French West Africa was a federation of French colonial territories in West Africa, formed in the late nineteenth century and governed from Dakar in Senegal. At its greatest extent it brought together eight colonies, including present-day Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Mauritania, under a governor-general responsible to Paris. The colonial administration drew on forced labour and taxation, and it extracted raw materials such as groundnuts, palm oil and cocoa. After the Second World War, reforms gave the inhabitants limited political rights and representation in the French parliament. The federation was dissolved when its territories moved towards autonomy and then independence around 1960.
Before and after
- 1895Founding of Yerkes Observatory
- from 1895 to 1898Cuban War of Independence
- 1895Founding of London School of Economics and Political Science
- 1895Founding of West Ham United F.C.
- from 1895 to 1958Founding of French West Africa
- from 17 April 1895 to 1 January 1945Taiwan under Japanese rule
- 17 April 1895Treaty of Shimonoseki
- 12 May 1895Birth of Jiddu Krishnamurti
- 8 July 1895Birth of Igor Tamm
More in Society, economy & sport
- from 10 June 1815 to 24 August 1866Founding of German Confederation
- from 19 July 1848 to 20 July 1848The Seneca Falls Convention
- 17 February 1863Founding of International Committee of the Red Cross
- 14 September 1867Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital
- 29 November 1899Founding of FC Barcelona
- 30 June 1908Tunguska event
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.