Formation of French Guinea
Initially all French settlements in West Africa were under the authority of Senegal, but in 1845 French possessions were divided into Senegal, having its administrative center in Saint-Louis, and Rivières du Sud, which was placed under a naval commander in chief with headquarters at Ile de Gorée. The latter's authority included all French centers (at that time coastal only in nature) from ile de Gorée to Gabon. In 1859 Senegal assumed direct administration of the Rivières du Sud colony. The following year the Peul in the Fouta Djallon ceded rights to a large area around Boké (actually occupied by the Landouma but tributary to the Peul). Some twenty years elapsed, however, before the French officially secured a foothold in the interior of Guinea. This was effected through a treaty of friendship, concerned mainly with French trading rights, concluded with the almamy in the Fouta Djallon in 1881. In return the French engaged to pay agreed upon fees on a regular basis. This treaty in fact established a protectorate over the Fouta Djallon, although effective implementation of this provision did not occur until after the mid-1890s.
In 1882 Rivières du Sud was again made a separate political unit under a lieutenant governor who was, however, subordinate to the governor of Senegal. In 1890 greater administrative autonomy was acquired by the colony, which included Dahomey and Ivory Coast. Separate budgets and staff were authorized, the latter to be located in Conakry. A lieutenant governor remained in charge, but he had direct access to the government in Paris and was only required to report to Senegal. The colony was also given responsibility for the Fouta Djallon protectorate. Then in 1891 an independent governor was authorized, and the colony was officially designated French Guinea and Dependencies. Two years later, the holdings in Dahomey and Ivory Coast were separated from the new political unit.
In 1893 the colony of French Guinea actually included only the Maritime Region and the Fouta Djallon protectorate (still nominal, although a new treaty in 1888 had reaffirmed its existence). This was only about one-half of the area encompassed by the Republic of Guinea in 1975. A firm hold existed only over the coastal zone, except for the Iles de Los, which were in British hands. The 1888 treaty failed to provide continued payment of fees to the almamy, causing resentment. Upon the death of the incumbent almamy in 1889, a civil war erupted between pro- and anti-French chiefs — the latter suspected supporters of Samory — over his successor.
Disturbances continued during the next several years until finally a French military contingent occupied Timbo, capital of the Peul state, in 1896. A new pro-French almamy was elected, and a treaty, signed by the almamy with the French in early 1897, gave France effective sovereignty. A French resident administrator was appointed, and the French acquired the right to set up civil and military posts freely. Local chiefs continued to be elected, but they had to have the approval of French administrators, and they ruled with French advice. The treaty also established local taxes in the amount of two francs per head or ten francs per household. This head tax was later extended to the rest of the colony.
The area to the east of the Fouta Djallon was the province of the French Sudan military administration in the 1890s but was not brought under effective control until after the expulsion of Samory's forces. In 1895 a section along the Sierra Leone frontier corresponding roughly to the present-day Faranah Administrative Region was transferred to Guinea. Most of the remainder of present-day Upper Guinea was detached from French Sudan and added to the colony in 1899.
In 1892 a frontier agreement with Liberia had accorded the colony a considerable area in the Forest Region of modern Guinea. Operations against Samory led to French entry into the area, however, and it was in effect made part of Guinea in 1899, organized as a separate military district; confirmation of French possession occurred in a French-Liberian agreement in 1911. The various ethnic groups in the forest resisted the French advance, and it was not until 1911 that the last group, the Toma, was pacified.
The French possessions in the western Sudan, including the new colony of French Guinea, were grouped together into one large administrative unit, French West Africa, in 1895. French Guinea remained a part of that body until establishment of the French Union in 1946.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
