David E. Mills
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789774166389
- eISBN:
- 9781617975882
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Dividing the Nile offers a new perspective on Anglo-Egyptian rule in the Sudan. Most scholarship has attributed Sudanese independence in 1956 to British dominance of the Condominium, historical ...
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Dividing the Nile offers a new perspective on Anglo-Egyptian rule in the Sudan. Most scholarship has attributed Sudanese independence in 1956 to British dominance of the Condominium, historical animosity toward Egypt, or the emergence of Sudanese nationalism. Dividing the Nile counters that Egyptian entrepreneurs failed to develop a united economy or shared economic interests, guaranteeing Egypt's ‘loss’ of the Sudan. It argues that British dominance of the Condominium may have stymied initial Egyptian efforts, but that after the First World War Egypt became increasingly interested in and capable of economic ventures in the Sudan. However, early Egyptian financial assistance and the seemingly successful resolution of Nile water resources by the latter 1920s had actually divided the regions. With the signing of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and the easing of Depression-era conditions, Egyptians finally began concerted efforts to promote commerce and to acquire Sudanese lands. Egyptian entrepreneurs were never able to overcome British officials’ opposition to irrigated agricultural schemes in the Sudan, and merchants made inroads only in very limited local markets and only when international competitors were temporarily restricted. Solid Sudanese economic bonds to global markets that had been established in the first forty years of the Condominium administration could not be undone in its last decade and a half of existence. Egyptian nationalists had simply missed opportunities of aligning their economic future with that of their Sudanese brethren, resulting ultimately in two independent nations.Less
Dividing the Nile offers a new perspective on Anglo-Egyptian rule in the Sudan. Most scholarship has attributed Sudanese independence in 1956 to British dominance of the Condominium, historical animosity toward Egypt, or the emergence of Sudanese nationalism. Dividing the Nile counters that Egyptian entrepreneurs failed to develop a united economy or shared economic interests, guaranteeing Egypt's ‘loss’ of the Sudan. It argues that British dominance of the Condominium may have stymied initial Egyptian efforts, but that after the First World War Egypt became increasingly interested in and capable of economic ventures in the Sudan. However, early Egyptian financial assistance and the seemingly successful resolution of Nile water resources by the latter 1920s had actually divided the regions. With the signing of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and the easing of Depression-era conditions, Egyptians finally began concerted efforts to promote commerce and to acquire Sudanese lands. Egyptian entrepreneurs were never able to overcome British officials’ opposition to irrigated agricultural schemes in the Sudan, and merchants made inroads only in very limited local markets and only when international competitors were temporarily restricted. Solid Sudanese economic bonds to global markets that had been established in the first forty years of the Condominium administration could not be undone in its last decade and a half of existence. Egyptian nationalists had simply missed opportunities of aligning their economic future with that of their Sudanese brethren, resulting ultimately in two independent nations.
