Chapter 1.0: Up to 1945
Deleted member 163405
On the Shoulder of Giants -Federation of Mali TL
Chapter 1.0
Selected Passages From: My Life, My Honor, My Duty - Autobiography by Léopold Sédar Senghor
This is my story, the world I tried to build. My successes, and my failures. I hope through me the future generation of leaders, and politicians can build off of my experiences and lead our nation to a better tomorrow....
My name is Leopold Sédar Sénghor, I was born on October 9, 1906, south of Dakar in the city of Joal. My parents were farmers of relatively modest means. We became a wealthy middle-class family, at a time when that type of thing wasn't immensely common in French West Africa...
...By the age of 8, I was enrolled in a boarding school Father’s of the Holy Spirit. Very quickly it became clear I was not cut out for religious life. I had become enraptured by the French language and literature. I won distinctions in French, Latin, Greek, and Algebra. I won a scholarship and quickly travel to Paris where I became a teacher.
...I loved Paris, and I deeply loved the culture. I did not; however, fall in love with the racism in France. I experienced numerous racial insults and put-downs from colleagues. It would be during this period I would develop Negrítude. While of course, I did not know that my ideas would give rise to, and fuse with burgeoning African and black identities across Africa, and the New World, I still had my ideas on which way the black African should go…
In 1939 I found myself thrust into the greatest conflict in world history. While I had been a college graduate and a teacher in my own right, I nonetheless was conscripted into the army. I was made a private in the 3rd Colonial Infantry Regiment. I didn’t see much combat in that initial period, our unit was stationed in Central France, more as a reserve rather than a front-line unit. I thank God every day I wasn’t. I’ve heard the stories of Gien which had been just north of us, Bourges, and Buzancais. Our unit suffered only an estimated 500 casualties over this period. Eventually, we were captured in Villabon and transferred to a Nazi German prison camp set up in Stalag 230, in Poitiers. Originally the Germans bloodthirsty and enraged over previous delays to colonial soldiers had desired to execute us all as they had done in Montluzin.
Luckily, a French officer saved us and begged the Germans not to have us executed. He groveled to the German's feet, saying how the Aryan race should not bring itself so low to kill “black prisoners.” That worked to our surprise. I have moved around between multiple camps. We experienced many travesties. Food rations ran low, beatings were regular, and we suffered from being forced to work in hard labor. Luckily for me, I was released from the sickness at a Vichy-German camp in 1942….
I would become an active teacher once again. For the remainder of the war, I would become an active member of the French Resistance, a badge of honor I still wear….. With the war ending in 1945, I would return to West Africa, and begin my political career.
Selected Passages From Africa’s Greatest Conman, The Life and Times of Senghor by Saliou Datt
Many Malians and Africans, in general, have heard the great story of Léopold Senghor. His name is spoken with such great reverence that your grandmother may get a tear in her eye just thinking about it, and your grandfather may stare into the distance wistfully. Unfortunately, you, and then have been fed propaganda and myth for your entire lives.
The most common myth you will hear of Senghor’s early life is that he and his family were moderately middle-class farmers. This is absolute nonsense! The Senghor family were some of the wealthiest peanut farmers in the Senegalese colony. Senghor’s father was a cousin of the King of Sine who gave him vast tracks of land, and cattle. Of course, neither the defunct royal family of Sine nor Senghor himself would ever admit to such a revelation. They have both spent years primping and preening the early life of ol’ Léopold to ensure it tells the story of a man who bootstrapped his way to success. Well, you can’t pull yourself up by bootstraps, and this was especially true in the colonial days of French West Africa.
The only way you got into schools, like the religious schools Senghor found himself, was by knowing someone. Whether that be a family of distinction, or just extremely wealthy, Senghor was lucky to be born with both. The old myth about his teachers telling him he was too good to be in religious studies and that his life was meant for more? It’s just that, a myth. In truth as a young boy, Léopold got interested in socialist pamphlets that wafted through the upper classes of African society. Many allege that’s why he went to Paris in the first place, to learn more about left-wing socialist and communist literature.
