Unification of Egypt and Sudan

Lieutenant Ali Abd Al-Latif's 1922 "Claim of the Sudanese Nation" article in the al-Hadarah called for Sudanese self-determination, more education, an end to the sugar monopoly, and higher posts for Sudanese in the Anglo-Egyptian administration, leading to his imprisonment.^[2] Upon his release, he and other nationalists intensified efforts to mobilise against colonial rule, culminating in a revolutionary agenda that symbolised the growing momentum of Sudan's independence movement.^[3]

Internal divisions arose in the League of Sudanese Union, and in 1923, some members, including Obaid Haj al-Amin, left the League, believing verbal dissent was insufficient. They joined the newly created White Flag League, led by figures such as Ali Abd Al-Latif, Lieutenant Abdullah Khalil, and First Lieutenant Abdel Fadil Elmaz, which took a more radical stance against British rule,^[3] while advocated for "Unity of the Nile Valley," calling for Sudanese independence and unity with Egypt and pledging allegiance to King Fuad.^[4]

The 1924 White Flag League movement, led by Sudanese nationalists, marked the first organised resistance against British colonial rule. Initially involving military officers and graduates from the Omdurman Graduates' Club, the movement began with urban demonstrations in June 1924. Protesters in cities like Khartoum, Omdurman, and Port Sudan called for the downfall of British rule and expressed solidarity with Egypt, raising anti-colonial slogans and the Egyptian flag. These activities led to the imprisonment of the movement's leader, Ali Abd Al-Latif, on 4 July 1924, which only intensified protests under the leadership of Obaid Haj Al-Amin.^[3]

British soldiers forcefully put down these revolts, and on 19 November 1924, when Sir Lee Stack was assassinated in Cairo, demonstrations in Khartoum led to a rising on 27 November. It was led by Muslim conscript soldiers, southerners Ali Abd al Latif and Abdel Fadil Elmaz, and national postal clerk Obaid Haj al-Amin. The British crushed the White Flag League, expelling Egyptians from Sudan, and curbing the educated Sudanese. The two largest religious groups, the Mahdist led Umma Party and the Khatmiyya Democratic Unionist Party evolved as mass political organizations. The educated classes had two factions. One was led by Shaykh Ahmad al Sayyid al Fil, supported by “Ali al Mirghani of the Khatmryya, and the other group grew around Muhammad Ali Shawq and had Abd al Rahman al Mahdi's sympathy. The Khatmriyya advocated “Unity of the Nile Valley', while the Ansar called for "Sudan for Sudanese".^[5]

The “Unity of the Nile Valley” (Arabic: وحدة وادي النيل, romanized: wahda wadi al-nil), was a prominent anti-imperialist theme in Sudan and Egypt until the 1950s. Its ideologues did not postulate that Sudan and Egypt were one nation, but that they were two halves that had been unjustly separated but were destined to be reunited. For the Egyptians, sharing the river Nile made Sudan a natural appendix of Egypt, while for many Sudanese, Egypt was a “blood brother” with which they shared a set of fundamental national traits.^[1]

Despite the failure of earlier pro-unity attempts in the Sudan, the slogan gradually gained power until in 1953 the pro-unity political party won an overwhelming victory in the first self-government elections in the Sudan. Despite this, the Sudan soon declared its separate independence. Since then, union with Egypt has been discussed and proposed at various times, but has never regained its former relevance.^[6]