 |
| French Colonial Africa |
The
colonies of French West Africa first began their fight for
independence following the end of World War II. Prior to 1946, these
colonies did not have many rights and only people in Senegal could be
French citizens. In France's colonial past, it was interested in
African colonies as a source of resources (large bauxite reserves)
and labour. Forced labour, imprisonment, military conscription and
etc. were suffered by the people of these colonies. Unlike other
French colonies, no real attempt was made to improve their lives. In
1944 , at a conference in Brazzaville, colonies expressed their
desire for more liberal policies by the French government. These
post war movements towards independence led to a rise in political
and nationalist parties, including the Rassemblement Democratique
Africaine (RDA) and Senghor's Convention Africaine. Some of the main
goals of the RDA included independence for colonies and unity. In
1946, the colonies of French West Africa were given the right to form
local government and were given seats in the French government.
However, local government was given to sections of colonies, not the
colonies as a whole. It is suggested that this would destabilize
French West Africa in the hope of maintaining control and access to
resources. With some of the largest bauxite reserves in the world,
and France producing plenty of aluminum, it is clear that
France wanted to be able to continue to benefit from this resource.
Considering colonies only gained independence in 1960, this also
expressed France's unwillingness to give up the colonies, in a time
where there was a push to decolonize from the new super powers: the
United States and the Soviet Union.
Citations
Encyclopædia
Britannica Online,
s. v. "colonialism, Western," accessed December 07, 2012,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126237/colonialism.
Ali-Dinar,
Ali B., PhD. University of Pennsylvania. “French in West Africa.”
Accessed December December 7, 2012,
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/K-12/French_16178.html
Elizabeth
Schmidt. "Anticolonial Nationalism in French West Africa: What
Made Guinea Unique?" African
Studies Review
52, no. 2 (2009): 1-34. http://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed December 7,
2012).
Davyson,
Sam. “Abundance.” Accessed December 7, 2012,
http://sam.davyson.com/as/physics/aluminium/site/abundance.html
Citation
Elizabeth Schmidt. "Anticolonial Nationalism in French West Africa: What Made Guinea Unique?" African Studies Review 52, no. 2 (2009): 1-34. http://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed December 7, 2012).
