The End of Empire in Africa: Reviewing, Analyzing Tony Chafer's Book

Tony Chafer's stated purpose with his book The End of Empire in French West Africa: France's Successful Decolonization? is to challenge certain widely-held myths about decolonization both within France and its former colonies. These myths - French Presence in French West Africa (AOF) was "enduring and natural", France's "Civilizing Mission" brought economic and political integration, a smooth transition from colony to independence, and independence as a "gift" to Black Africa - obscure the true story by creating the assumption that French policy was designed to encourage independence or that only one form of African Nationalism was solely responsible for the different states' independence. Throughout the introduction, the reader is given a basic primer on the struggle for independence in the various AOF states, and the atmosphere French policy makers found themselves grappling with in the aftermath of the ignominious exit from Indochina and the rising, violent clashes in Algeria in the 1950's. It is a useful and straight-forward kind of introduction so as to familiarize the reader with the region, set up the international and national pressures that France faced, and does so rather well without bogging the reader down in obscure minutiae, acronyms, and too many unfamiliar names - that is all reserved for later in the book.

The body of the book is segmented into clearly-defined chapters which highlight certain themes - struggles for assimilation, building nationalist movements, nationalist politics, etc. - which seem to happen in chronological phases (1946 - 1950, 1950 - 6, 1957 - 60, respectively). Chafer seems to break up the decolonization process into these different times for good reason; his analysis shows that the region experienced these phenomena in this order at these times. This is perhaps a weakness of the book in that there are enough exceptions to the rule - for example, the budding nationalist movement was largely non-violent except in the case of Cot-d'ivoire, or that all members of the AOF were able to more-or-less peaceable transition from colony to independence except in the case of Guinea, etc. - to force the reader to question just how well or coherent this transition really was. Chafer, though, includes these problems for a reason; "Much existing literature on French decolonization...has tended to 'iron out' these complexities and treat decolonization in French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa as...straightforward and largely unproblematic."[1] It is these complexities that Chafer explores throughout his book as he systematically challenges the old orthodoxy of "smooth transition" in the AOF states. To challenge the notion of a smooth transfer of political power to nationalist groups, as the French government and its successor regimes in the AOF states would assert, Chafer highlights the Trade Unions, Student Organizations and Youth Organizations which (after having provided the pressure necessary to force both sides to the negotiating table) was largely ignored, disenfranchised or even outlawed in the years following French administrative departure. Indeed, Chafer notes that "The constant attacks on the colonial regime by the Trade Unions, by students, and by the youth movement put the French government on the defensive."[2] These groups, Chafer further proves, were active not only in their home territories, but within France and used the national sensitivity about the Indochinese and Algerian experiences to their advantage politically. Part of this is because many of the AOF states' troops were being used by the French in both engagements, but mostly it was because the AOF states wanted thorough knowledge of the tactics used against the French on the battlefield as well as in the battle for public opinion.[3]

This, then, comes to the heart of Chafer's most well-executed critique of the old mythology; that a peaceful transition to independence was both well-thought out and a foregone conclusion. "A rift" Chafer writes "between French West African political parties and a nationalist movement...which espoused more radical anti-colonialist positions" was fueled by the younger generations' frustration at the slow pace of change by both the French and Political Parties' wrangling.[4] Though, as Chafer notes often, the political parties of the AOF states were dependent upon French subsidies and policies for economic and political stability, they were all too ready to raise the specter of a violent uprising to force the French to the table. Chafer quotes Senegal's Senegor when he addressed the French National Assembly in 1954 "The apparent calm of Black Africa should not deceive you; it is growing weary from the unkept promises and from the revival, or rather continuance, of the 'colonial pact'..."[5] Originally, Chafer argues, the political parties of the AOF originally wanted to join France as an equal part of Greater France, and demanded (among other things) equal pay and equal rights for its citizenry. When France balked at the idea of equality for its former colonies (mostly because it could not afford to implement such policies in the wake of WWII and the loss of Algeria and Indochina), the political parties unanimously took up the nationalist cause for independence, but of a limited sort. By hijacking the nationalists' rhetoric of independence, the political parties, Chafer asserts, allowed both the political parties and French authorities to work out the kind of independence that both wanted; namely that the French authority would leave the governing to the "natural leaders" of the political parties, while France would retain rights to military bases - and to a lesser extent military presence - in the former AOF states.

In the end, the purpose of all this myth-busting, Chafer asserts; "The intention here has not been to replace it with a new orthodoxy but to open up a debate by suggesting that alternate histories are possible and necessary."[6] His book, he assures the reader, is not a new narrative about the decolonization process in French West Africa, but just one piece of a puzzle which has largely been ignored and forgotten by historians and specialists in French colonial experiences. He further notes that he was unable to touch upon even a majority of the elements involved in the West African struggle for independence, elements such as ethnic loyalties, Christian religious movements, women's movements, or even a more in-depth treatment of what has been termed the "Muslim factor".[7] All of these stories, Chafer asserts, deserve attention and recognition, and he is hopeful that his challenge of the old myths will serve as a catalyst for a new dialogue about sub-altern struggles in French West and Equatorial Africa in the age of decolonization.

[1] Chafer Pg. 8

[2] Chafer Pg. 217

[3] Chafer Pg. 224

[4] Chafer Pg. 143

[5] Chafer Pg. 143

[6] Chafer Pg. 226

[7] Chafer Pg. 225