What was France's colonial rule over Africa?

As we all know, in a sense, the development history of the world is a history of plunder, division and colonization. In the colonial era, the world powers seized the colonies one after another. In this fierce competition, Africa also became the object of contention, and finally France became the most important colonizer in Africa. Therefore, many African countries have left many French elements in language, political system, urban construction style and so on, and they have complex feelings with each other. Today, France's influence on Africa is still great.

Then, France is not very strong. Why can you become the most important colonist in Africa? How did you inject French elements into Africa and still have influence today?

Geographical advantages provide convenience for expansion.

Although France is a European country, it is separated from Africa by the Mediterranean Sea, with France on the north bank and Africa on the south bank. This geographical advantage makes France and Africa have always had more contacts, and there are quite a few French activities in northern Africa. /kloc-In the 6th century, with the foreign colonial expansion of European countries such as Spain and Portugal, the French people saw the benefits of expanding their colonies overseas. Therefore, France, as a big European country at that time, soon embarked on the road of foreign colonial aggression.

1624, France established its first trading post on the coast of Senegal in West Africa. At first, the French were not interested in the trade and colonial expansion here, mainly engaged in selling cheap black slaves, and the focus of trade and colonization was still in Asia and America. Unfortunately, Britain, Spain and other countries are also optimistic about the colonies in Asia and America, and as a result, France has suffered a crushing defeat in the competition. Nevertheless, the French did not give up their ambition of colonial expansion. At this time, they turned their attention to the African continent, which has obvious geographical advantages for France.

From 65438 to 0830, France sent troops to the coastal areas of Algeria and gradually strengthened its rule over Algeria. From then on, France started from Algeria and expanded from north to south, striving to realize its dream of establishing colonial hegemony in North Africa, West Africa and even Africa as a whole.

After the Franco-Prussian War, France launched an unprecedented colonial expansion in Africa. North Africa started from Algeria, divided its sphere of influence around Tunisia, Libya and other countries, and turned Morocco into its own dependency. Most countries in Central Africa and West Africa have also been brought into France's sphere of influence. Even Djibouti in East Africa has not been spared.

At this point, France and Africa are more closely linked across the sea, which has had an immeasurable profound and far-reaching impact on Africa in this long and short historical process.

Direct and concrete colonial management rule

France is very different from Britain in colonial management. Britain is relatively extensive and loose, with greater local autonomy, while France is more direct and specific. Power is in the hands of the regional governor sent by the French government, and this governor has great power. The person in charge below is controlled by the governor and has a strict hierarchy. Therefore, in the French colonial areas, there is almost no autonomy, and major policies are decided by the French authorities.

This may be because France learned the lessons of colonial failure in Asia and America, so it strengthened its control and management of Africa. France's direct and concrete influence on African colonies is manifested in many aspects. Just as the colonial government used civil servants, France tried its best to insist on sending French people to serve. For example, in education, there is a complete public education system with French as the teaching medium, which sends outstanding students from colonial areas to France for systematic study; Give French citizenship to some people who have made outstanding contributions to the government or served in military service, and give them the election opportunity to work in the People's Republic of China (PRC) legislature. These Africans who came to France during the colonial period became the first black people to immigrate to France.

France's direct and concrete oppressive rule over the colonies and a series of control measures objectively promoted the development of Africa. For example, learning French broadens their horizons, increases their knowledge, enriches their knowledge, and gives them more job opportunities and choices for future development. This also gave Africa, as a colony, a sense of identity with France.

At the beginning of World War II, France fell, and the puppet regime "Vichy government" supported by Germany was established. 1940 In June, the regime of "Free France" was formally established, and its headquarters was moved to Algiers, the capital of Algeria, which was warmly welcomed by the African colonial people. Later, Chad, Cameroon, Congo and other countries announced their support for the "free France" regime and broke away from the "Vichy government".

By the end of 1943, all the colonies in North Africa were under the command of General Charles de Gaulle's "Free France". And formed a French army with excellent quality, mostly black brothers from Africa. Later, France and Germany fought at home, and 75% of the 400,000 French troops were Africans. The bravery of African blacks made great contributions to France's fight against Nazis and its pursuit of freedom and neutrality.

The establishment of this cultural identity and the experience of fighting with guns together made the French and Africans have an indescribable complex emotion in the process of colonial rule, including identification and opposition, love and hate. But in any case, this mark has been deeply engraved in the history of France and Africa and cannot be erased.

Get rid of colonialism, but the influence is everywhere.

However, everything has two sides, and France's colonization of Africa certainly lingers on the African people. Moreover, in order to get rid of French colonial rule, Africa has never stopped fighting for independence. After the end of World War II, the wave of the world decolonization movement revived, and the African people seized this opportunity.

Algeria, which was first occupied by France, expelled the French colonists after eight years of unremitting fighting. He took the lead in establishing the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria in 1962. Then, more and more colonies sought to get rid of French colonial rule. Madagascar, Cameroon, C? te d 'Ivoire and other places broke out in national liberation movements and became independent new countries. French colonial rule is coming to an end.

Although African colonies got rid of French colonial rule and left independently, they have a history of decades after all. Contact and influence cannot be cut off, but intangible things still closely link France and Africa. In order to repair the heavy losses in World War II, France opened the door of immigration to the world, and these countries colonized by France became the main source countries of French new immigrants. In order to pursue a better life and have advantages in language, law and culture, they immigrated to France. We know that French football is stronger mainly because of the second or third generation black descendants of these immigrants. In this way, the extraordinary influence of France on Africa in the post-colonial era has not diminished much.

At present, millions of African-Americans live in France, accounting for 7% of the total population of France. They are deeply influenced by France and are already French citizens. And this influence continues.

In order to maintain the status of French-speaking countries in the world and enhance France's right to speak in the world, France has held a summit of French-speaking countries every two years since the 1980s. Most countries attending this grand event are African countries. Therefore, at present, France's influence in Africa cannot be underestimated.

And the influence of the franc in Africa is not small. France uses its own finance and foreign exchange as a guarantee, and stipulates that 1 French franc is equal to 100 CFA franc, thus greatly promoting the CFA franc to become an international convertible currency. Today, 14 African countries have joined this framework. This new monetary system is beneficial and win-win for both France and Africa. For African countries that have entered this system, the stability of the franc value and the random circulation between countries have attracted more investors with such a high reputation. At the same time, the unimpeded use of French francs in these countries has greatly strengthened France's influence on the African economy.

It is precisely because of the history of French colonization of Africa that there are 3/kloc-0 French-speaking countries out of 6/kloc-0 countries and regions in Africa. In fact, France now has great influence in economy, politics and military affairs. France still has the largest number of troops and military bases in Africa. Although France's strength and influence are declining, its voice in Africa still plays an important role. At present, France still monopolizes minerals, telecommunications, energy and other industries in many African countries, and it is also the preferred market for import and export in many African countries. Therefore, Africa cannot do without France, and France cannot do without Africa.

Therefore, it is not only difficult for Africa to erase the imprint of the colonial period, but also its influence has continued to this day. In fact, since France landed on the African continent, God has tied their fates together. Whether in the colonial era or the post-colonial era, the historical imprint of France in Africa cannot be erased, and their love and hate are doomed to continue.