France, Africa and the First World War

World War I marked a turning point in French relations with Africa in four ways. The War brought with it the final phase of French colonial expansion; it led to the recruitment of French Africa’s first great conscript army; it launched the first concerted campaign for the mise en valour of the Empire; and, at least at the moment of victory, it seemed to have begun ‘l’ducation coloniale des Franais’. Notes, sum.