The French Army and Its African Soldiers

The Years of Decolonization

Ruth Ginio (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

282 Seiten

2017
University of Nebraska Press (Verlag)
978-0-8032-5339-1 (ISBN)

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As part of France’s opposition to the independence of its former colonies in the years following World War II, its army remained deeply invested in preventing the decolonization of the territories comprising French West Africa (FWA). Even as late as the 1950s, the French Army clung to the hope that it was possible to retain FWA as a colony, believing that its relations with African soldiers could offer the perfect model for continued ties between France and its West African territories.

In The French Army and Its African Soldiers Ruth Ginio examines the French Army’s attempts to win the hearts and souls of the local population at a time of turbulence and uncertainty regarding future relations between the colonizer and colony. Through the prism of the army’s relationship with its African soldiers, Ginio considers how the army’s activities and political position during FWA’s decolonization laid the foundation for France’s continued active presence in some of these territories after independence. This project is the first thorough examination of the French Army’s involvement in West Africa before independence and provides the essential historical background to understanding France’s complex postcolonial military relations with its former territories in Africa.

Ruth Ginio is an associate professor in the Department of History and is the head of the Inter-University Program for African Studies at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She is the author of French Colonialism Unmasked: The Vichy Years in French West Africa (Nebraska, 2006) and the coeditor (with Efrat Ben Ze’ev and Jay Winter) of Shadows of War: A History of Silence in the Twentieth Century.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Historical Background: The Army, the Empire, and the Decolonization of French West Africa 2. The Aftermath of World War II: Frustration, Protest, and Rebellion 3. The Military Reforms: A New Army in French West Africa? 4. African Troops in the Wars of Decolonization: Indochina, 1946-1954 5. African Troops in the Wars of Decolonization: Algeria, 1954-1962 6. Alternatives to Independence: The Army's Colonial Vision in French West Africa 7. Adjusting to a New Reality: The Army and the Imminent Independence Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Erscheinungsdatum	01.01.2017
Reihe/Serie	France Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization
Zusatzinfo	5 illustrations, 2 tables, index
Verlagsort	Lincoln
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
	Technik
ISBN-10	0-8032-5339-7 / 0803253397
ISBN-13	978-0-8032-5339-1 / 9780803253391
Zustand	Neuware