Sudan was declared an independent state on 1st January, 1956 after a long period of Ottoman and English-Egyptian rule. The decision was taken by an elected Sudanese assembly that represented all parts of the country, north and south.
Sudan started to take its shape after the invasion of Ottoman Empire through Egypt in 1821 and annexing north of Sudan to the Empire. That rule lasted until the leader of Mahdists, Mohamed Ahmed Almahdi, revolted against them and managed to dispel them from Sudan in 1885, establishing the first national state in Sudan in the modern history.
That state didn’t last for long, it was removed by British accompanied by Egyptians in 1898, via an invasion through Egypt, once again. That invasion resulted in Britain taking control of Sudan, and the signing of a treaty called the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, mandating them to rule Sudan, on condition that the highest authority must be British, and scrapping Ottoman Empire authority over Sudan.
Great Britain shaped the border of the country for its own ends, however, the treaty prevented France and Belgium from advancing into Sudan.
In 1921 a nationalist movement for independence called the” White Banner” emerged. It was culminated in 1924 in an abortive anti British, pro Egyptian revolt, led by an officer in the newly-formed Sudan Defense Force, Ali Abdel Latif. The revolt represented the first organized struggle for independence. Egyptians were accused of having masterminded the rebellion. Egyptian troops were withdrawn gradually from Sudan and Britain assumed total responsibility for the administration of the country.
In 1930 a southern policy was declared whereby the south was administered separately from the north, the nationalist movement, nonetheless, continued in the north with its flames fanned by Egypt while the south remained sealed off. Political concessions were made in 1936 to the north whereby, a northern Advisory Council was formed to advise the Governor General on the administration for the region.
A political organization the “Graduates Congress” sprang up in 1940-1945, pressing the administration to open up Sudan for free travel and to enable the south to catch up with the development in the north, and in 1948 when the first Sudan legislative Assembly was opened in Khartoum, the south was represented by 13 members, all appointed, and that was the beginning of a representative government and a step toward independence.
In 1953 the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement on the right of self-determination was reached and the implementation of self-government phase was concluded. Sudan’s first general election was held in the 1954. The National Unionist Party, affiliated with the Khatmia sect (a mystical order) and supported by Egypt, won a majority. Ismael el Azhari became the first prime minister of Sudan. On 19th of December 1955, Parliament voted unanimously for the independence of Sudan, and on the first of January 1956 Sudan became an independent country, and the Egyptian and British flags were lowered, and a Sudanese flag was hoisted.