Paris in general is another area it’s hard to feel bad for Senghor. He talks about the racism he experienced and people talking down to him. At this point, there was still indentured servitude in some colonies. Native Africans were being compelled to do certain jobs for the benefit of the state. So while in his autobiography Senghor bemoans the racism and attacks he felt, he still dined with high society, and became a teacher of some repute, developing his niche political-cultural idea of Negrítude.
While you may hear people discuss Negrítude as if it was some great beginnings of an independent African identity, as has often seized our current views of what was the pre-world war colonial zeitgeist, we must nonetheless remember its fallacious nature. At this point, Senghor still openly advocated for the integration of the colonies directly into France itself. He was born and raised Évolué who had frequently decried the barbarism of many aspects of African traditional culture. Even Negrítude itself comes from the writing of Haitians and Americans. Two African women, the Nardal
Sisters, their ideas predate any of Senghor’s writings by years, yet their works have been largely forgotten and their influence marginalized within our academia.
Even Senghor’s actions in World War Two have been largely overblown. While he may decry the mistreatment he faced in prison camps, it should be noted he was treated rather well, using most of his time in prison to learn German, and read poetry. He was even released in 1942 to resume teaching! He used his privilege and educated status to escape from the prison camps, is that something you can say for other colonial soldiers? Even his so-called involvement in the French resistance is unsubstantiated and murky. All of the operatives by this point are dead or lost to history, but from their notes, none seem to mention an African university teacher in Paris helping them.....
So we see that the so-called “16 years of wandering” is in itself largely fabricated, embellished, or in some cases greatly downplayed to make Léopold Senghor more relatable...
From Imperial Emperors to Imperial Presidents, the Modibo Keïta Story by Ousmane Diabaté
Despite his title as First President of Mali, Modibo Keïta has largely been swept into the dustbin of history. Despised by fellow socialists, largely rejected by moderates and conservatives, and hated by reactionaries, the overall mood within the nation he was president of has been one of dislike or ambivalence. Nonetheless, his life, and role in the independence of Mali cannot be understated.
As far as early beginnings go, Keïta had everything going for him. Born in Bamako his family were proud claimants of the mantle of the old Keïta dynasty of the Malian Empire. Here we can see the importance of the mythology and culture of the empire and how it shaped the ideas of the federation, as even the childhoods of its creators were dominated by the looming shadows of the past. Modibo, who during his schooling days was known as Modo, would be an excellent student, graduating with high honors from the school system in Bamako. He would attend the Ecole Normale William-Ponty, a teaching college in Dakar. Here he would graduate at the top of his class, much like his comrade and competitor Léopold Senghor…..
…..Modibo Keïta would work as a teacher in Bamako, Sikasso, and Tombouctou, he would marry Mariam Travélé during this period, another teacher who would play an important part in the Federation long after his death….
By 1937, Modibo Keïta and his wife Mariam would enter into various political and worker associations. The duo and Ouezzin Coulibaly would found the Union of French West African Teachers. Most importantly for his future, Keïta would join the Communist Study Groups (GEC) cell that had recently popped up in Bamako. It would be during this time Keïta and Travélé would become African socialists, combining the teachings of Marx, and Lenin, with their brand of African nationalism, and culture. This change and shift towards “African socialism” had become widespread throughout many colonial Évolué [1]….
With just a taste of politics Keïta and Travélé had realized their true calling. Having sat out the war, the duo would found L'oeil de Kénédougou or the Eye of Kénédougou. This was named after the Kingdom of Kénédougou one of the last African kingdoms to resist French conquest in 1898. The final Fama (King) Babemba had become a folk hero and a symbol of African resistance. This newspaper was highly critical of French rule and even criticized the war effort and France’s exploitation of its colonies to win the war. This led to Keïta being imprisoned for 3 weeks in 1945.
Nonetheless, Keïta was released and in 1945 following the end of the war and his imprisonment, Keïta would be a candidate for the Constituent Assembly of the French Fourth Republic. He would be supported by the Sudanese Democratic Party and the Communist Reading Groups that had spread throughout French Sudan by this point. He would win the seat and later in the same year Keïta and newfound political ally Mamadou Konaté would found the Bloc Soudanais, which would later go on to become the African Democratic Rally - Sudanese Union.
