French West Africa
A federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa (including Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, and others) that existed from 1895 until 1958. It functioned as an administrative and political unit under French colonial rule, with governance shaped by French colonial policies on infrastructure, health, citizenship, and security.
Claims that use this term
- Fear of extremist propaganda drove colonial surveillance expansion in French West Africa
- Railroads were the instrument for welding French West Africa into one unit.
- World War I drove French West Africa toward a more conservative civilizing mission
- French West Africa adopted mosquito eradication as an innovation against malaria
- African citizenship grants in French West Africa nearly collapsed between 1920 and 1924.
- Roume’s 1902-1904 reforms centralized and financially empowered French West Africa