the war effort of the french colonies

The Royal African Society

The War Effort of the French ColoniesAuthor(s): John SummerscalesSource: Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 39, No. 155 (Apr., 1940), pp. 123-128Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/717848 .

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I23

THE WAR EFFORT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES

JOHN SUMMERSCALES

HOW identical are the interests of the Empires of France and Britain in the struggle for democratic freedom is

aptly illustrated by one of the war posters now appearing on the public hoardings in France. This shows a map of the world on which, for the first time in history, the two Imperial territories are coloured red together. It will be of interest to us all, therefore, to know what the Colonial peoples of the French Empire feel about the present conflict.

"If by some ill-luck the Allies lose the War it will not be Paris that Germany will demand. It will not be Bordeaux or Marseilles. It will be the Colonies. And it is to defend them that we are fighting now." This was the comment made by M. Galandou-Diouf, the

negro Deputy for Senegal, at a large demonstration recently held at Dakar. M. Galandou-Diouf is a typical Moslem son of France. He served in the last war, and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and promoted on the field to the rank of lieutenant for conspicuous gallantry. No fewer than seventeen members of his family, sons and nephews, are now serving under the French tricolour. Native opinion all over the French Empire whole-heartedly endorses the recent statement of M. Mandel, Minister of Colonies, in which he said that this was a holy war of the Colonial peoples for liberty and the respect of humanity, since Germany is the avowed enemy of the coloured races.

The Nazi leaders have hopelessly under-rated the intelligence and instinct of the coloured peoples, who are not the simpletons the Reich Racial-Political Relations Office seeks to make out.

They comprehend quite clearly all the implications of the Nazi racial doctrine, with its emphasis on Nordic superiority and the penal restrictions of the Nuremberg laws. They realise that a Nazi Colonial policy has already been drafted on the assumption that no man of colour can ever aspire to reach the



124 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AFRICAN SOCIETY

cultural level of the white man, and which would refuse them

elementary civil rights in respect of education, labour and social conduct. Bazaar and village gossip has given widespread pub- licity to the passages in Mein Kampf, in which Herr Hitler refers to the Natives as "born semi-apes", and to his outburst against France and Britain for what he describes as a sin against the Eternal Creator in training these people for intellectual professions. It is not forgotten, too, that when M. Diagne, a Senegalese, was appointed French Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Nazi Voelkischer Beobachteir announced the

appointment with headlines spread across the whole of its front page: "A Disgraceful Affront to Europe; France Appoints a Nigger Vice-Minister!" and that a similar outcry was made in other leading German newspapers. Above all, the record of German misrule in the former Colonies is well known to the coloured peoples.

In refreshing contrast to the Nazi creed of racial domination is the benevolent policy of racial co-operation fostered in the French Colonial territories. Colour is no bar to citizenship, with all it implies in the way of civil and political rights, and Natives are taking advantage of the various decrees to become citoyen

franfais. There is some difference, of course, in the constitutional relations between the Mother Country and the different Empire countries. Algeria is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Interior, being to all intents a part of France; Tunis and Morocco are Protectorates under the direction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the other Dependencies come under the control of the Minister of Colonies. The Algerian departments are represented both in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies; and so are the Colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Rdunion and the French settlements in India. Representa- tion in the Chamber is also given to Guinea, Senegal and Cochin- China. Empire interests generally are represented on the Con- seil Supe'rieur des Colonies, an advisory body sitting in Paris, the delegates to which are elected.

The French Empire covers an area of some 4,787,000 square miles, with territories scattered over Africa, Asia, America and



THE WAR EFFORT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES 125

the Pacific, all rich in raw materials and foodstuffs, and with a total population of about 111,545,ooo souls passionately deter- mined to protect its integrity against the Nazi threat of domination. Some indication of the solidarity of the Imperial senti- ment is afforded by the fact that there are now serving on the Western Front fighting men from all over the Empire, among whom are such famous Colonial troops as the Zouaves, the Spahis and the Tirailleurs as well as the Foreign Legion. In the last war the Empire sent some 275,000 Colonial troops and about 56,000 men in labour battalions. Since the outbreak of hostilities in September the number of effectives mobilized is already in excess of this figure. In a recent speech the Deputy for Senegal declared that French West Africa alone could send, if need be, nearly a million men. Nazi radio stories that France intends to fight to the last black man are strangely reminiscent of the allegations put out on British intentions. During 1914-18 France lost 1,350,ooo000 killed; Native losses were 70,000. A similar consideration in the use of Colonial troops on active service will be exercised this time by the French General Staff.

The economic contribution of the French Empire countries to the war effort will be of supreme importance. In all essential foodstuffs France, with the help of her Dependencies, is in the happy position of being self-sufficient. Among the non-essential but important food products, coffee, tea, cocoa, and sugar are produced in large quantities. Indo-China alone can supply

1,500o,ooo000 tons of rice annually. There is a lack of certain raw materials, notably coal, rubber, petroleum, cotton, wool and some metals, but all these can be drawn in abundance from the British Empire with the exception of petroleum. In recent years there has been a remarkable drive to develop the economic resources of the Empire. Typical of this effort is the development of the banana industry. Supplies of Empire bananas to the French market have risen in seven years from 13,ooo to 178,000 tons per annum, and are now sufficient to meet the whole of the home demands. Special attention has been given to the development of the timber industry, both for lumber and wood pulp, and several paper mills have been established in West Africa.



