France shifted West African recruiting from coercion to incentive-based persuasion

Evidence

Abandonment of military recruitment proved short-lived. As the war dragged into 19I8, Clemenceau determined that West Africa could provide an additional so,ooo tirailleurs; this time, however, he insisted that special precautions be taken to prevent the abuses that had plagued earlier recruiting drives. The coercive recruiting methods of the past were dropped in favor of a policy of persuasion, propaganda, and tangible rewards. Unlike previous mobilization efforts, recruitment in I918 was meticulously organized from the outset. To assist its efforts, Paris appointed the recently elected deputy from the Four Communes of Senegal-and the first black African to hold that position-Blaise Diagne, to the rank of commissaire de la Republique. Diagne personally toured the federation, with a full entourage of both African and European subordinates, encouraging enlistment and advertising the benefits it could bring. He appealed directly to chiefs, assuring them that their own positions would be enhanced after the war had ended if they cooperated. He also attempted to persuade the young urban elite to join, insisting that, following his example, they could aspire to equality with the French. In addition to monetary incentives, both immediate and long-term, the French promised veterans exemption from the indigenat, facilitation of the naturalization process, special advantages in obtaining administrative positions, and the construction of both medical and agricultural schools. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 517

Categorization

• XREF: Blaise Diagne as the first black African deputy in the Four Communes echoes the republican promise of equality and its limits discussed earlier in the book.