Old Man of Africa? Or The Butcher of West Africa?: The Story of Felix Houphouët-Boigny by Ismael Sissoko
Felix Boigny’s birth, like much of his life, is shrouded in mystery. According to his official biography he was born on October 18, 1905. Official colonial records show that he was born nearly 7 years before. To most historians, it is unknown why he attempted to change his birth date. Born to the Akouès tribe, Houphouët, birth name Dia, was born to a hereditary chief family. His uncle Kouassi N’Go was chief of the local tribe, and upon his murder in 1910, Dia’s father N’Doli had also died, so this meant instead Dia was chosen to succeed as the new chief. Due to him being so young; however, Gbro Diby the stepfather of Dia was selected as regent.
Even this set of events was mysterious. Who murdered Kouassi was unknown. Dia’s father N’Doli’s identity was also unknown, and his death records were destroyed. All of these things add a layer of mystery and uncertainty to the life of Houphouët which he would use to spin his narrative and story.
Due to him being the next Chief of his tribe. French administrators would bring Dia to go to school at a military post in Bonzi. It would be during his schooling when Dia would abandon traditional African animism, for Christianity changing his name to Felix. Graduating first in his class Felix would become a medical assistant.
This career was short-lived as in 1932, upon seeing the mistreatment of farmers in central Côte d’Ivoire, Felix would join a movement that strongly stood against white landowners, and the government that supported them. He would publish multiple scathing articles in Trait d'union, a socialist newspaper.
The death of Felix Houphouët’s brother Augustin in 1939, meant that he became the Chief of his tribe and a chef de canton, a French colonial position created to allow for local nobility to collect taxes and handle day-to-day administration. His canton Akoué contained 36 villages, and Houphouët became well known for his administrative skill. He would also become a renowned farmer growing rubber, cocoa, and cotton on his family's plantations. By 1944 he had become one of Africa’s richest farmers, surpassing even many of the white farmers in the region.
Even with this wealth he had not forgotten his socialist roots. In 1944, Houphouët would establish the African Agricultural Union, a 20,000-man-strong farmers association that was anti-colonialist and anti-racist. They successfully petitioned for higher wages, and better treatment against the new left-leaning colonial administration, which was sympathetic to their cause.
It was unsurprising when in 1945 Felix won colonial elections to the national parliament. His victory against even the dislike of the white French plantation owners led Felix to change his name once again. Felix Houphouët added Boigny to his name, meaning irresistible force in Baoulé.
Malian History Textbook: The History of the Federation of Mali Chapter 15: French Rule From 1880-1945
The conquest of West Africa by the French came at a perfect time for the colonial Europeans. The great empires of old like Songhai and Mali had long since vanished, and left over were a collection of small kingdoms and exhausted empires like the Toucouleur and Wassalou. This fragmented and divided nature served as a perfect springboard for the expansion of French, British, and Portuguese control in West Africa. France would revive the lion's share of the region, beginning a process of crushing the leftover kingdoms in either military combat or diplomatic vassalage.
While France had in name conquered the region, by no means had the spirit of independence been crushed. This could be especially seen in the various Tuareg Confederacies that led to numerous revolts, most notably the Kaocen Revolt in 1916-1917, as well as numerous uprisings throughout the 1900s. These revolts would inspire and be instrumental in the development of a national consciousness of the Tuareg Confederacy of Azawad, as well as to a less extent the Confederacy of Niger-Agadez.
The Federation of French West Africa itself would only become a permanent structure in 1904, as France standardized and solidified its control over the region. Eventually, its military territories of Mauritania and Niger would only be added in 1920.
For the average African during this time, things had worsened from the pre-colonial days. From around 1880-1945, the populace that didn’t live in Dakar, Goreé, Saint-Louis, and Rufisque they completed lacked rights before the law, property ownership rights, and rights to travel, dissent, or vote. They were classified as subjects rather than citizens. Only in 1905 would France attempt to abolish slavery in its colonies. These efforts would largely fail, with French Sudan and Mauritania being called the slave hubs of the world.
