French West Africa


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French West Africa

French West Africa, former federation of eight French overseas territories. The constituent territories were Dahomey (now Benin), French Guinea (now Guinea), French Sudan (now Mali), Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). The federation was created in 1895 to consolidate the French holdings in W Africa and was definitively constituted in 1904. It was ruled by a governor-general, who resided first in Saint-Louis, then in Dakar. During World War II the federation supported the Vichy government until Nov., 1942, when it accepted the authority of the Free French. In 1958 the constituent territories became autonomous republics in the French Community, except for Guinea, which became independent. The federation was dissolved in 1959.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

French West Africa

 

a political and administrative association of French colonial possessions in West Africa that was created between 1895 and 1904 and existed until October 1958. In 1958 it included Senegal, Mauritania, the French Sudan, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey, and Niger. The colonies were administered from Dakar in Senegal.

Under pressure from the anti-imperialist movement, which gained momentum after World War II, the French government in 1958 granted the colonies the status of autonomous republics within French West Africa. At that time Guinea opted for independence. In 1960 independence was declared by the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Upper Volta, Niger, and Mauritania. Senegal and the Sudanese Republic (the former French Sudan) merged in April 1959 to form the Mali Federation, which declared its independence in June 1960. When Senegal seceded in August 1960 the Sudanese Republic was proclaimed the Republic of Mali.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

French West Africa

a former group (1895--1958) of French Overseas Territories: consisted of Senegal, Mauritania, French Sudan, Burkina-Faso, Niger, French Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Dahomey
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
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References in periodicals archive ?
This work is the first comprehensive history of the Lebanese migrant communities of colonial French West Africa, a vast expanse that covered present-day Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Guinea, Benin and Mauritania.
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Diagne had been nominated as general governor for recruitment of soldiers from French West Africa by Georges Clemenceau, who led France during WW1.
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By 1947, the French restored Upper Volta as a separate territory in French West Africa. In 1960, the nation gained its independence from France.
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(11.) Myron Echenberg, Colonial Conscripts: The Tirailleurs Senegalais in French West Africa 1857-1960, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1990, 45.
The French colonial army and the great war
Nearly Native, Barely Civilized: Henri Gaden's Journey Through Colonial French West Africa (1894-1939)
Nearly Native, Barely Civilized: Henri Gaden's Journey Through Colonial French West Africa (1894-1939)
Dakar, as the former capital of French West Africa, is also home to banks and other institutions which serve all of Francophone West Africa, and is a hub for shipping and transport in the region.
Mbacke: Senegal pins great interest in participating in 3rd Africa-Arab Summit
When World War II broke out, as part of the WAFF, units of the Gold Coast Regiment took part in the 1940 Allied invasions of Vichy-controlled French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa.
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In his chapter, Laurent Fouchard compares ways in which different colonial powers allocated urban space to migrants in Nigeria and French West Africa. Echoing other chapters in the book, these comparative discussions highlight the way in which land management and control in a city is a crucial factor in the competing claims.
Francesca Locatelli and Paul Nugent (eds) (2009): African Cities: competing claims on African spaces
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Islam and Social Change in French West Africa. History of an Emancipatory Community.
Islam and Social Change in French West Africa. History of an Emancipatory Community
From 1904 to 1958, Cote d'Ivoire was a constituent unit of the Federation of French West Africa. It was a colony and an overseas territory under the French Third Republic.
Background note: Cote d'Ivoire

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