NIGERIA | Why Was Biafra So Important?

The Biafran War in Nigeria - also known as the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigeria-Biafra War - was one of the most bitter and bloody conflicts of the modern era. Over the course of three and a half years, it left well over a million people dead and millions more displaced. But it was also incredibly important in terms of shaping current international attitudes towards unilateral secession. And yet, surprisingly, the Biafran War is now largely forgotten internationally? So what was the conflict all about?

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When Nigeria became independent in 1960 it did so as a country with deep ethnographic-linguistic and religious divisions. Within just a few years this came to the fore following widely disputed elections in 1964. This led to two coups in 1966, the first led by southern military officers, the second by officers from the north. This sparked vicious conflict between the Hausa-Fulani majority in the north and the Igbo in the South. This came to a head in May 1967, when the Igbo-dominated Eastern Region unilaterally declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. Just six weeks later, the Nigerian Government declared war on the breakaway province. While it never seemed in doubt that Nigeria would win, Biafra nevertheless enjoyed a degree of international support, especially at a public level. However, the vast majority of the international community stood against its secession. In this sense, the Biafran War - Nigeria's civil war - played a huge role in shaping modern attitudes to independence and secession.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction and Titles
0:44 Secession and the Biafran War
2:25 Geography and Demographics of Nigeria
3:15 Nigeria's Path to Independence
4:40 Biafra's Declaration of Independence
7:03 The Biafran War
8:30 International Reactions to the Biafran War

RELATED PLAYLISTS
Secession and Independence in Africa    • AFRICA  
Secession and Independence in History    • CONFLICT AND STATEHOOD IN HISTORY  

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FURTHER READING & USEFUL SOURCES

Biafra Declaration of Independence https://www.historians.org/teaching-a...
Gowon Speech 15 January 1970 https://www.historians.org/teaching-a...
Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know https://amzn.to/3bGimCb
The Biafra Story https://amzn.to/3tdtFb8
Biafra's War 1967-1970 https://amzn.to/3qNpwJq

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Secession and State Creation: What Everyone Needs to Know https://amzn.to/2MPY3W2 [PRE-ORDER]
Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans https://amzn.to/35jiBN2
My other books https://amzn.to/2MlP13u

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KEYWORDS

#Nigeria #Biafra #BiafranWar
#InternationalRelations #Secession #Independence
#InternationalHistory #CivilWar

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Biafra Flag
Mysid, CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons

Biafra Map
Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b..., via Wikimedia Commons