When France fell to the German Reich in the Second World War, the governors of the colony sided with the Vichy Regime. Despite this, there was no real noticeable change for the average colonial subject. Vichy control would remain over the colony until 1942 when the Normandy landings saw the colonies defect to Free France. With the French victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, major reforms would be carried out in the colonies. 10 seats in the new parliament would be allocated to French West Africa, of which 5 would be elected by African subjects. On 21 October 1945 six Africans were elected, the Four Communes citizens chose Lamine Gueye and Léopold Sédar Senghor to represent Senegal and Mauritania. Félix Houphouët-Boigny would represent Ivory Coast and Upper Volta, Sourou-Migan Apithy for Dahomey and Togo, Fily Dabo Sissoko for Sudan and Niger and finally Yacine Diallo for Guinea.
Overall this old guard would largely be subverted during the independence era. Guèye despite his attempts to integrate West Africa with France, and push for citizenship would largely be seen as a traitor. Léopold Senghor would remain pivotal in the development of the Malian Federation, Felix Boigny for his part was the creator of the Council d’Entente and remained an important containment for the Malian Federation, and pan-Africanism in general. Sourou-Migan Apithy would serve as a president during the post-independence period before being largely sidelined by Marxist-Leninists and Tropical Fascists.[2]
[1] Évoulé was a term used during the French colonial era to refer to African and Asian natives who had become “Europeanized.” These people usually had white-collar jobs, or low-level administration, had gone through French schooling, and could read and write in French. They also had to follow European law, and European patterns of behavior, as nebulous as a term that was. Many Africans and Asians who would later become avowed socialists, and communists, firmly rejected their assimilation.
[2] Tropical fascism refers to a strain of ideology in which post-colonial African, Latin American, and Asian nations have shown fascistic and authoritarian tendencies. Often François Duvalier in Haiti, Théoneste Bagosora in Rwanda, and Gnassingbé Eyadéma in Togo are considered tropical fascists. Despite being ideologically nebulous, tropical fascism includes elements of heavily state-owned economies, rabid anti-communism, cult of personalities, and genocidal tendencies. This story will include multiple tropical fascists, mainly Eyadéma, and a cosmetically changed Mathieu Kérékou.
Chapter 1.0
Selected Passages From: My Life, My Honor, My Duty - Autobiography by Léopold Sédar Senghor
This is my story, the world I tried to build. My successes, and my failures. I hope through me the future generation of leaders, and politicians can build off of my experiences and lead our nation to a better tomorrow....
My name is Leopold Sédar Sénghor, I was born on October 9, 1906, south of Dakar in the city of Joal. My parents were farmers of relatively modest means. We became a wealthy middle-class family, at a time when that type of thing wasn't immensely common in French West Africa...
...By the age of 8, I was enrolled in a boarding school Father’s of the Holy Spirit. Very quickly it became clear I was not cut out for religious life. I had become enraptured by the French language and literature. I won distinctions in French, Latin, Greek, and Algebra. I won a scholarship and quickly travel to Paris where I became a teacher.
...I loved Paris, and I deeply loved the culture. I did not; however, fall in love with the racism in France. I experienced numerous racial insults and put-downs from colleagues. It would be during this period I would develop Negrítude. While of course, I did not know that my ideas would give rise to, and fuse with burgeoning African and black identities across Africa, and the New World, I still had my ideas on which way the black African should go…
In 1939 I found myself thrust into the greatest conflict in world history. While I had been a college graduate and a teacher in my own right, I nonetheless was conscripted into the army. I was made a private in the 3rd Colonial Infantry Regiment. I didn’t see much combat in that initial period, our unit was stationed in Central France, more as a reserve rather than a front-line unit. I thank God every day I wasn’t. I’ve heard the stories of Gien which had been just north of us, Bourges, and Buzancais. Our unit suffered only an estimated 500 casualties over this period. Eventually, we were captured in Villabon and transferred to a Nazi German prison camp set up in Stalag 230, in Poitiers. Originally the Germans bloodthirsty and enraged over previous delays to colonial soldiers had desired to execute us all as they had done in Montluzin.
