Forging a nation while losing a country : Igbo nationalism, ethnicity and propaganda in the Nigerian Civil War 1968-1970

dc.contributor.advisorFalola, Toyinen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberOkpen, Okpehen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWalker, Julieten
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBoone, Catherineen
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBrannds, HWen
dc.creatorDoron, Roy Samuelen
dc.date.accessioned2011-10-19T19:26:32Zen
dc.date.available2011-10-19T19:26:32Zen
dc.date.issued2011-08en
dc.date.submittedAugust 2011en
dc.date.updated2011-10-19T19:26:48Zen
dc.descriptiontexten
dc.description.abstractThis project looks at the ways the Biafran Government maintained their war machine in spite of the hopeless situation that emerged in the summer of 1968. Ojukwu’s government looked certain to topple at the beginning of the summer of 1968, yet Biafra held on and did not capitulate until nearly two years later, on 15 January 1970. The Ojukwu regime found itself in a serious predicament; how to maintain support for a war that was increasingly costly to the Igbo people, both in military terms and in the menacing face of the starvation of the civilian population. Further, the Biafran government had to not only mobilize a global public opinion campaign against the “genocidal” campaign waged against them, but also convince the world that the only option for Igbo survival was an independent Biafra. Thus it is not enough to look at the international aspects of the war, or to consider the war on a strictly domestic level. By looking at both the internal and external factors that shaped the Biafran propaganda machine and the Biafran war effort and how these efforts influenced international support and galvanized internal resolve to continue fighting, we can see how the Biafran war effort was able to last for twenty months after the fall of Port Harcourt. Recent scholarly and political work, uncovered documents, and the new plethora of memoirs on the Civil War provide us with a veritable treasure trove of data and analysis with which to study the issue of Igbo nationalism and a unique opportunity to create a new vision of secessionist conflict in Africa. This work will thus provide a step in moving away from the long accepted “Tribalism” paradigm that has so long pervaded not only the study of post-colonial Civil Wars in Africa, but more importantly, the discourse in looking at ethnicity, violence and national identity across the continent. Further, by analyzing the ways that the Biafran propaganda machine operated on a nationalist level, we can see the effects of Biafran secession on the broader Igbo national consciousness and the Igbo national movement, as well as on subsequent political movements in Nigeria.en
dc.description.departmentHistoryen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.slug2152/ETD-UT-2011-08-3715en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-08-3715en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.subjectNigeriaen
dc.subjectCivil Waren
dc.subjectPropagandaen
dc.subjectEthnicityen
dc.subjectIgboen
dc.subjectNationalismen
dc.subjectOjukwuen
dc.subjectBiafraen
dc.subjectBiafran governmenten
dc.subjectPoliticsen
dc.titleForging a nation while losing a country : Igbo nationalism, ethnicity and propaganda in the Nigerian Civil War 1968-1970en
dc.type.genrethesisen
thesis.degree.departmentHistoryen
thesis.degree.disciplineHistoryen
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Texas at Austinen
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

Access full-text files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
DORON-DISSERTATION.pdf
Size:
3.81 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.12 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description: