French colonial empire
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the caption contradicted the photo -- this photo conveys the same thing and makes more sense for the page
{{for|the French colonial postage stamps|French Colonies}}
'''[[France]]''' was a dominant empire in the world, from the 1600s to the late 1960s, possessing many [[Colony|colonies]] in various locations around the world. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the global rule of France was the second largest behind the [[British Empire]]. The second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km² (4,767,000 sq. miles) of land at its largest, towards the beginning of the 20th century. Including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French constituency reached 12,898,000 km² (4,980,000 sq. miles) between 1920 and 1930. This accounts to 8.6% of the world's land area.
Currently, the remnants of this large [[empire]] are various islands and [[archipelagos]] located in the [[North Atlantic]], the [[Caribbean]], the [[Indian Ocean]], the [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]], the [[North Pacific]], and the [[Antarctic Ocean]], as well as one mainland territory in [[South America]], totaling altogether 123,150 km² (47,548 sq. miles), which amounts to only 1% of the pre-1939 French colonial empire's area, with 2,564,000 people living in them in 2007. All of these enjoy full political representation at the national level, as well as varying degrees of legislative [[Wiktionary:autonomy|autonomy]]. (See [[Administrative divisions of France]].)
[[Image:France colonial Empire10.png|450px|thumb|Map of the first (light blue) and second (dark blue — plain and hachured) French colonial empires]]
[[Image:French Empire evolution.gif|450px|thumb|Animated map showing the French colonial empires]]
==First French colonial empire==
The excursions of [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] and [[Jacques Cartier]] in the early 1500s, as well as the frequent voyages of French boats and fishermen to the [[Grand Banks]] off [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] throughout that century, were the precursors to the story of France's colonial expansion. But [[Spain]]'s jealous protection of its foreign monopoly, and the further distractions caused in France itself in the later 16th century by the [[French Wars of Religion|French Wars of Religion]], prevented any constant efforts by France to settle colonies. Early French attempts to found colonies in 1612 at [[São Luís]] ("[[France Équinoxiale]]"), and in [[Brazil]], in 1555 at [[Rio de Janeiro]] ("[[France Antarctique]]") and in [[Florida]] (including [[Fort Caroline]] in 1562) were not successful, due to a lack of official interest and to [[Portugal|Portuguese]] and [[Spain|Spanish]] vigilance.
The story of France's colonial empire truly began on [[July 27]], [[1605]], with the foundation of [[Port Royal, Nova Scotia|Port Royal]] in the colony of [[Acadia]] in North America, in what is now [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]. A few years later, in 1608, [[Samuel De Champlain]] founded [[Quebec City|Quebec]], which was to become the capital of the enormous, but sparsely settled, fur-trading colony of [[New France]] (also called [[Canada]]).
Although, through alliances with various [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes, the French were able to exert a loose control over much of the North American continent, areas of French settlement were generally limited to the [[St. Lawrence River]] Valley. Prior to the establishment of the 1663 [[Sovereign Council of New France|Sovereign Council]], the territories of New France were developed as mercantile colonies. It is only after the arrival of intendant [[Jean Talon]] in 1665 that France gave its American colonies the proper means to develop population colonies comparable to that of the British. But there was relatively little interest in colonialism in France, which concentrated rather on dominance within Europe, and for most of the history of New France, even Canada was far behind the [[British North America]]n colonies in both population and economic development. Acadia itself was lost to the British in the [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)|Treaty of Utrecht]] in 1713.
In 1699, French territorial claims in North America expanded still further, with the foundation of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]] in the basin of the [[Mississippi River]]. The extensive trading network throughout the region connected to Canada through the [[Great Lakes]], was maintained through a vast system of fortifications, many of them centered in the [[Illinois Country]] and in present-day [[Arkansas]].
[[Image:Quebec_nouvelle_france.jpg|thumb|left|Québec was known as 'Nouvelle France' or New France]]
As the French empire in North America grew, the French also began to build a smaller but more profitable empire in the [[West Indies]]. Settlement along the South American coast in what is today [[French Guiana]] began in 1624, and a colony was founded on [[Saint Kitts]] in 1625 (the island had to be shared with the English until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, when it was ceded outright). The ''[[Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique]]'' founded colonies in [[Guadeloupe]] and [[Martinique]] in 1635, and a colony was later founded on [[Saint Lucia]] by (1650).
The food-producing plantations of these colonies were built and sustained through [[slavery]], with the supply of slaves dependent on the [[African slave trade]]. Local resistance by the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples]] resulted in the [[Carib Expulsion]] of 1660.
