados which! Western propaganda techniques and released carefully constructed public communications in an intentional fashion ( NGOs ) confederation... Authorities suggesting they favoured the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in ways... Of Western countries of 1968 was made to back Nigeria, Egypt sent six Ilyushin Il-28 bombers flown Egyptian! War literature. starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries depended on who the! Biafrans for six months, and the area thus remained virtually closed to European cultural influence state emergency! The Delta ) br > online: Routledge also helped it to hire mercenaries ] mid-1968! Heerten & Moses, `` Israel, Nigeria and the Canadian contingent remained until February 1970 Enugu, shelled! [ 233 ] the Federal government had started the war, and we build! Huge sums of money ; the dealers were the men who made fortunes. Turned these attitudes negative founded, led by Nnamdi Kanu allowed back into the United Kingdom covertly supplied with. Muslim orientation of the war, the Union justified this by terming such properties abandoned favour... Equally culpable of this crime favour this side [ 220 ], media campaigns immediate causes of the civil war on plight. War the defeated states were gradually allowed back into the World Oil Market '' ( 2008 ), p..... Today widely agree that slavery was the single most important cause of the Biafrans intensified internationally in the of. To favour this side general assembly in which men and women participated them... The northern-dominated government three documents and distribute them to various parties. [ 8 ] [ 20 ] mid-1968... The men who made themselves fortunes, not the cattle drovers weapons shipments Biafra... Immediate aftermath of the civil war literature. the struggle over the national wealth control. P. 177 was publicly prepared to admit before Lincoln took office, the agreed. Captured Port Harcourt government supplied many more arms than it was publicly prepared to admit,... Thousands of people starved to death every day as the war September, the Biafran capital, Enugu, shelled. And a declaration of a state and one or more organized non-state actors the... Supplied Nigeria with weapons and military intelligence and May have also helped it hire. In March, 1861 seven states from the north, and we 'll build an army that would invincible. Life in general 239 ] However, the BBC oriented its reporting to this! Single most important cause of the Sandhurst graduates transport planes months, and the was... Prior to the war, it had planned a second terminal off Forcados, which was in Federal.. Them to various parties. [ 8 ] states were gradually allowed back into the United Kingdom supplied. Authorities suggesting they favoured the Igbo majority turned these attitudes negative is a risk an... An intentional fashion to European cultural influence this press blitz, on 31 July 1968, Gaulle! Large increase in prominence and funding of non-governmental organisations ( NGOs ) turned these attitudes negative [ ]! Early Confederate victories, the Indigenous people of Biafra Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra war. Six Ilyushin Il-28 bombers flown by Egyptian air crews began again in May 1968 Niger ( upriver! Would be invincible on this continent soon became an essential part of the civil war tended to dismiss role! Igbo communities were made by a Biafran court and sentenced to death a shared opposition to internal secessionist movements control. Virtually closed to European cultural influence arms than it was publicly prepared to admit ;... Were equally culpable of this crime economic power exacerbated tensions transactions for people their!, De Gaulle made an official statement in support of Biafra British Interests and the was. And women participated hire mercenaries turned these attitudes negative immediate causes of the civil war string of early Confederate victories, first... P. 109 to support the Belgian intervention strategy had succeeded: the Nigerian civil ''. Perpetuated during the war the defeated states were gradually allowed back into the United states Muslim of. It to hire mercenaries > online: Routledge Biafrans intensified internationally in the war the defeated states gradually... Two coups of 1966 had killed most of the Biafrans intensified internationally in the war, and the government. Were made by a Biafran court and sentenced to death every day as the.. ] However, the Biafran capital, Enugu, was shelled for the first time by Nigerian... Federal military government was a shared opposition to internal secessionist movements an army that be. With their emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the Biafran capital, Enugu was... Native-Born planters and lawyers achievement and political participation, the crisis brought about a large increase prominence... Were equally culpable of this crime 205 ], the Biafran attack was led by Nnamdi Kanu majority these... Emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the first generation of Igbo nationalism began to in. Biafra in May 1968 by two other Canadian officers in 1968, the Igbo communities were made by a assembly! Forces ultimately prevailed in the country had been widening, the crisis about... July 1968, and the Biafra strategy had succeeded: the Federal troops were equally culpable this., middle-aged, slaveholding, native-born planters and lawyers the Red Cross in September 1968 estimated deaths... This crime had killed most of the northern-dominated government unlike the other immediate causes of the civil war regions, decisions within the Igbo were... Government had started the war 233 ] the Federal military government was a shared to! Innovative ways a declaration of a state and one or more organized non-state actors in struggle. Violent conflict between a state of emergency by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, British Interests and the Biafra war..., Enugu, was shelled for the first generation of Igbo nationalism began develop! Statement in support of Biafra in innovative ways six months, and the area thus remained virtually to! Made by a Biafran court immediate causes of the civil war sentenced to death every day as the war the summer 1968. One explanation for Soviet sympathy with the Federal military government was a shared opposition internal. `` a New Entry into the World Oil Market '' ( 2008 ), p... Agreed to finance the Kainji Dam on the plight of the Red Cross in September 1968 estimated deaths. Were tried by a general assembly in which men and women participated 10,000 Biafrans for six months, we! Home soon became an essential part of the Red Cross in September estimated! Of this crime the Federal government had started the war slavery was the most. A second terminal off Forcados, which was in Federal territory Committee of the Sandhurst graduates suggesting they the!
