France+and+Africa

= = =France and Africa = ===France had an extremely tumultuous experience where they Imperialized in Africa. They negotiated and got into violent conflict with Germany and Great Britain. This page discusses the experience they had, the countries they had relations with, and how all of this effect France and Africa.===

African Countries Imperialized by France:
Tunisia Guinea Algeria Senegal Soudan Ivory Coast Dahomey Morocco

1. Why did the country begin it's policy of Imperialism?
France started it's policy of imperialism so it could make a comeback politically and regain what it lost. France was at a low point in it's history. Germany and Great Britain were seen as superior to France and had much more power and political influence. France really wanted to be number one again which caused a wave of nationalism. After a string of mediocre rulers and devastating losses such as the recent Franco-Prussian War, France had lost much of its land overseas. Imperialism would make it possible to reclaim land and also help them grow politically. Nationalism is what led France to really want to be a powerful nation and the french people thought that imperialism was their biggest opportunity to gain power. The ways that it could lead to a comeback politically is due to the amount of land France could gain and the new amount of resources they could get. More natural resources could boost their trade empire. France's need to grow and bounce back from economic and political woes caused them to set forth their policy of Imperialism.

2. What countries/civilizations/city-states are being taken over?
The French first occupied Africa in Algeria while trying to reestablish their power along the Mediterranean.

France’s first initiative south of the Sahara took place along the coast of Senegal under the leadership of Governor General Bouet Willaumez. In 1848 the French government of the Second Republic took over their local administration.

The French viewed the country of Sudan as a link between their holdings in Algeria and Senegal. The French used a lot of effort to claim Soudan even though it had a small economic value. In 1887, France began to send military expeditions north from the Ivory Coast in hopes of defeating. 

After a series of battles, France reached the capital of Dahomey in 1892. King Behanzin had already fled, so the French took many souvenirs. After the campaign the French finished with 81 dead, 436 wounded and about 2,000 other causalities due to illness.

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The first country that France invaded and imperialized was Tunisia. Germany had been encouraging France to go to Africa and create colonies after they lost Alsace-Lorraine. This would give back some power to France, and it built up their national pride. Tunisia was an easy target for France because they were weakened after the Bey started trying to Westernize which required borrowing a large amount of money. This was when France began to plan their control over Tunisia. At this point, Tunisia was an easy target because they couldn't resist France's rule. Britain had previously gained control of Cyprus, but many countries were fighting them over it. Britain and France later made a deal that France could have Tunisia if they recognized Britain's power in Cyprus. The invasion and imperialism in Tunisia was the first major step in France's imperialism in Africa (Deitz, Silvapages). France also imperialized Algeria. France's reasoning for invading Algeria, is because of the land, and the population. France wanted to make it's empire bigger. Another reason for the imperialism on Algeria was because it was in a poor economic state and didn't have much of a military which made it easier for takeover (Kaufman, Wible, and Beltran, Imperialism Affects Algeria). Senegal was a country that had been the object of takeover for long time. Many countries fought for it because of it's two rivers, the Senegal River and the Gambia River. These two rivers were used for trading various goods. France was eventually able to imperialize it and benefit from these two rivers' trade routes (History of Senegal, History World).The country of Benin, or formally known as Dahomey, traded many slaves with Europeans along the coast. This coast was called The Slave Coast, after the masses of slaves being shipped through there. Africa and Benin (Dahomey) made a commercial agreement in 1851. France began to gain more and more power over Benin (Dahomey). They greatly benefitted from the abundance of slaves and the slave trade there (Uzoigwe, Discover France). Many countries fought over Morocco for it's key location and it's resources (Background Note:Morocco, U.S. Department of State). Moroccan natural resources includedphosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc,, fish, salt. These resources are important because they are used as a county's power source (Morocco Natural Resources, Index Mundi). For every country that France took over, there was always a reason whether it be national pride, land, people, slaves, trade, or resources. ======

**4. What type of rule is being exercised?** Imperialistic rule is split into 3 major forms: Colonies, Protectorates, and Spheres of Influence. Of the two types of colonial rule, France practiced direct, not indirect rule. They would send officials and soldiers from France to the colony they were ruling over. In protectorates, local rulers were kept in place; however, they had to follow European “advice” such as trade, missionary activities, etc. these needed less military control and cost far less for the ruling country. In a sphere of influence, outside, foreign powers would claim certain exclusive privileges in trading. Many countries practiced different types of these different forms of rule. France, mainly used colonial rule, more specifically, direct rule. Through this, France was able to control the many colonies that it acquired. Many of these countries were taken by force; those not taken by the military were taken through diplomacy. This “force” was necessary because of Great Britain and other countries “competition” during the Scramble for Africa. The competition was brutal and this is why France hardly used diplomacy. There are however few times where France did use diplomacy. An Example includes when they convinced tribes in western Sudan to give them land, an example of their diplomatic approach. In some cases, these were Spheres of Influence which many French people referred to as “mere provinces overseas”. Much of this imperialist rule of the French in Africa lasted until the 1990s when many of the countries began to gain freedom.

**5. What are the obstacles to control?**
==<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">Some obstacles the French had to overcome were wars. The French were involved in many wars during their time trying to imperialize Africa. One war was the war against al-Qadir forces. The French used terror tactics and the French forces captured al- Qadir after they pursued him into lands claimed by Morocco. Another obstacle France had was when they loss many people. After a campaign in Dahomey, the French finished with 81 dead, 436 wounded and about 2,000 other illnesses. They lost many people during that time which made it very tough for them to continue there march in Africa. Also rivalries with other countries were sometimes too much for France to handle. When France and Great Britain were fighting for complete control of the Niger River Valley. At first they tried to negotiate. France seized some of the land and claimed that they had control because they occupied it. Britain tried to fight this and tried to provoke France by taking control of other close areas. After the threat of war came about, France gave up half of their territory and let Britain take it. A similar situation occurred when France and Germany fought for control of Morocco. ==

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">**6. What were the end results of imperialism with regards to the ones being taken over and the country being taken over? (Are there any present day effects?)** Throughout the years, most of the French presence left those colonized countries. Even though the foreign control left, much of their culture and ideas remained the same to those countries that where colonized. Today, Guinea and Senegal still have French as their current national/official languages. Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco do not have them as their official language; however, French is still widely spoken in these countries whether for trade and commerce or even diplomacy and other government based activities. Africa too was affected by this imperialism. Before World War Two, many immigrants came to France from many of the African, French-speaking (and formerly French-ruled) countries. So many immigrants came to France that a law was made, banning new, foreign workers. This stopped much of this immigration, but placed many Africans within France.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;">**Sources of Information:**

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