The most important Caribbean colonial possession did not come until 1664, when the colony of [[Saint-Domingue]] (today's [[Haiti]]) was founded on the western half of the Spanish island of [[Hispaniola]]. In the 18th century, Saint-Domingue grew to be the richest [[sugar]] colony in the Caribbean. The eastern half of Hispaniola (today's [[Dominican Republic]]) also came under French rule for a short period, after being given to France by Spain in 1795.
French colonial expansion was not limited to the [[New World]], however. In [[Senegal]] in [[West Africa]], the French began to establish trading posts along the coast in 1624. In 1664, the [[French East India Company]] was established to compete for trade in the [[far East|east]]. Colonies were established in [[India]] in [[Chandernagore]] (1673) and [[Pondicherry]] in the Southeast (1674), and later at [[Yanam]] (1723), [[Mahe]] (1725), and [[Karikal]] (1739) (see [[French India]]). Colonies were also founded in the Indian Ocean, on the Île de Bourbon ([[Réunion]], 1664), Île de France ([[Mauritius]], 1718), and the [[Seychelles]] (1756).
==Colonial conflict with Britain==
In the middle of the 18th century, a series of colonial conflicts began between France and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]], which ultimately resulted in the destruction of most of the first French colonial empire. These wars were the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1744–1748), the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–1763), the War of the [[American Revolution]] (1778–1783), and the [[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolution]] (1793–1802) and [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic]] (1803-1815) Wars. It may even be seen further back in time to the first of the [[French and Indian Wars]]. This cyclic conflict is known as the [[Second Hundred Years' War]].
[[Image:Bellin Indoustan 1770.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Carte de L'Indoustan. Bellin, 1770.]]
Although the War of the Austrian Succession was indecisive — despite French successes in India under the French Governor-General [[Joseph François Dupleix]] — the Seven Years' War, after early French successes in [[Minorca]] and North America, saw a French defeat, with the numerically superior British (over one million to about 50 thousand French settlers) conquering not only [[New France]] (excluding the small islands of [[Saint-Pierre and Miquelon]]), but also most of France's West Indian (Caribbean) colonies, and all of the [[French India|French Indian outposts]]. While the peace treaty saw France's Indian outposts, and the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe restored to France, the competition for influence in India had been won by the British, and North America was entirely lost — most of [[New France]] was taken by Britain (also referred to as [[British North America]], except Louisiana, which France ceded to Spain as payment for Spain's late entrance into the war (and as compensation for Britain's annexation of Spanish Florida). Also ceded to the British were [[Grenada]] and [[Saint Lucia]] in the West Indies. Although the loss of Canada would cause much regret in future generations, it excited little unhappiness at the time; colonialism was widely regarded as both unimportant to France, and immoral.
Some recovery of the French colonial empire was made during the [[France in the American Revolutionary War|French intervention in the American Revolution]], with Saint Lucia being returned to France by the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1783, but not nearly as much as had been hoped for at the time of French intervention. True disaster came to what remained of France's colonial empire in 1791 when Saint Domingue (comprised of the Western third of the Caribbean island of [[Hispaniola]] ), France's richest and most important colony, was riven by a massive slave revolt, caused partly by the divisions among the island's elite, which had resulted from the [[French Revolution]] of 1789. The slaves, led eventually by [[Toussaint Louverture]] and then, following his capture by the French in 1801, by [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]], held their own against French, Spanish, and British opponents, and ultimately achieved independence as [[Haiti]] in 1804 (Haiti became the first black republic in the world, much earlier than any of the future African nations). In the meanwhile, the newly resumed war with Britain by the French, resulted in the British capture of practically all remaining French colonies. These were restored at the [[Peace of Amiens]] in 1802, but when war resumed in 1803, the British soon recaptured them. France's repurchase of Louisiana in 1800 came to nothing, as the final success of the Haitian revolt convinced [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Bonaparte]] that holding Louisiana would not be worth the cost, leading to its sale to the [[United States]] in 1803 (the [[Louisiana Purchase]]). Nor was the French attempt to establish a colony in [[Egypt]] in 1798–1801 successful.
==Second French colonial empire==
At the close of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], most of France's colonies were restored to it by [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], notably [[Guadeloupe]] and [[Martinique]] in the West Indies, [[French Guiana]] on the coast of South America, various trading posts in [[Senegal]], the ''Île Bourbon'' ([[Réunion]]) in the Indian Ocean, and France's tiny Indian possessions. Britain finally annexed [[Saint Lucia]], [[Tobago]], [[the Seychelles]], and the ''Île de France'' ([[Mauritius]]), however.