Luckily, a French officer saved us and begged the Germans not to have us executed. He groveled to the German's feet, saying how the Aryan race should not bring itself so low to kill “black prisoners.” That worked to our surprise. I have moved around between multiple camps. We experienced many travesties. Food rations ran low, beatings were regular, and we suffered from being forced to work in hard labor. Luckily for me, I was released from the sickness at a Vichy-German camp in 1942….
I would become an active teacher once again. For the remainder of the war, I would become an active member of the French Resistance, a badge of honor I still wear….. With the war ending in 1945, I would return to West Africa, and begin my political career.
Selected Passages From Africa’s Greatest Conman, The Life and Times of Senghor by Saliou Datt
Many Malians and Africans, in general, have heard the great story of Léopold Senghor. His name is spoken with such great reverence that your grandmother may get a tear in her eye just thinking about it, and your grandfather may stare into the distance wistfully. Unfortunately, you, and then have been fed propaganda and myth for your entire lives.
The most common myth you will hear of Senghor’s early life is that he and his family were moderately middle-class farmers. This is absolute nonsense! The Senghor family were some of the wealthiest peanut farmers in the Senegalese colony. Senghor’s father was a cousin of the King of Sine who gave him vast tracks of land, and cattle. Of course, neither the defunct royal family of Sine nor Senghor himself would ever admit to such a revelation. They have both spent years primping and preening the early life of ol’ Léopold to ensure it tells the story of a man who bootstrapped his way to success. Well, you can’t pull yourself up by bootstraps, and this was especially true in the colonial days of French West Africa.
The only way you got into schools, like the religious schools Senghor found himself, was by knowing someone. Whether that be a family of distinction, or just extremely wealthy, Senghor was lucky to be born with both. The old myth about his teachers telling him he was too good to be in religious studies and that his life was meant for more? It’s just that, a myth. In truth as a young boy, Léopold got interested in socialist pamphlets that wafted through the upper classes of African society. Many allege that’s why he went to Paris in the first place, to learn more about left-wing socialist and communist literature.
Paris in general is another area it’s hard to feel bad for Senghor. He talks about the racism he experienced and people talking down to him. At this point, there was still indentured servitude in some colonies. Native Africans were being compelled to do certain jobs for the benefit of the state. So while in his autobiography Senghor bemoans the racism and attacks he felt, he still dined with high society, and became a teacher of some repute, developing his niche political-cultural idea of Negrítude.
While you may hear people discuss Negrítude as if it was some great beginnings of an independent African identity, as has often seized our current views of what was the pre-world war colonial zeitgeist, we must nonetheless remember its fallacious nature. At this point, Senghor still openly advocated for the integration of the colonies directly into France itself. He was born and raised Évolué who had frequently decried the barbarism of many aspects of African traditional culture. Even Negrítude itself comes from the writing of Haitians and Americans. Two African women, the Nardal
Sisters, their ideas predate any of Senghor’s writings by years, yet their works have been largely forgotten and their influence marginalized within our academia.
Even Senghor’s actions in World War Two have been largely overblown. While he may decry the mistreatment he faced in prison camps, it should be noted he was treated rather well, using most of his time in prison to learn German, and read poetry. He was even released in 1942 to resume teaching! He used his privilege and educated status to escape from the prison camps, is that something you can say for other colonial soldiers? Even his so-called involvement in the French resistance is unsubstantiated and murky. All of the operatives by this point are dead or lost to history, but from their notes, none seem to mention an African university teacher in Paris helping them.....
So we see that the so-called “16 years of wandering” is in itself largely fabricated, embellished, or in some cases greatly downplayed to make Léopold Senghor more relatable...
From Imperial Emperors to Imperial Presidents, the Modibo Keïta Story by Ousmane Diabaté
Despite his title as First President of Mali, Modibo Keïta has largely been swept into the dustbin of history. Despised by fellow socialists, largely rejected by moderates and conservatives, and hated by reactionaries, the overall mood within the nation he was president of has been one of dislike or ambivalence. Nonetheless, his life, and role in the independence of Mali cannot be understated.
