African Kingdoms

French Sudan / Sudanese Republic (French Colonies) (Africa)
AD 1890 - 1960
Incorporating French Sudan (1890-1899), Middle Niger (1899-1902), Upper Senegal (1899-1902), Senegambia & Niger (1902-1904), Upper Senegal & Niger (1904-1921), French Sudan (1921-1958), Mali Federation (1958-1960)

West African States All Modern States All African States Early Africa (Intro) Egypt

In a history of Africa which can at times be difficult to uncover, some native states stand out, if only for the opposition they provided to European colonial efforts. The Tukulor empire in West Africa arose swiftly in the 1850s and early 1860s to encompass much of today's Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. Its one early frustration came when it attempted to push west into French colonial territory.

It was the Portuguese who first reached West Africa out of all of Europe's emerging Early Modern nation states. French colonial interest in West Africa began as the slave trade grew and France established itself in the New World in the form of New France. All of the European powers began to enhance their links with African slave traders and, by the eighteenth century, slaves were an important element in trade which was being conducted in West Africa.

The French established a trading port on the West African coast as early as 1659 - at St Louis in today's Senegal in what became the early colonial holding of 'French Senegal'. French involvement in West Africa, however, did not substantially increase until later in the nineteenth century, and its participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade was always less significant. The French came to focus on gum arabic, groundnuts (or peanuts), and other raw materials which originated in the interior.

Those main European powers which were actively vying for control of large parts of Africa signed the Berlin Act in February 1885. This formalised the process for the eventual partition of Africa. The act provided guidelines by means of which each power could proceed to define its territories. French Sudan was formed in 1890 to control the greatly-expanded French Senegal colony.

A more formal civilian administration was put in place by the mid-1890s, and this governed the region as part of an even greater and more expansive 'French West Africa' and its governor-generals who oversaw French Sudan's regional governors. When the Tukulor empire was conquered in 1893, its territory was incorporated into the new French Sudan construction which initially was under French military control - technically from 18 August 1890.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the John De Cleene Archive, from History of West Africa, J F Ade Ajayi & Michael Crowder (Longman, 1985), from An Early Experiment in the Reorganisation of Agricultural Production in the French Soudan (Mali), 1920-1940, Laurence C Becker (1994), and from Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa, Martin A Klein (1998), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from African States and Rulers, John Stewart (McFarland, 2005), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Rex Collins, London, 1991), from Times Atlas of World History (Maplewood, 1979), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Mali (Flags of the World), and Mali (Rulers.org), and French in West Africa, Ali B Ali-Dinar (Ed, African Studies Center, University of Pensylvania).)

1890

The French by now have signed treaties with several African leaders which ostensibly gives France the mandate to annexe large tracts of the western Sudan as part of French Sudan. They negotiate these treaties from a powerful military position, with their expansion clearly being linked to superior firepower. Campaigns towards the Niger valley are founded on this superiority.

Ahmadu Tall's Tukulor empire government was highly structured, with centrally-appointed governors and their deputies, the cadis, military commanders, and tax collectors, and with ministers in Segou controlling justice, the Niger river fleet, the public treasury, commerce, and relations with Europeans in the region

1892 - 1893

First French military governor. Later in French Indochina.

1893

In the role of commandant-superior, Archinard has been so intent on pursuing the resistance fighters in the region that he has largely ignored the costs involved in his campaigns. With these now escalating, he is replaced by a civilian governorship of French Sudan.

1893 - 1895

French civilian governor.

1895 - 1899

French civilian governor.

1899

Civilian governorship is temporarily ended when the entire 'French West Africa' colony is reorganised so that eleven of the southern districts are parcelled out to various French coastal territories, including Dahomey, French Guinea, and Ivory Coast.

The remainder is split into two administrative regions - Middle Niger and Upper Senegal - which are subservient to the authority of other French colonies.

Despite the loss of Commandant Lamy, in 1900 the French managed to join up all of their West African possessions at the Battle of Kousséri, which took place on the banks of the River Chari, dividing modern Chad and Cameroon

1902 - 1904

The two regions - Middle Niger and Upper Senegal - are re-merged in 1902 as Senegambia & Niger, and renamed in 1904 as Upper Senegal & Niger when a direct governorship is re-established. This may also affect the former territory of the Dendi kingdom which has also recently come under French colonial rule.

1904 - 1908

Former delegate. First French lieutenant-governor. Died 1915.

1908

The colony's capital is moved from Kayes on the River Senegal, in the furthest western reaches of modern Mali. Bamako is selected to replace it. This lies on the River Niger, close to the rapids which divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the south-west of modern Mali.

1908 - 1915

Lieutenant-governor. Died 1918.

