ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how historical and political phenomena contributed to the construction of a space that claims a distinct identity today as South Sudan. It treats historical developments whose legacies have left marks of differentiation on Southern Sudan since the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The weakness of the Turco-Egyptian administration in the new-found territories of Southern Sudan was that it gave the upper hand to the ivory traders on the White Nile. The dispute between Britain and Egypt over administration of the Sudan was the driving force in forging an identity for Southern Sudan. The creation of military institution in Southern Sudan was the first demonstration of crack in the ranks of the condominium rulers of the Sudan. It was a way of counterbalancing the Egyptian influences in the Sudanese army. The political dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of Southern Sudan with the hasty unity arrangements and their cumulative grievances translated into anxiety about an uncertain future for Sudan's self-government processes.
