Nigel Watt on French Africa
Colonialism Devours Itself by Gerard Prunier published by Hurst
In 1945, France, briefly led by Charles De Gaulle, struggled to be recognised as a “great power,” a member of the new UN Security Council. Its colonial empire in Africa was an important part of its case. De Gaulle had ruled much of the African empire as “France Libre” during the war.
This rather strange empire was bound by a regime with close economic ties which mostly benefited France, and a policy of assimilation. Resistance against it first began with a violent struggle in Cameroon (a former German colony mandated to France in 1919). Struggles in Morocco and Tunisia led to independence in 1956. Algeria was a tougher nut. It had been French since 1830 and, from 1954, waged a bitter war against the French settlers, which brought De Gaulle back to power in 1958. He had to give up Algeria in 1962, but France still had 15 colonial territories. Most of these were offered a referendum to join a French Union, effectively “Françafrique”.
Only Guinea voted no and was ostracised. The other West African countries were granted so-called independence in 1960. Gerard Prunier tries to trace how, bit by bit, this network fell apart. He knows a lot but goes into detail in a rather disorderly way. To appreciate the book, you need to know the geography. No map is provided. Prunier relates how France was involved in support for Biafra in the Nigerian Civil War and in Rwanda at the time of the genocide (his area of expertise), how President Giscard drew the Belgian colonies into the French web, how genuine nationalists like Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso and Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast were caused to fail, and the corruption involving French oil companies and the Bongo family in Gabon.
More recent history includes the attack on Libya, resulting in the growth of terrorism in the Sahel, causing Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to fall under Russian influence, leaving Chad as the only country where French military support remains. France still has some influence but the empire is just a memory and President Macron has other things to care about.