French Chad
1900–1960 | |||||||||||||||||
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Governor | |||||||||||||||||
• 1900 | Émile Gentil | ||||||||||||||||
• 1959–1960 | Daniel Doustin | ||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||
• 1957–1959 | Gabriel Lisette | ||||||||||||||||
• 1959–1960 | François Tombalbaye | ||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | September 5, 1900 | ||||||||||||||||
• Merged with overseas territory | October 27, 1946 | ||||||||||||||||
• Autonomy | November 28, 1958 | ||||||||||||||||
• Independence | August 11, 1960 | ||||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||||
1943[2] | 1,194,508 km2 (461,202 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
1950[3] | 1,283,993 km2 (495,752 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1936[3] | 1,432,600 | ||||||||||||||||
• 1943[2] | 1,432,555 | ||||||||||||||||
• 1950[3] | 2,241,000 | ||||||||||||||||
Currency | French Equatorial African franc (1900–1945) CFA franc (1945–1960) | ||||||||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | TD | ||||||||||||||||
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History of Chad |
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Chad distinguished itself in 1940 for being, under the governorship of Félix Éboué, the first French colony to rally by the side of Free France. After World War II, the French permitted a limited amount of representation of the African population, ushering the way to the clash in the political arena between the progressive and southern-based Chadian Progressive Party (PPT) and the Islamic conservative Chadian Democratic Union (UDT). It was eventually the PPT which emerged victorious and brought the country to independence in 1960 under the leadership of François Tombalbaye.
French conquest
European interest in Africa generally grew during the 19th century. By 1887, France, motivated by the search for wealth, had driven inland from its settlements on central Africa's west coast to claim the territory of
France conquered the last independent polities in Chad in 1917, and had defeated the last major native insurgencies by 1920.[5]
Colonial Administration
Two fundamental themes dominated Chad's colonial experience with the French: an absence of policies designed to unify the territory and an exceptionally slow pace of modernization. In the French scale of priorities, the colony of Chad ranked near the bottom; it was less important than non-African territories, North Africa, West Africa, or even the other French possessions in Central Africa. The French came to perceive Chad primarily as a source of raw cotton and untrained labour to be used in the more productive colonies to the south. Within Chad, there was neither the will nor the resources to do much more than maintain a semblance of law and order. In fact, even this basic function of governance was often neglected; throughout the colonial period, large areas of Chad were never governed effectively from N'Djamena (called Fort-Lamy prior to September 1973).
Chad was linked in 1905 with three French colonies to the south—Oubangui-Chari,
The lines of control from Brazzaville, feeble as they may have been, were still stronger than those from N'Djamena to its hinterland. In the huge
France managed to govern effectively only the south, but until 1946 administrative direction came from
But even the advantages of more income, schools, and roads failed to win popular support for the French in the south. In addition to earlier grievances, such as forced porterage (which claimed thousands of lives) and village relocation, southern farmers resented the mandatory quotas for the production of cotton, which France purchased at artificially low prices. Government-protected chiefs further abused this situation. The chiefs were resented all the more because they were generally the artificial creations of the French in a region of previously stateless societies. This commonality of treatment and the colonial organizational framework began to create during this period a sense of Sara ethnicity among persons whose collective identities had previously been limited to small kinship groups.
Although France had put forth considerable effort during the conquest of Chad, the ensuing administration of the territory was halfhearted. Officials in the French colonial service resisted assignments to Chad, so posts often went to novices or to out-of-favor officials. One historian of France's empire has concluded that it was almost impossible to be too demented or depraved to be considered unfit for duty in Chad. Still, major scandals occurred periodically, and many of the posts remained vacant.[4] In 1928, for example, 42% of the Chadian subdivisions lacked official administrators.
An event occurred in 1935 that was to have far-reaching consequences throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In that year, the French colonial administration negotiated a border adjustment with
Félix Eboué
In 1940
Born in French Guiana of mixed African and European parentage, Eboué was keenly interested in the problems of cultural dislocation resulting from unchecked modernization in Africa. He worked to return authority to authentic traditional leaders while training them in modern administrative techniques. He recognized a place for African middle-class professionals in cities, but he opposed the migration of workers to cities, supporting instead the creation of integrated rural industries where workers could remain with their families. When Eboué died in 1944, the AEF lost a major source of progressive ideas, and Chad lost a leader with considerable influence in France.
Territorial assembly under France
French voters rejected many of the progressive ideas of Eboué and others after
Local politics
Until the early 1950s, political forces originating in France dominated the development of politics in Chad. Local elections were won largely by members of the
Nonetheless, by 1953 politics were becoming less European dominated, and the PPT was emerging as the major rival of the UDT. The leader of the PPT was
Although party names changed frequently and dramatic factional schisms occurred throughout the 1950s, electoral competition was essentially between three political blocs: the UDT [AST], the PPT, and the allies of
Greater autonomy
In 1956 the French National Assembly passed the loi cadre (enabling act), known as Overseas Reform Act, which resulted in greater self-rule for Chad and other African territories. Electoral reforms expanded the pool of eligible voters, and power began to shift from the sparsely settled northern and central Chadian regions toward the more densely populated south. The PPT had become less militant, winning the support of chiefs in the south and members of the French colonial administration, but not that of private French commercial interests. In the 1957 elections, held on March 31, out of 65 seats, the PPT took 32; its allies, the Chadian Independent Socialist Party (PSIT) and the UDT, took 15; the Chadian Independents and Agrarians Rally (GIRT), an offshoot of the AST, 9; the AST, 8 and the last seat went to an independent candidate. As a result of this victory, Lisette and the PPT formed the first African government in Chad. He maintained a majority for only about a year, however, before factions representing traditional chiefs withdrew their support from his coalition government.
French federation versus full independence
In September 1958, voters in all of Africa's French territories took part in a
After Lisette's coalition crumbled in early 1959, two other alliances governed briefly. Then in March the PPT returned to power, this time under the leadership of Tombalbaye, a union leader and representative from
See also
- Aozou Strip
Further reading
- Brachet, Julien; Scheele, Judith (2019). The Value of Disorder : Autonomy, Prosperity, and Plunder in the Chadian Sahara. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108428330.
- Roberts, T. (2020). "The Comite de L'Afrique Francaise, the Chad Plan, And the Origins of Fashoda". The Historical Journal
References
- ^ The name of the territory was changed several times during the French colonial period:
- Military Territory of the Lands and Protectorates of Chad / (Territoire militaire des pays et protectorats du Tchad) — September 5, 1900 – July 5, 1902.
- Circumscription of the Lands and Protectorates of Chad / (Circonscription des pays et protectorats du Tchad) — July 5, 1902 – December 29, 1903.
- Territory of Chad / (Territoire du Tchad) — December 29, 1903 – February 11, 1906.
- Military Territory of Chad / (Territoire militaire du Tchad) — February 11, 1906 – May 14, 1915.
- Territory of Chad / (Territoire du Tchad) — May 14, 1915 – March 17, 1920.
- Colony of Chad / (Colonie du Tchad) — March 17, 1920 – June 30, 1934.
- Region of Chad / (Région du Tchad) — June 30, 1934 – December 31, 1937.
- Territory of Chad / (Territoire du Tchad) — December 31, 1937 – November 28, 1958.
- Republic of Chad / (République du Tchad) — November 28, 1958 – August 11, 1960.
- ^ The Americana Annual 1946
- ^ a b Britannica Book Of The Year 1953
- ^ S2CID 181557618.
- ISBN 978-1-135-30081-4
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.