As far as early beginnings go, Keïta had everything going for him. Born in Bamako his family were proud claimants of the mantle of the old Keïta dynasty of the Malian Empire. Here we can see the importance of the mythology and culture of the empire and how it shaped the ideas of the federation, as even the childhoods of its creators were dominated by the looming shadows of the past. Modibo, who during his schooling days was known as Modo, would be an excellent student, graduating with high honors from the school system in Bamako. He would attend the Ecole Normale William-Ponty, a teaching college in Dakar. Here he would graduate at the top of his class, much like his comrade and competitor Léopold Senghor…..
…..Modibo Keïta would work as a teacher in Bamako, Sikasso, and Tombouctou, he would marry Mariam Travélé during this period, another teacher who would play an important part in the Federation long after his death….
By 1937, Modibo Keïta and his wife Mariam would enter into various political and worker associations. The duo and Ouezzin Coulibaly would found the Union of French West African Teachers. Most importantly for his future, Keïta would join the Communist Study Groups (GEC) cell that had recently popped up in Bamako. It would be during this time Keïta and Travélé would become African socialists, combining the teachings of Marx, and Lenin, with their brand of African nationalism, and culture. This change and shift towards “African socialism” had become widespread throughout many colonial Évolué [1]….
With just a taste of politics Keïta and Travélé had realized their true calling. Having sat out the war, the duo would found L'oeil de Kénédougou or the Eye of Kénédougou. This was named after the Kingdom of Kénédougou one of the last African kingdoms to resist French conquest in 1898. The final Fama (King) Babemba had become a folk hero and a symbol of African resistance. This newspaper was highly critical of French rule and even criticized the war effort and France’s exploitation of its colonies to win the war. This led to Keïta being imprisoned for 3 weeks in 1945.
Nonetheless, Keïta was released and in 1945 following the end of the war and his imprisonment, Keïta would be a candidate for the Constituent Assembly of the French Fourth Republic. He would be supported by the Sudanese Democratic Party and the Communist Reading Groups that had spread throughout French Sudan by this point. He would win the seat and later in the same year Keïta and newfound political ally Mamadou Konaté would found the Bloc Soudanais, which would later go on to become the African Democratic Rally - Sudanese Union.
Old Man of Africa? Or The Butcher of West Africa?: The Story of Felix Houphouët-Boigny by Ismael Sissoko
Felix Boigny’s birth, like much of his life, is shrouded in mystery. According to his official biography he was born on October 18, 1905. Official colonial records show that he was born nearly 7 years before. To most historians, it is unknown why he attempted to change his birth date. Born to the Akouès tribe, Houphouët, birth name Dia, was born to a hereditary chief family. His uncle Kouassi N’Go was chief of the local tribe, and upon his murder in 1910, Dia’s father N’Doli had also died, so this meant instead Dia was chosen to succeed as the new chief. Due to him being so young; however, Gbro Diby the stepfather of Dia was selected as regent.
Even this set of events was mysterious. Who murdered Kouassi was unknown. Dia’s father N’Doli’s identity was also unknown, and his death records were destroyed. All of these things add a layer of mystery and uncertainty to the life of Houphouët which he would use to spin his narrative and story.
Due to him being the next Chief of his tribe. French administrators would bring Dia to go to school at a military post in Bonzi. It would be during his schooling when Dia would abandon traditional African animism, for Christianity changing his name to Felix. Graduating first in his class Felix would become a medical assistant.
This career was short-lived as in 1932, upon seeing the mistreatment of farmers in central Côte d’Ivoire, Felix would join a movement that strongly stood against white landowners, and the government that supported them. He would publish multiple scathing articles in Trait d'union, a socialist newspaper.
The death of Felix Houphouët’s brother Augustin in 1939, meant that he became the Chief of his tribe and a chef de canton, a French colonial position created to allow for local nobility to collect taxes and handle day-to-day administration. His canton Akoué contained 36 villages, and Houphouët became well known for his administrative skill. He would also become a renowned farmer growing rubber, cocoa, and cotton on his family's plantations. By 1944 he had become one of Africa’s richest farmers, surpassing even many of the white farmers in the region.
Even with this wealth he had not forgotten his socialist roots. In 1944, Houphouët would establish the African Agricultural Union, a 20,000-man-strong farmers association that was anti-colonialist and anti-racist. They successfully petitioned for higher wages, and better treatment against the new left-leaning colonial administration, which was sympathetic to their cause.
