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of association, educated
Ivoirians believed that they would achieve equality with their French peers through assimilation rather than through complete independence from France, a change that would eliminate the enormous economic advantages of remaining a French possession. But after the assimilation doctrine was implemented entirely, at least in principle, through the postwar reforms, Ivoirian leaders realized that even assimilation implied the superiority of the French over the Ivoirians and that discrimination and inequality would end only with independence.
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expeditions into the hinterland to quell resistance. As a result of these expeditions, local rulers were compelled to obey existing anti-slavery laws, supply porters and food to the French forces, and ensure the protection of French trade and personnel. In return, the French agreed to leave local customs intact and specifically promised not to intervene in the selection of rulers. But the French often disregarded their side of the agreement,
237:, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire. Samori's large, well-equipped army, which could manufacture and repair its own firearms, attracted strong support throughout the region. The French responded to Samori's expansion of regional control with military pressure. French campaigns against Samori, which were met with fierce resistance, intensified in the mid-1890s until he was captured in 1898.
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authority. Other local leaders, however, thought that the
Europeans could solve economic problems or become allies in the event of a dispute with belligerent neighbors. In the end, the loss of land and freedom by all the local rulers resulted more from their inability to counter European deception and brute strength than from a loss of will to respond to European encroachment.
51:
conquest by
Europeans of Côte d'Ivoire. The slave trade, in particular, had little effect on the peoples of Côte d'Ivoire. A profitable trade in ivory, which gave the area its name, was carried out during the seventeenth century, but it brought about such a decline in elephants that the trade itself virtually had died out by the beginning of the eighteenth century.
101:. Concerted French exploration of West Africa began in the mid-nineteenth century but moved slowly and was based more on individual initiative than on government policy. In the 1840s, the French concluded a series of treaties with local West African rulers that enabled the French to build fortified posts along the
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policies, applying ideas of assimilation only to the educated elite. The French were also interested in ensuring that the small but influential elite was sufficiently satisfied with the status quo to refrain from any anti-French sentiment. In fact, although they were strongly opposed to the practices
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paid annually to the local rulers for the use of the land. The arrangement was not entirely satisfactory to the French because trade was limited and misunderstandings over treaty obligations often arose. Nevertheless, the French government maintained the treaties, hoping to expand trade. France also
50:
Côte d'Ivoire, like the rest of West Africa, was subject to these influences, but the absence of sheltered harbors along its coastline prevented
Europeans from establishing permanent trading posts. Seaborne trade, therefore, was irregular and played only a minor role in the penetration and eventual
224:
Throughout the process of partition, the
Africans were little concerned with the occasional white person who came wandering by. Many local rulers in small, isolated communities did not understand or, more often, were misled by the Europeans about the significance of treaties that compromised their
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also wanted a greater role in Africa for
Germany, which he thought he could achieve in part by fostering competition between France and Britain. The agreement signed by all participants in 1885 stipulated that on the African coastline only European annexations or spheres of influence that involved
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The policy of association also affirmed the superiority of the French in the colonies, but it entailed different institutions and systems of laws for the colonizer and the colonized. Under this policy, the
Africans in Côte d'Ivoire were allowed to preserve their own customs insofar as they were
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was appointed governor of Côte d'Ivoire. Angoulvant, who had little prior experience in Africa, believed that the development of Côte d'Ivoire could proceed only after the forceful conquest, or so-called pacification, of the colony. He thus embarked on a vigorous campaign, sending military
228:
Throughout the early years of French rule, French military contingents were sent inland to establish new posts. The
African population resisted French penetration and settlement, even in areas where treaties of protection had been in force. Among those offering greatest resistance was
47:). Local rulers, under treaties with the Europeans, procured goods and slaves from inhabitants of the interior. By the end of the fifteenth century, commercial contacts with Europe had spawned strong European influences, which permeated areas northward from the West African coast.
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caused the French government to abandon its colonial ambitions and withdraw its military garrisons from its French West
African trading posts, leaving them in the care of resident merchants. The trading post at Grand-Bassam in Côte d'Ivoire was left in the care of a shipper from
82:, and it became the first European outpost in that area. Assini's survival was precarious, however, and only in the mid-nineteenth century did the French establish themselves firmly in Côte d'Ivoire. By that time, they had already established settlements around the mouth of the
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Until 1958, governors appointed in Paris administered the colony of Côte d'Ivoire, using a system of direct, centralized administration that left little room for
Ivoirian participation in policy making. The French colonial administration also adopted
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By the end of the 1880s, France had established what passed for effective control over the coastal regions of Côte d'Ivoire, and in 1889 Britain recognized French sovereignty in the area. That same year, France named Treich-Laplène
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In 1886, to support its claims of effective occupation, France again assumed direct control of its West African coastal trading posts and embarked on an accelerated program of exploration in the interior. In 1887 Lieutenant
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Assimilation was practiced in Côte d'Ivoire to the extent that after 1930 a small number of Westernized Ivoirians were granted the right to apply for French citizenship. Most Ivoirians, however, were classified as French
298:. Assimilation presupposed the inherent superiority of French culture over all others, so that in practice the assimilation policy in the colonies meant extension of the French language, institutions, laws, and customs.
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in 1892 and with Britain in 1893 determined the eastern and western boundaries of the colony, but the northern boundary was not fixed until 1947 because of efforts by the French government to attach parts of
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effective occupation by Europeans would be recognized. Another agreement in 1890 extended this rule to the interior of Africa and set off a scramble for territory, primarily by France, Britain, Portugal, and
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program, provoked a number of revolts. Ivoirians viewed the tax as a violation of the terms of the protectorate treaties because it seemed that France was now demanding the equivalent of a
43:, and pepper, but the establishment of American colonies in the sixteenth century spurred a demand for slaves, who soon became the major export from the West African coastal regions (see
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rulers regarded as instigators of revolt. They also regrouped villages and established a uniform administration throughout most of the colony. Finally, they replaced the
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compatible with French interests. An indigenous elite trained in French administrative practice formed an intermediary group between the French and the Africans.
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from the local kings rather than the reverse. Much of the population, especially in the interior, also considered the tax a humiliating symbol of submission.
109:, which became the colony's first capital. The treaties provided for French sovereignty within the posts and for trading privileges in exchange for fees or
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began a two-year journey that traversed parts of Côte d'Ivoire's interior. By the end of the journey, he had concluded four treaties establishing French
39:. Other European sea powers soon followed, and trade was established with many of the coastal peoples of West Africa. At first, the trade included gold,
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188:, negotiated five additional agreements that extended French influence from the headwaters of the Niger River Basin through Côte d'Ivoire.
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Activity along the coast stimulated European interest in the interior, especially along the two great rivers, the Senegal and the
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The African continent, situated between Europe and the imagined treasures of the Far East, quickly became the destination of the
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wanted to maintain a presence in the region to stem the increasing influence of the British along the Gulf of Guinea coast.
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to serve as permanent trading centers. The first posts in Côte d'Ivoire included one at Assini and another at
233:, who in the 1880s and 1890s was establishing an empire that extended over large parts of present-day
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In 1885 France and Germany brought all the European powers with interests in Africa together at the
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had permanent outposts in the same areas and on the Gulf of Guinea east of Côte d'Ivoire.
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voyage to West Africa took place in 1483. The first West African French settlement,
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and at other points along the coasts of what are now Senegal, Gambia, and
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200:, and then Captain Binger was appointed governor. Agreements with
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35:. The first Europeans to explore the West African coast were the
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221:) to Côte d'Ivoire for economic and administrative reasons.
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and were governed under the principle of association.
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in 1900, aimed at enabling the colony to undertake a
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196:of the territory. In 1893 Côte d'Ivoire was made a
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Local resistance and establishment of protectorates
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184:in Côte d'Ivoire. Also in 1887, Verdier's agent,
290:French colonial policy incorporated concepts of
62:, was founded in the mid-seventeenth century in
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78:. A French mission was established in 1687 at
33:European explorers of the fifteenth century
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277:with an allowance based on performance.
121:(1871) and the subsequent annexation by
142:of the Establishment of Côte d'Ivoire.
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70:ceded to the French a settlement at
66:, while at about the same time the
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146:French expansion in Côte d'Ivoire
156:scramble for colonies in Africa
281:French rule until World War II
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286:Evolution of colonial policy
117:The defeat of France in the
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125:of the French province of
240:France's imposition of a
138:, who in 1878 was named
27:Arrival of the Europeans
256:Repression and conquest
186:Maurice Treich-Laplène
54:The earliest recorded
119:Franco-Prussian War
45:African slave trade
262:Gabriel Angoulvant
160:Otto von Bismarck
152:Berlin Conference
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260:In 1906
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140:resident
111:costumes
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202:Liberia
165:Belgium
123:Germany
92:British
80:Assinie
64:Senegal
235:Guinea
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56:French
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76:Dakar
68:Dutch
41:ivory
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294:and
219:Mali
74:off
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