French reliance on chiefly intermediaries fostered brutality where chiefs lacked traditional legitimacy

Evidence

French administrative personnel had been drastically reduced: onethird of all commandants, one-half of all medical personnel, and four-fifths of communication employees had been mobilized. Understaffed and overworked, administrators usually had no choice but to rely upon their African intermediaries to round up the men demanded, and determine which villages would contribute or be spared. In general, the chiefs cooperated, though reluctantly. Where these chiefs retained some of their traditional legitimacy, recruitment took place without incidenti where new men had been appointed, dependent on the French for their authority and prestige, excessive brutality in choosing recruits was often reported. According to their temperament, experience, and familiarity with their circle, individual commandants would attempt either to moderate the use of force or simply ignore the abuses they were powerless to stop. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 507

Categorization

• XREF: The pattern of colonial power delegating force to intermediaries with invented authority parallels similar dynamics in many imperial systems and connects to the ‘forced into West Africa’ theme of the reader’s purpose.
• DEFINE: Shows how French-created ‘chiefs’ (who derived authority from appointment rather than tradition) became the mechanism of abusive conscription.