It was unsurprising when in 1945 Felix won colonial elections to the national parliament. His victory against even the dislike of the white French plantation owners led Felix to change his name once again. Felix Houphouët added Boigny to his name, meaning irresistible force in Baoulé.
Malian History Textbook: The History of the Federation of Mali Chapter 15: French Rule From 1880-1945
The conquest of West Africa by the French came at a perfect time for the colonial Europeans. The great empires of old like Songhai and Mali had long since vanished, and left over were a collection of small kingdoms and exhausted empires like the Toucouleur and Wassalou. This fragmented and divided nature served as a perfect springboard for the expansion of French, British, and Portuguese control in West Africa. France would revive the lion's share of the region, beginning a process of crushing the leftover kingdoms in either military combat or diplomatic vassalage.
While France had in name conquered the region, by no means had the spirit of independence been crushed. This could be especially seen in the various Tuareg Confederacies that led to numerous revolts, most notably the Kaocen Revolt in 1916-1917, as well as numerous uprisings throughout the 1900s. These revolts would inspire and be instrumental in the development of a national consciousness of the Tuareg Confederacy of Azawad, as well as to a less extent the Confederacy of Niger-Agadez.
The Federation of French West Africa itself would only become a permanent structure in 1904, as France standardized and solidified its control over the region. Eventually, its military territories of Mauritania and Niger would only be added in 1920.
For the average African during this time, things had worsened from the pre-colonial days. From around 1880-1945, the populace that didn’t live in Dakar, Goreé, Saint-Louis, and Rufisque they completed lacked rights before the law, property ownership rights, and rights to travel, dissent, or vote. They were classified as subjects rather than citizens. Only in 1905 would France attempt to abolish slavery in its colonies. These efforts would largely fail, with French Sudan and Mauritania being called the slave hubs of the world.
When France fell to the German Reich in the Second World War, the governors of the colony sided with the Vichy Regime. Despite this, there was no real noticeable change for the average colonial subject. Vichy control would remain over the colony until 1942 when the Normandy landings saw the colonies defect to Free France. With the French victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, major reforms would be carried out in the colonies. 10 seats in the new parliament would be allocated to French West Africa, of which 5 would be elected by African subjects. On 21 October 1945 six Africans were elected, the Four Communes citizens chose Lamine Gueye and Léopold Sédar Senghor to represent Senegal and Mauritania. Félix Houphouët-Boigny would represent Ivory Coast and Upper Volta, Sourou-Migan Apithy for Dahomey and Togo, Fily Dabo Sissoko for Sudan and Niger and finally Yacine Diallo for Guinea.
Overall this old guard would largely be subverted during the independence era. Guèye despite his attempts to integrate West Africa with France, and push for citizenship would largely be seen as a traitor. Léopold Senghor would remain pivotal in the development of the Malian Federation, Felix Boigny for his part was the creator of the Council d’Entente and remained an important containment for the Malian Federation, and pan-Africanism in general. Sourou-Migan Apithy would serve as a president during the post-independence period before being largely sidelined by Marxist-Leninists and Tropical Fascists.[2]
[1] Évoulé was a term used during the French colonial era to refer to African and Asian natives who had become “Europeanized.” These people usually had white-collar jobs, or low-level administration, had gone through French schooling, and could read and write in French. They also had to follow European law, and European patterns of behavior, as nebulous as a term that was. Many Africans and Asians who would later become avowed socialists, and communists, firmly rejected their assimilation.
[2] Tropical fascism refers to a strain of ideology in which post-colonial African, Latin American, and Asian nations have shown fascistic and authoritarian tendencies. Often François Duvalier in Haiti, Théoneste Bagosora in Rwanda, and Gnassingbé Eyadéma in Togo are considered tropical fascists. Despite being ideologically nebulous, tropical fascism includes elements of heavily state-owned economies, rabid anti-communism, cult of personalities, and genocidal tendencies. This story will include multiple tropical fascists, mainly Eyadéma, and a cosmetically changed Mathieu Kérékou.
Last edited by a moderator:
