The impact of financial currency warfare in civil war duration and severity: the case of the Nigerian-Biafran War

Abstract

Currency warfare is an accounting concept used as part of a military campaign strategy, which can manifest in the form of counterfeiting, currency manipulation and other strategic accounting techniques. As a strategy, it can be used to cut off the enemy's war financing capability. Despite its strategic importance in military campaigns, there is a notable lack of research on currency warfare in internal or civil conflicts, with most existing studies focusing on international disputes. The current research examines the Nigerian Civil War to determine how currency changes by both the government and the rebel group (Biafran) influenced the duration and severity of the conflict. This study develops a currency warfare theory and establishes bankruptcy, arms shortage, loss of territory, limited access to foreign currency, hunger and famine, and static conflict zones as the underlying themes that influence the effectiveness of currency warfare on the duration and severity of wars. Our findings indicate that the currency change by Nigeria helped shorten the length of the war (duration) and caused more casualties (severity) on the side of the Biafran separatists.