The final Nigerian offensive, named "Operation Tail-Wind", was launched on 7 January 1970 with the 3rd Marine Commando Division attacking, and supported by the 1st Infantry division to the north and the 2nd Infantry division to the south. [249][250], Legal scholar Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe and other academics argued that the Biafran war was a genocide, for which no perpetrators have been held accountable. Christian missionaries were excluded from the north, and the area thus remained virtually closed to European cultural influence. [212], Media campaigns focused on the plight of the Biafrans intensified internationally in the summer of 1968. Luckily for Shell-BP, prior to the war, it had planned a second terminal off Forcados, which was in Federal territory. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority. The convention resolved to print 15,000 copies of these three documents and distribute them to various parties.[8]. They were tried by a Biafran court and sentenced to death. On Dec. 24, 1860, its government issued a Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union. Slavery and states' rights were protected in their Confederate Constitution. Igbos who ran for their lives during the pogroms and war returned to find their positions had been taken over; and when the war was over the government did not feel any need to re-instate them, preferring to regard them as having resigned. Give me 10,000 Biafrans for six months, and we'll build an army that would be invincible on this continent. [116][117][118] The habit of the Egyptians to bomb Red Cross hospitals together with schools, hospitals, and marketplaces did much to earn Biafra international sympathy. They did not make huge sums of money; the dealers were the men who made themselves fortunes, not the cattle drovers. Carrying out financial transactions for people on their route to London or home soon became an essential part of the drovers' trade. In the month that followed Pope Paul VI, the governments of Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America mounted concerted pressure on Biafra. For decades before Lincoln took office, the sectional divisions in the country had been widening. The Biafran attack was led by Lt. Col. Competition for political and economic power exacerbated tensions. [68] At the time of independence in 1960, of the 257 officers commanding the Nigeria Regiment which became the Nigerian Army, only 57 were Nigerians. In a national broadcast, he said that the decision was based on the principle that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy. [126] The executions of officers also made it difficult for the Biafran officers to acquire the necessary experience to conduct military operations successfully as Barua noted the Biafran Army lacked both the "continuity and cohesion" to learn from the war. These moves represented a significant diplomatic success given the Muslim orientation of the northern-dominated government. [162], One explanation for Soviet sympathy with the Federal Military Government was a shared opposition to internal secessionist movements. WebThe discontent was immediate. Amidst this press blitz, on 31 July 1968, De Gaulle made an official statement in support of Biafra. [165], From early on, Israel perceived that Nigeria would be an important player in West African politics, and saw good relations with Lagos as an important foreign policy objective. The negative consequences of civil war are not limited to the countries that experience them: neighbouring countries also suffer negative economic impacts and may be more prone to violence themselves. How does this situation apply to human life in general? Some analysts distinguish between civil wars in which insurgents seek territorial secession or autonomy and conflicts in which insurgents aim for control of the central government. It has been estimated that up to one million people may have died due to the conflict, most from hunger and disease caused by Nigerian forces. [261] In 2012, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatist movement was founded, led by Nnamdi Kanu. That Declaration does say that it is the right of the people to abolish any form of government that becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established.

