Additionally, because the conflict was a civil war, stabilizing forces within the government had to figure out how to fight and also limit destruction, how to inflict wounds and simultaneously heal relations, and how to subdue forces without causing permanent injury. The Nigerian Civil War was a nationalistic struggle to reunify and reintegrate Nigeria however, it resulted in different ethnic factions fighting one another, creating chaos and leading to a massive crisis, including the deaths of countless civilians as well as the political redrawing of West Africa. Effiong subsequently surrendered to Nigerian military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, abruptly ending the thirty-month civil war. On January 15, 1970, Ojukwu handed over control of the Biafran government to Major General Philip Effiong of the Biafran Army and fled the country with his family. With the help of Great Britain, the Nigerian federal government reacted quickly, gaining control of the oil-rich southeast coast and blockading supplies to the region, causing severe famine and leading to the deaths of nearly two million civilians and 100,000 military personnel. On May 30, 1967, Colonel Emeka Ojukwu seceded the Igbo territory, declaring it to be the Republic of Biafra. Tensions grew as the nation’s military took power following the achievement of Nigerian independence and fighting broke out among the regions, resulting in as many as 30,000 Igbo deaths at the hands of the Yoruba. Nigerian Civil War-1967Īfter Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960, the country divided into ethnically defined regions-the Igbo people occupied the southeast, the Yoruba the southwest, and the Hausa and Fulani the north. However, the heavy fighting between the warlords obstructed timely U.S. The Somali Civil War’s large death toll and protracted conflict could possibly have been avoided with earlier humanitarian action, according to a 1999 report commissioned by then-United Nations’ Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The United States officially ended its involvement in Somalia in 1994 due to the lack of a foreseeable resolution and financial costs in excess of $1.7 billion. The United Nations and the United States became heavily involved in the conflict from 1992 to 1995, sending military forces and humanitarian aid to the country. The lack of a central government forced the U.S. This separation made it difficult to achieve control of the conflicting factions because no one ruling entity was recognized by all Somalis those living in the north would not recognize authority from the southern faction, and those in the south opposed leadership from the Somalis in the north. Following Barre’s removal from power, the Somali Democratic Republic divided into two opposing parties, the Somali National Movement in the North and the United Somali Congress of the South. This shift in the balance of power sparked a twenty-plus-year civil war that killed as many as one million Somalis via violence, famine or disease. In 1991, a coup ousted dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, President of the Somali Democratic Republic. To understand the magnitude and scope of inflicted trauma, and in order to prevent its recurrence, military historians and students should consider the following five significant African wars and conflicts of the 20th Century. From the Nigerian Civil War to the Somali Civil War, these 20th Century conflicts submitted civilians to intense physical and psychological trauma that negatively impacted development throughout many African nations. Armed conflicts in Africa during the twentieth century caused an enormous loss of human life, the collapse of socio-economic systems, and the degradation of health and education services across the continent.
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