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The purpose of this dissertation is to examine one of the alleged root causes for the eruption of civil strife in the modern Sudan. From 1955 to 1972 a fitful and sometimes brutally violent war dragged on between the more populous Muslim North and the three provinces of the South. Different analysts have presented what are often conflicting explanations for this war with varying degrees of credibility and success. I have tried to present an objective evaluation of these explanations in hopes that the difficult relations between North and South can be comprehended more intelligently. The specific cause examined herein is what was known as the "Southern Policy," the guide for political action by British officials in the Southern Sudan from 1929 to 1946. An important feature of this policy was the use of Christian mission schools as a source of training and educating Southern Sudanese toward the anticipated outcomes of the policy. Until now the works of analysis which deal with this problem have been either condemnatory or exculpatory depending on the background and perspective of the analyst. From 1974 until 1977 I was involved in research for this dissertation. This consisted of two main techniques: archival research and personal interviews. In the winter of 1974 I worked In the archives of the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A. which are located in Philadelphia. In the spring of 1975 I sailed with my family to England and took up residence In Oxford. While in England I worked in the Sudan holdings of the Rhodes House Annexe V to the Bodleian Library and of the institute for Commonwealth Studies, both located in Oxford. Extensive research was also undertaken in the winter of 1975 in the Public Record Office and the Church Missionary Society Archives, both in London, and in the Sudan Archive, Durham University. in the spring of 1976 I flew to Khartoum and spent six weeks in the Sudan Government Archives. I returned to England via Rome where I spent two weeks of-research in the Missionari Comboniani Archives which contain all the correspondence of the Verona Fathers Mission, an important body of Christian missionaries in the history of my topic. Throughout these months I was also involved in interviewing as many surviving members of the Sudan Political Service and the Christian Missions as I could locate. After a brief stay in the United States in the summer of 1976, I was able to return to the Sudan in the winter of that year on a Fulbright-Hays Predoctoral Research Grant. From late 1976 until June of 1977 I resided in Khartoum. During that time I completed the research I had begun there in the preceding year and wrote the preliminary draft of this dissertation. During those months I also interviewed a number of current and former civil servants who had been educated in the mission schools during the period 1928-1946. Some of these men live in Khartoum, others were contacted during a long trip I made from Khartoum through Malakal to Juba, then on to Wau. I returned to the United States with all my research requirements satisfied and the following chapters are the result. |
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My thanks are due to all who have assisted me; there are so many that it would be impossible to name them all, but the following must be mentioned: to all the respondents cited in Appendix A who, with one exception, were remarkably frank and candid; to the Fulbright-Hays Selection Committee for the grant which enabled me to live in the Sudan. A number of individuals have been involved in the preparation of this text. I am most grateful to my supervisor, Dr. T. Naff of the University of Pennsylvania, for his penetrating comments; to Dr. Peter Garretson of the University of Khartoum for his calm support and to Professor M. O. Beshir of the University of Khartoum for his cheerful and knowledgeable analyses of my theorizing. Valuable assistance from Chrysanthe Katsaras of Khartoum and Natalie Everett of Bryn Mawr who respectively typed the preliminary and final drafts, is also appreciated By far the greatest help of all has come from the following sources. Without the sustaining and selfless help and encouragement of Albert Hourani I would have faltered several times along the way. Newtown, Pennsylvania |