Van Vollenhoven traded West African conscription for foodstuff production in 1917

Evidence

The year I 9 I 7 would nevertheless bring an improvement of sorts in the federation’s fortunes, at least from Dakar’s perspective. Clozel, who was ailing, was replaced by the much younger and more dynamic Joost Van Vollenhoven. Like his predecessor, Van Vollenhoven vigorously opposed continued use of the tirailleurs; but he also had an alternative plan to present to the Paris government. In an influential memorandum to the minister of colonies, Van Vollenhoven argued that the federation could better serve the metropole by supplying it with raw material and foodstuffs, and by not depleting its valuable human resources so essential to West Africa’s mise en valeur. Production could be increased immediately, he insisted, if recruitment were suspended. His plan made all the more sense, since Paris had earlier that year decided on colonial ravitaillement. In October 1917, the General Staff was persuaded to halt recruitment temporarily, and Van Vollenhoven embarked upon a coordinated program of colonial production. The results, although they failed to meet his expectations, showed what the federation might yield after hostilities had ended. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 516

Categorization

• XREF: The shift from conscripting human capital to extracting agricultural production is a concrete instance of the broader ‘mise en valeur’ ideology — resource extraction over human investment.