The true beginnings of the second French colonial empire, however, were laid in 1830 with the [[French rule in Algeria|French invasion of Algeria]], which was conquered over the next 17 years. During the [[French Second Empire|Second Empire]], headed by [[Napoleon III]], an attempt was made to establish a colonial-type [[protectorate]] in [[Mexico]], but this came to little, and the French were forced to abandon the experiment after the end of the [[American Civil War]], when the American president, [[Andrew Johnson]], invoked the [[Monroe Doctrine]]. This [[French intervention in Mexico]] lasted from 1861 to 1867. Napoleon III also established French control over [[Cochinchina]] (the [[Southern Vietnam|southernmost]] part of modern [[Vietnam]] including [[Saigon]]) in 1867 and 1874, as well as a protectorate over [[Cambodia]] in 1863.
It was only after the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–1871 and the founding of the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] (1871-1940) that most of France's later colonial possessions were acquired. From their base in Cochinchina, the French took over [[Tonkin]] (in modern [[northern Vietnam]]) and [[Annam (French Colony)|Annam]] (in modern [[central Vietnam]]) in 1884-1885. These, together with Cambodia and Cochinchina, formed [[French Indochina]] in 1887 (to which [[Laos]] was [[Franco-Siamese War of 1893|added in 1893]], and [[Kwang-Chou-Wan]] <ref>[[
www.worldstatesmen.org/China_Foreign_colonies.html]]</ref> in 1900). In 1849, the French concession in [[Shanghai]] was established, lasting until 1946.
[[Image:Colonies of the second French colonial empire.jpg|right|thumb|275px|French colonies in 1891 (from ''[[Le Monde Illustré]]'').<br />
1. Panorama of ''Lac-Kaï'', French outpost in China.<br />
2. ''Yun-nan'', in the quay of [[Hanoi]].<br />
3. Flooded street of Hanoi.<br />
4. Landing stage of Hanoi]]
Influence was also expanded in [[North Africa]], establishing a protectorate on [[Tunisia]] in 1881 (Bardo Treaty). Gradually, French control was established over much of Northern, Western, and [[Central Africa]] by the turn of the century (including the modern nations of [[Mauritania]], Senegal, [[Guinea]], [[Mali]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Benin]], [[Niger]], [[Chad]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Republic of Congo]]), as well as the east African coastal enclave of [[Djibouti]] ([[French Somaliland]]). The [[Voulet-Chanoine Mission]], a military expedition, was sent out from Senegal in 1898 to conquer the Chad Basin and unify all French territories in West Africa. This expedition operated jointly with two other expeditions, the Foureau-Lamy and Gentil missions, which advanced from Algeria and Middle Congo respectively. With the death of the Muslim warlord [[Rabih az-Zubayr]], the greatest ruler in the region, and the creation of the Military Territory of Chad in 1900, the Voulet-Chanoine Mission had accomplished all its goals. The ruthlessness of the mission provoked a scandal in Paris. As a part of the [[Scramble for Africa]], France had the establishment of a continuous west-east axis of the continent as an objective, in contrast with [[Cape To Cairo|the British north-south axis]]. This resulted in the [[Fashoda incident]], were an expedition led by [[Jean-Baptiste Marchand]] was opposed by forces under [[Lord Kitchener]]'s command. The resolution of the crisis had a part in the bringing forth of the [[Entente Cordiale]]. During the [[Agadir Crisis]] in 1911, Britain supported France and [[Morocco]] became a French protectorate.
At this time, the French also established colonies in the [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]], including [[New Caledonia]], the various island groups which make up [[French Polynesia]] (including the [[Society Islands]], the [[Marquesas]], the [[Tuamotus]]), and established joint control of the [[New Hebrides]] with Britain.
The French made their last major colonial gains after the [[World War I|First World War]], when they gained mandates over the former [[Turkey|Turkish]] territories of the [[Ottoman Empire]] that make up what is now [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]], as well as most of the former German colonies of [[Togo]] and [[Cameroon]]. A hallmark of the French colonial project in the late 19th century and early 20th century was the [[civilizing mission]] (''mission civilisatrice''), the principle that it was Europe's duty to bring civilization to benighted peoples. As such, colonial officials undertook a policy of Franco-Europeanization in French colonies, most notably [[French West Africa]]. Africans who adopted French culture, including fluent use of the [[French language]] and conversion to Christianity, were granted equal French citizenship, including suffrage. Later, residents of the "[[Four Communes]]" in Senegal were granted citizenship in a program led by the Afro-French politician [[Blaise Diagne]].