1914

Having jointly guaranteed in 1839 to support the neutrality of Belgium, when the country is invaded by Germany, Belgium's allies, Britain, France, and Russia, are forced to declare war at midnight on 4 August against imperial Germany and Austria in what becomes known as the Great War or First World War.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia and the German empire inspects his troops on the eve of war in 1914, a war which none of the tributary German principalities had any chance of escaping

German armies head towards Paris before being halted and retreating to what becomes the Western Front just inside French territory. The French army includes units from its various colonial territories, including Algeria, 'Upper Senegal & Niger', and Tunisia.

1915

Acting lieutenant-governor in June only. Died 1915.

1915 - 1916

Acting lieutenant-governor. Died 1926.

1916 - 1917

Acting lieutenant-governor. Died 1938.

1917

Acting lieutenant-governor. Died 1939.

1917 - 1918

Acting lieutenant-governor. Died 1929.

1918

A ceasefire is agreed with the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian empire by British, French, and Italian forces on 3 November. Germany, now alone, sees its emperor abdicate on 9 November, and an armistice is agreed to come into effect on the eleventh hour of 11 November, signalling the end of the war, although many less widespread wars continue as a result of the upheavals caused by it.

Troops from French West Africa participated in the Great War of 1914-1918, often in supporting roles behind the lines, although these Tirailleurs Senegalais are clearly equipped for combat

1918 - 1919

Lieutenant-governor. Died 1957.

1919 - 1921

Lieutenant-governor. Died 1945.

1921 - 1930

Acting governor to 26 Feb 1924. Full governor after. Died 1930.

1930 - 1931

Acting governor. Died 1948.

1931

Acting governor. Died 1961.

1933

The French colony of Upper Volta (modern Burkina Faso) is dissolved and the territory is merged into French Sudan (now restored to use in favour of 'Upper Senegal & Niger'). By now the colony's general rain-fed agriculture is being supplanted in places by cotton-growing ventures. These are made possible thanks to new irrigation projects in various locations.

West Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century was a place of development, with large tribal empires existing or arising during the period (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Ultimately the ventures largely fail because farmers refuse to be relocated to these new farms without being given ownership of the land, something which the colonial administration refuses to permit.

1933 - 1935

Governor. Died 1949.

1935

Acting governor. Died 1944.

1935 - 1936

Governor. Died 1942.

1936 - 1938

Acting governor until 4 Dec 1936. Died 1940.

1938 - 1940

Acting governor until 15 Nov 1940. Died 1944.

1939 - 1944

The Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 is the trigger for the Second World War. With both France and Britain pledged to support Poland, both countries have no option but to declare war on 3 September.

Nazi-led German troops are shown here progressing in good order through a Polish town on the first day of the invasion, 1 September 1939

After a lightening march through the Netherlands and Belgium, France is occupied by the Nazi war machine in 1940, ending the 'Third Republic'. Vichy (Fascist) rule is allowed as a puppet state in southern France (and Algeria). The French protectorate in Vietnam ends, while in 1942, Britain takes temporary control of the Madagascar colony.

1940 - 1942

Acting governor. Died 1952.

1942 - 1946

Acting governor until 29 Dec 1942. Died 1946.

1944 - 1947

A provisional government is established in France following the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944. During the existence of the provisional government, in 1943 Lebanon gains full independence from France, in 1945 France re-establishes its protectorate in Vietnam (which lasts until 1954), and Syria gains independence in 1946. Change is also coming to French Sudan.

This photo shows British or allied troops establishing a beachhead during the Battle of Madagascar - Vichy French control of the island was about to be replaced by British and then Free French control, heralding a seeming return to the status quo

1946 - 1952

Governor. Died 1973.

1947

Upper Volta is re-established and the territory is removed from French Sudan. Overall territory which is governed by the latter is now largely the same as that of modern Mali.

1952

Governor. Apr-Jul only. Died 1984.

1952 - 1953

Acting governor. Died 1967.

1953

Last full governor. Died 1976.

1953 - 1956

Acting governor until 10 Feb 1954. Died 1976.

1956 - 1958

High commissioner. Died 1989.

1958 - 1960

Last high commissioner. Died 1977. Mali now independent.

1959 - 1960

French Sudan becomes the 'Mali Federation' as Senegal is united with it. This brief experiment with a federal state survives long enough to see the region gain independence from France on 20 June 1960.

Moussa Traoré started as a second-lieutenant in the army of a newly-independent Mali and ended up as the country's virtual dictator during the 1970s and 1980s before being deposed and replaced by democratic elections

It fails however when Senegal withdraws in August 1960, no longer quite so keen on federation. Now master of its own fate, the remainder of the Sudanese republic is entirely independent, with a capital at Bamako to administer the republic of Mali.