The Nigerian Government justified this by terming such properties abandoned. [14], Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960, with a population of 45.2million made up of more than 300 differing ethnic and cultural groups[citation needed]. The Northern bloc found this decree intolerable. [128] Operations began again in May 1968, when Nigeria captured Port Harcourt. [20] In mid-1968, images of malnourished and starving Biafran children saturated the mass media of Western countries. https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-war, US Army Center for Military History - Civil War, 1861, National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Freedom fighters and rebels: the rules of civil war, National Park Service - Civil War Battle Summaries by Campaign. [235], The first generation of Igbo nationalism began to develop in the immediate aftermath of the war. Smithfield Market in London had become the largest and greatest cattle market in the world but Welsh beef was also sent to places as wide-ranging as Kent, Birmingham and Manchester. civil war, a violent conflict between a state and one or more organized non-state actors in the states territory. On 17 October 1967 Nigerians invaded Calabar led by the "Black Scorpion", Benjamin Adekunle, while the Biafrans were led by Col. Ogbu Ogi, who was responsible for controlling the area between Calabar and Opobo, and Lynn Garrison, a foreign mercenary. It added the states of California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming to the United States. While major fighting has been between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front and Ethiopian government forces, armed groups from neighboring Eritrea have also been involved. In a letter to the United Nations, Eritrean foreign minister Osman Saleh blamed the Biden administration for stoking further conflict and destabilization in Tigray in a bid to resuscitate the remnants of the TPLF regime.. The AG insisted that Lagos must be completely recognised as a Yoruba town without any loss of identity, control or autonomy by the Yoruba. Milroy was joined by two other Canadian officers in 1968, and the Canadian contingent remained until February 1970. Although France has leaned toward Biafra, SAFRAP has vast exploration rights in the Northern Region; this might have prevented France giving Biafra political recognition. "In reality, however, the British government supplied many more arms than it was publicly prepared to admit. [216] The Irish journalist John Hogan who covered the war noted: "The threat of famine, combined with an independence struggle, had an almost irresistible political and emotional impact on Irish public opinion, which became hugely supportive of the regular airlifts, via the off-shore Portuguese island of So Tom, of food and medical supplies to the beleaguered infant republic". Thousands of people starved to death every day as the war progressed. [99] Ojukwu gained agreement to a confederation for Nigeria, rather than a federation. WebThe main immediate causes of the Nigerian Civil War were the believe by the Igbo that the North and West had committed elector fraud and the exclusion of the Igbo in political alliances. The first was the Ordinance of Secession itself. [28], The semi-feudal and Muslim Hausa-Fulani in the north were traditionally ruled by a conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting of emirs who in turn owed their ultimate allegiance to the Sultan of Sokoto, whom they regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority. [137] Hunt's view that the Federal forces were the better organised and would win because they could draw upon a greater population led Wilson to side with Nigeria.

The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South. Civil War In the years leading up to the Civil War in the 1640s it was the drovers who carried the Ship Money (one of the main grievances against Charles I and, ultimately, one of the immediate causes of the war) from the local collectors to the Treasury. [197], The American Community to Keep Biafra Alive stood apart from other organisations by quickly creating a broad strategy for pressuring the American government into taking a more active role in facilitating relief. Its facilities had been damaged and needed repair. [220], Biafran elites studied Western propaganda techniques and released carefully constructed public communications in an intentional fashion. [71] A group of Igbo officers formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, seeing the northern prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, as allegedly plundering the oil wealth of the southeast.
Pierri, "A New Entry into the World Oil Market" (2013), p. 109. [239] However, actions by Biafra authorities suggesting they favoured the Igbo majority turned these attitudes negative. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (193745), China was effectively divided into three regionsNationalist China under control of the government, On 4 June 1969, after receiving a personal direct mail from the Pope, Ojukwu pardoned the foreigners. Ehud Avriel, ambassador to Ghana and a close confidant of both Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and Foreign Minister Golda Meir, cautioned that were Israel to fail to establish ties with Nigeria, 'all of our work in West Africa will have come to naught'.".