== Collapse of the empire ==
{{main|Decolonisation}}
[[Image:French Colonial Nations.jpg|thumb|A poster symbolising the French colonial empire]]
The French colonial empire began to fall apart during the [[Second World War]], when various parts of their empire were occupied by foreign powers ([[Japan]] in Indochina, Britain in [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], and [[Madagascar]], the [[US]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]] in [[Morocco]] and [[Algeria]], and [[Germany]] in [[Tunisia]]). However, control was gradually reestablished by [[Charles de Gaulle]]. The [[French Union]], included in the 1946 [[French Constitution|Constitution]], replaced the former colonial Empire.
However, France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the [[decolonization]] movement. [[Paul Ramadier]] ([[SFIO]])'s cabinet repressed the [[History of Madagascar|Malagasy insurrection]] in 1947. In Asia, [[Ho Chi Minh]]'s [[Vietminh]] declared [[Vietnam]]'s independence, starting the [[First Indochina War|Franco-Vietnamese War]]. In [[Cameroun]], the [[Union of the Peoples of Cameroon]]'s insurrection, started in 1955 and headed by [[Ruben Um Nyobé]], was violently repressed.
When this ended with French defeat and withdrawal from Vietnam in 1954, the French almost immediately became involved in a new, and even harsher conflict in their oldest major colony, [[French rule in Algeria|Algeria]]. [[Ferhat Abbas]] and [[Messali Hadj]]'s movements had marked the period between the two wars, but both sides radicalized after the Second World War. In 1945, the [[Sétif massacre]] was carried on by the French army. The [[Algerian War of Independence|Algerian War]] started in 1954. Algeria was particularly problematic for the French, due to the large number of European settlers (or ''[[pieds-noirs]]'') who had settled there in the 125 years of French rule. [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s accession to power in 1958 in the middle of the crisis ultimately led to independence for [[Algeria]] with the 1962 [[Evian Accords]].
The [[French Union]] was replaced in the new 1958 [[French Constitution|Constitution]] by the [[French Community]]. Only [[Guinea]] refused by referendum to take part to the new colonial organization. However, the French Community dissolved itself in the midsts of the Algerian War; all of the other African colonies were granted independence in 1960, following local [[referendum]]s. Some few colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the statuses of [[French overseas departments and territories|overseas ''départements'' (territories)]]. Critics of [[neocolonialism]] claimed that the ''[[Françafrique]]'' had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence on one hand, he was creating new ties through [[Jacques Foccart]]'s help, his counsellor for African matters. Foccart supported in particular the [[Biafra secession]] (or Nigerian civil war) during the late 1960s.
==See also==
*[[Evolution of the French Empire]]
*[[Overseas departments and territories of France]]
*[[Decolonization]]
*[[Global empire]]
*[[French law on colonialism]] (2005 law, repealed in 2006)
*[[Franco-Trarzan War of 1825]]
*[[French colonial forces]]
*[[French colonisation of the Americas]]
*[[French Colonial Union]]
*[[French Equatorial Africa]]
*[[French Empire]] (for the European based empires)
*[[French West Africa]]
*[[La Francophonie]]
*[[Franco-Mauritian]]
*[[Franco-Réunionnaise]]
*[[French Canadian]]
*[[Pied-noir]]
*[[Caldoche]]
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*C. M. Andrew; A. S. Kanya-Forstner. French Business and the French Colonialists. The Historical Journal, Vol. 19, No. 4. (Dec., 1976), pp. 981-1000.
*Mathew Burrows. 'Mission civilisatrice': French Cultural Policy in the Middle East, 1860-1914. The Historical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1. (Mar., 1986), pp. 109-135.
*Vincent Confer. French Colonial Ideas before 1789. French Historical Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3. (Spring, 1964), pp. 338-359.
*Rupert Emerson. Colonialism. Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 4, No. 1, Colonialism and Decolonization. (Jan., 1969), pp. 3-16.
*Guy Martin. The Historical, Economic, and Political Bases of France's African Policy. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2. (Jun., 1985), pp. 189-208.
*C. W. Newbury; A. S. Kanya-Forstner. French Policy and the Origins of the Scramble for West Africa. The Journal of African History, Vol. 10, No. 2. (1969), pp. 253-276.
*Thomas Pakenham, ''The Scramble for Africa'' (1991)
*Maria Petringa, ''Brazza, A Life for Africa'' (2006)
==External links==
* [http://www.lafrique.com L'Afrique francophone]
* [http://www.mfa.go.th/web/120.php Threats to the national independence of Thailand], from [[Thailand]]'s [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]
{{Former French colonies}}
{{Colonialism}}
[[Category:Former colonies of France| ]]
[[Category:Colonialism]]
[[Category:French Colonial Empire and World War I| ]]
[[Category:Overseas empires]]
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