FRENCH WEST AFRICA
GOVERNMENT GENERAL OF FRENCH WEST AFRICA
Chronology of French administrative structures in West Africa 1626 : The Compagnie Normande established the first French settlement on the coast of Senegal. (1) 1839 : (Renewed) start of French expansion in the other West African coastal regions. (2) 1854 : Start of French expansion in the interior of Western Africa. 1854 : The southern coastal settlements (Benin, Gabon, Gold Coast and Guinea) were detached from Senegal, becoming the separate Colony of Gorée and Dependencies, which was headed by the Commander of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa. 1859 : Gorée became again part of Senegal, the other settlements continuing to be subordinated to the Naval Division, now with its center at Gabon 1880 : The French territories of the interior, while remaining subordinated to Senegal, were given a separate administration. 1881 : The settlements on the coast of Guinea - now styled Southern Rivers - became again subordinated to Senegal. Those on the Gold Coast and on the coast of Benin now became part of the Superior Command Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements. 1886 : Gold Coast and Benin settlements became part of the Southern Rivers, while Gabon was now considered as belonging to Central Africa. 1889 : The Southern Rivers were separated from Senegal. They became a Colony of their own, named French Guinea, in 1891. 1892 : The territories of the interior became the separate Colony of French Sudan. 1893 : The Gold Coast and Benin settlements were detached from French Guinea. The former immediately became the new Colony of Côte d'Ivoire, while the later - now named Dahomey - did become so in 1894. 1895 : French Guinea, French Sudan, Ivory Coast and Senegal became founding members of an administrative federation, styled Government General of French West Africa. 1899 : Dahomey joined the Federation. 1899 : French Sudan ceased to exist. 1900 : A Military Territory of Niger, subordinated to Senegal, was created. 1904 : The Colony of French Sudan was reconstructed, with Niger as part of it. 1904 : A Civil Territory of Mauretania was created. 1912 : The Military Territory of Niger became again subordinated to Senegal. 1917 : The part of former German Togo under French administration joined the Federation. 1919 : Parts of the French Sudan became the new Colony of Upper Volta, which immediately joined the federation. 1921 : Mauretania and Niger became member colonies of the federation. 1921 : After French Togo had become a mandated territory it was detached from the Federation. (3) 1924 : The towns of Dakar and Gorée were detached from Senegal and became the separate Territory of Dakar and Dependencies, part of the Federation. 1932 : Upper Volta ceased to exist. (1) There are some sources mentioning a French presence in West Africa as early as the 14th century. For a discussion of this problem see among others : Cornevin R., Le problème des navigations dieppoises au XVI siècle in France-Eurafrique nrs 160 and 161 (1965) (2) In most cases there had already been a presence in the 17th - 18th centuries. But it had vanished after the end of slave-trade. (3) From 1934 onwards Togo became de facto, but not formally, again part of the Government General. _____________________________________________________________________________CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS
Commanders of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa (4) Commandants de la Division navale des Côtes occidentales de l'Afrique 1870 - 1872 Adm. Siméon Bourgois 1815 - 1887 1872 - 1874 Adm. Antoine Louis Marie Le Couriault de Quillio 1874 - 1875 Charles Henri Jules Panon du Hazier 1827 - 1875 - 1877 Amédée Louis Ribourt 1877 - 1879 Francois Hippolyte Allemand 1879 - 1881 Bernard Ernest Mottez 1881 - 1884 Adm. Louis Antoine Rischill Grivel 1884 - 1886 Capt. Jules Marie Armand Cavelier de Cuverville Superior Commanders of Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements Commandants supérieurs du Gabon et des Etablissements du Golfe de Guinée 1881 - 1886 The Particular Commandants of Gabon Governors General Gouverneurs Généraux 1895 - 1900 Jean Baptiste Émile Louis Barthélémy Chaudié 1900 - 1902 Noël-Eugène Ballay 1847 - 1902 1902 Pierre Paul Marie Capest* 1902 - 1907 Ernest Nestor Roume 1858 - 1941 1907 - 1908 Martial Henri Merlin* 1860 - 1935 1908 - 1915 Amédée William Merlaud-Ponty 1866 - 1915 1915 - 1917 Marie François Joseph Clozel 1860 - 1918 1917 - 1918 Joost van Vollenhoven 1877 - 1918 1918 - 1919 Gabriel Louis Angoulvant* 1872 - 1932 1919 Auguste Charles Désiré Emmanuel Brunet* 1878 - 1957 1919 - 1923 Martial Henri Merlin (2x) 1923 - 1930 Jules Gaston Henri Carde 1874 - 1949 1930 - 1936 Joseph Jules Brévié 1880 - 1964 1936 - 1938 Jules Marcel de Coppet 1881 - 1968 1938 Léon Geismar* 1938 - 1939 Pierre François Boisson* 1894 - 1948 1939 - 1940 Léon Henri Charles Cayla 1881 - 1965 1940 - 1943 Pierre François Boisson (2x) (5) 1943 - 1946 Pierre Charles Cournarie 1895 - (4) After 1870 the Division gradually concentrated most of its activities on Southern America and the Southern Atlantic and was first renamed "Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa, of Brazil and of the Plata", and afterwards simply "of the South Atlantic". These changes justified the erection of the separate Superior Command of Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements, formally still under the Division, in 1881. (5) After the French defeat of 1940 Governor General Boisson - and all colonies except the Ivory Coast - remained loyal to the Vichy regime, even reppeling an allied attack. For the next two years he acted however very independently. In 1942, after the allied landing in Northern Africa, he rallied to Adm. Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (1881 - 1942), Leader of a "Free French" administration in Nothern Africa.HOME INDEX
