Manchester University Press
11 A transnational decolonisation
Abstract
This chapter aims to fill this void in the historiography and demonstrate that France had a complex and multifaceted Rhodesian policy. It analyses the complexities of France's direct and indirect involvement in Rhodesia. The chapter examines the motivations which lay behind France's participation in this region outside of its former colonial empire. It focuses on the recent 'international turn' in the historical discipline, whereby historians have sought to analyse the 'webs of interaction' between ideas, people and practices, across broad spatial and temporal boundaries. The chapter also discusses discuss the connections which existed between France's involvement in Rhodesia and its policies in Francophone Black Africa. It provides a unique, transnational approach to decolonisation. It suggests that the decolonisation of British Africa was closely intertwined with the end of French rule on the African continent.
Abstract
This chapter aims to fill this void in the historiography and demonstrate that France had a complex and multifaceted Rhodesian policy. It analyses the complexities of France's direct and indirect involvement in Rhodesia. The chapter examines the motivations which lay behind France's participation in this region outside of its former colonial empire. It focuses on the recent 'international turn' in the historical discipline, whereby historians have sought to analyse the 'webs of interaction' between ideas, people and practices, across broad spatial and temporal boundaries. The chapter also discusses discuss the connections which existed between France's involvement in Rhodesia and its policies in Francophone Black Africa. It provides a unique, transnational approach to decolonisation. It suggests that the decolonisation of British Africa was closely intertwined with the end of French rule on the African continent.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of illustrations ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Notes on contributors xv
- Acknowledgements xix
- Introduction 1
- 1 Gaston Defferre’s Loi-Cadre and its application, 1956/57 15
- 2 A vocation for independence 30
- 3 French officials and the insecurities of change in sub-Saharan Africa 44
- 4 'Saving French West Africa’ 61
- 5 The French Army and Malian independence (1956–1961) 75
- 6 Transfer of military power in Mauritania 90
-
Part III Continuities and connections
- 7 Franco-African security relations at fifty 107
- 8 French coopération in the field of education (1960–1980) 120
- 9 Jacques Foccart 135
-
Part IV Anglo-French relations
- 10 Whitehall, the French Community and the Year of Africa 155
- 11 A transnational decolonisation 171
-
Part V Nationalist trajectories, border issues and conflicted memories
- 12 The changing boundaries of resistance 189
- 13 A fragmented and forgotten decolonisation 204
- 14 Through the prism of the cinquantenaire 219
- 15 Chad’s political violence at 50 233
- Bibliography 249
- Index 275
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of illustrations ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Notes on contributors xv
- Acknowledgements xix
- Introduction 1
- 1 Gaston Defferre’s Loi-Cadre and its application, 1956/57 15
- 2 A vocation for independence 30
- 3 French officials and the insecurities of change in sub-Saharan Africa 44
- 4 'Saving French West Africa’ 61
- 5 The French Army and Malian independence (1956–1961) 75
- 6 Transfer of military power in Mauritania 90
-
Part III Continuities and connections
- 7 Franco-African security relations at fifty 107
- 8 French coopération in the field of education (1960–1980) 120
- 9 Jacques Foccart 135
-
Part IV Anglo-French relations
- 10 Whitehall, the French Community and the Year of Africa 155
- 11 A transnational decolonisation 171
-
Part V Nationalist trajectories, border issues and conflicted memories
- 12 The changing boundaries of resistance 189
- 13 A fragmented and forgotten decolonisation 204
- 14 Through the prism of the cinquantenaire 219
- 15 Chad’s political violence at 50 233
- Bibliography 249
- Index 275