I26 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AFRICAN SOCIETY

How richly this intensive development of French Colonial resources has enhanced the prospects of an Allied victory will be seen from a comparison with the Empire economic effort in the last war, when the Dependencies sent 3,441,000 tons of com- modities to France. It is estimated that her Empire countries can now supply nearly three times the foodstuffs, four times the minerals, and ten times the timber supplied during the

years I914-I18. Much of the inspiration behind this effort has come from M. Georges Mandel, the Minister of Colonies, a colleague of the late M. Clemenceau, and a man whose Imperial vision and vigour have earned him the title of the Joseph Chamberlain of France.

How the Imperial genius of France is working to the benefit of the backward peoples is shown with admirable clarity in the administration of the Cameroons. This erstwhile possession of the Imperial German Reich was occupied by the Allied Forces early in 1916, much to the satisfaction of the then down-trodden Native population, and is now administered as two Mandated territories-seven-eighths under French control and the re- mainder under British. This partition, incidentally, was decided on to reunite certain tribal units which had been arbitrarily separated as a result of the former International conventions.

When France took over the administration of the Cameroons

steps were at once taken to put the judiciary on a proper basis. A code of law was promulgated for the protection of Native life and property and for the dispensation of justice. Hitherto the Native had had no legal rights in respect of labour or

property. Arbitrary punishments were abolished. Courts were established in all the administrative areas. Land registers were instituted in which it was made compulsory to inscribe all transfers and conveyances of property and the alienation of rights. Slavery was ruthlessly put down, and domestic slaves were liberated merely on request. The German policy in 1914 had only provided for its suppression by gradual stages to be completed in the third generation.

At the same time the French authorities initiated a pro- gressive and enlightened Native policy. Formerly the people



THE WAR EFFORT OF THE FRENCH COLONIES 127

had no voice in the conduct of affairs of their own country. The new Administration was instructed to re-establish tribal

authority and to encourage the development of existing tribal institutions for the purposes of local government. For the first time Natives were trained to take part in public affairs, and special schools for the sons of chiefs were opened to provide instruction in civic work. The fruits of this policy are to be seen to-day, when elected Native members sit in the Adminis- trative Council, as well as in the Conseils de Notables responsible for enlightening the Administration on local matters. Native representatives also sit on various public and semi-official bodies such as Public Health Committees, Agricultural Com- mittees and Chambers of Commerce. There are about two thousand Native permanent civil servants in the Administration services, where there were none under the German regime.

During the German occupation, Native education was left to the Missionary Societies. There were in fact seven small schools and two industrial centres, but the standard of instruction was miserably low. The French policy has been to provide a comprehensive system of education throughout the territory, with instruction in agricultural or craft subjects in the vernacu- lar in the majority of the schools, but with provision for higher education in the French language under European masters in other institutions. Every encouragement is given to the various Missions to co-operate in this splendid effort.

The advancement of the Native populations under French guardianship is clearly demonstrated by a comparison between the social services now in operation in the Cameroons and those provided under the German regime. The 1913 Budget, for in- stance, allocated for health services only 510o,ooo000 marks--or 3% of the total estimated expenditure. It was only in that year, after twenty-nine years of occupation, that the Germans decided on a systematic campaign against the scourge of sleeping sickness which had ravaged the territory for generations. The French Administration recognized from the first, however, the supreme importance of health services in the social welfare of the Natives. About 13% of the total expenditure is now



Iz28 JOURNAL OF TIHE ROYAL AFRICAN SOCIETY

allocated to this work. Sleeping sickness has been all but con- quered as a result of the campaign to eradicate the tsetse-fly. It is estimated that the French Government spent eighty-one million francs between 1924 and 1932 in waging war against the tsetse-fly. A substantial reduction has been made in the in- cidence of malaria, yaws, leprosy, smallpox and other diseases. The Medical Department maintains a large number of hospitals, dispensaries, mobile dispensaries, maternity centres, child welfare clinics, and agricultural settlements for lepers.

In contrast with the German policy of exploitation in the Cameroons, under which the Natives worked for the chartered

companies under conditions of peonage for a mere pittance, the French programme has been to encourage the people to play an important part in the development of their own country by cultivating small holdings on a family or community basis. Economic crops such as cocoa, coffee, and groundnuts have been introduced to supplement the ordinary food crops, and a staff of expert agricultural advisers has been recruited in France to promote Native husbandry. Crops are marketed on an orderly scale under Government supervision. Palm-oil output has been more than doubled. Cattle tribes, too, have reaped immense benefit from the compulsory inoculation of livestock against rinderpest and other diseases. Natives have been taught the value of co-operative retail stores and provident societies, and every encouragement is given to this popular movement. A comprehensive system of railway and road com- munications has been built to connect the interior with the coast.

Thus does France fulfil her Imperial mission. It is carried out in the spirit of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, and in a manner which has won the admiration of the Permanent Mandates Commission at Geneva. Yet, as with Britain, the principle of Native trusteeship is not restricted to the Mandated Territories but extends to the whole of the Colonial Empire. Its proof and its reward are to be found in the magnificent response now being made by the coloured peoples to the French war effort.



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