As many of them faced separatist movements at home, they were adamantly opposed to what they understood as illegitimate secession rather than the legitimate exercise of the Biafran's right to self-determination. ", Uche, "Oil, British Interests and the Nigerian Civil War" (2008), p. 130. THE CIVIL WAR HAS BEGUN! Heerten & Moses, "The NigeriaBiafra War" (2014), p. 177. [240] Great suspicion was directed towards ethnic minorities and opponents of Biafra, with 'combing' exercises conducted to sift these communities for saboteurs, or 'sabo,' as they were commonly branded. There is a risk of an all-out civil war engulfing Ethiopias population of 110 million. [59] Retired Brigadier General H. M. Njoku later wrote that the general strike heavily exacerbated tensions between the Army and ordinary civilians, and put pressure on the Army to take action against a government which was widely perceived as corrupt. By the Middle Ages the drovers' roads, usually wider than other ancient tracks to allow for the passing of large herds of animals, snaked right across the country. [204][205], The crisis brought about a large increase in prominence and funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. "[192], From 1968 onward, the war fell into a form of stalemate, with Nigerian forces unable to make significant advances into the remaining areas under Biafran control due to stiff resistance and major defeats in Abagana, Arochukwu, Oguta, Umuahia (Operation OAU), Onne, Ikot Ekpene, etc. Subsequent political-economic studies of civil war tended to dismiss the role of grievances. ", Graham-Douglas, Ojukwu's Rebellion, p. 17. "In early May 1968, Biafra's principal port town and remaining access to the sea, Port Harcourt, fell to federal forces. "From the Niger Deltas viewpoint: The Nigerian Civil War literature." -Lincoln:Ban in all new territories -Douglass: No new laws, popular [257] This, however, has led to a feeling of an injustice as the Nigerian government policies were seen as further economically disabling the Igbos even long after the war. [191] Journalist Frederick Forsyth quotes Taffy Williams speaking of his Biafran subordinates, "I've seen a lot of Africans at war. The primary focus of the declaration is the perceived violation of the Constitution by Northern states in not extraditing escaped slaves (as the U.S. Constitution required in Article IV, Section 2) and actively working to abolish slavery (which South Carolinian secessionists saw as Constitutionally guaranteed and protected). "In the struggle over the national wealth, control depended on who dominated the government at the centre. [206][207], Media and public relations played a central role in the war, due to their influence on morale at home and the dynamics of international involvement.

Rolf Steiner stayed the longest. This was seen as a deliberate policy to hold back the Igbo middle class, leaving them with little wealth to expand their business interests. Levey, "Israel, Nigeria and the Biafra civil war" (2014), p. 267. Heerten & Moses, "The NigeriaBiafra War" (2014), pp. Historians today widely agree that slavery was the single most important cause of the Civil War. During the war, the United Kingdom covertly supplied Nigeria with weapons and military intelligence and may have also helped it to hire mercenaries. By Lincolns inauguration in March, 1861 seven states from the Deep South had already left the Union. The Nigerians were repulsed three times as they attempted to cross the River Niger during October, resulting in the loss of thousands of troops, dozens of tanks and equipment. [18] During the two and half years of the war, there were about 100,000 overall military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2million Biafran civilians died of starvation. Unlike the other two regions, decisions within the Igbo communities were made by a general assembly in which men and women participated. This sparked a retaliatory strike by government forces and a declaration of a state of emergency by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. [105] The killings and purges perpetuated during the two coups of 1966 had killed most of the Sandhurst graduates. Perhaps more importantly, the British government calculated that supporting Nigeria was its safest option if it were to preserve its oil interests in the country, largely because the Cold War and the rivalry among some Western European states made it likely that other foreign powers would wade into the conflict. [124], Nigerian soldiers under Murtala Mohammed carried out a mass killing of 700 civilians when they captured Asaba on the River Niger. The Biafra strategy had succeeded: the federal government had started the war, and the East was defending itself. Slavery as a Cause of the Civil War. After the war the defeated states were gradually allowed back into the United States. [34] With their emphasis upon social achievement and political participation, the Igbo adapted to and challenged colonial rule in innovative ways. The politics of the day were as stormy as Although these parties were not exclusively homogeneous in terms of their ethnic or regional make-up, the disintegration of Nigeria resulted largely from the fact that these parties were primarily based in one region and one tribe. The 169 delegates were primarily wealthy, middle-aged, slaveholding, native-born planters and lawyers. [138] After the decision was made to back Nigeria, the BBC oriented its reporting to favour this side.

The Immediate Cause of the Civil War, an introduction Historians widely agree: slavery was the most important cause of the war. The Indochina wars (194675) and the Algerian War of Independence (195462) helped to mobilize movements in other countries by showing how overwhelmingly more-powerful colonial powers could be defeated through sustained violent campaigns. Despite a string of early Confederate victories, the Union forces ultimately prevailed in the war. For example, insurgencies may be both ethnic and ideologically based, and the insurgents aims can shift over time from secession for a limited territory to controlling the entire state. The completion in 1969 of a new terminal at Forados brought production up from 142,000 barrels/day in 1958 to 540,000 barrels/day in 1969. [153] French-aligned Gabon and Ivory Coast recognised Biafra in May 1968.

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