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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A Colonial State in Crisis: Vichy Administration in French West Africa
Author:Giblin, James L.ISNI
Year:1994
Periodical:Africana Journal
Volume:16
Pages:326-340
Language:English
Geographic terms:French-speaking Africa
West Africa
France
Subjects:colonialism
colonial administration
World War II
History and Exploration
Abstract:Colonial administrators who served in French West Africa from 1940 to 1942 under the authority of the Vichy regime believed that French colonialism in the region was being threatened by a combination of external and internal foes. Their perception of multiple dangers, much more than efforts of the Vichy government to create a fascist or corporatist society, influenced administrative policy. They trusted neither Germany nor Great Britain and the United States (and as records of the American government demonstrate, their suspicions of Allied intentions were well-founded) to respect French colonial sovereignty. Internally, moreover, they were confronted by dissidence from French citizens resident in West Africa and by African subjects as well. Believing that they were being assailed by dangers from all quarters, administrators proved unwilling to implement policies required to maintain peasant export cultivation and a sufficient supply of African labour to export-producing enterprises. Thus administrative preoccupation with the risk of revolt and invasion led not only to diplomatic vacillation but also to paralysis of the export sector in French West Africa. Notes, ref.
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