MC_A Concise History of Africa

A Concise History of Africa

official language and six where French is one of two languages, apart from which these countries having little in common. Politics, economies, and cultures may be varied, but it is deeply felt by the French that English has become an overly dominant language. But the French still believe their role was to the good, and positive views of their colonial history are taught in schools. Of course, not all aspects of colonization were uniformly bad, and while much of it was based on a high moral purpose,

some was practical and useful: colonial governments beat off warlords and bandits, advised on land reclamation, agriculture, education, and health care, with roads, railways, bridges, and ports possibly benefiting the colonizers more than the colonized. The British had originally been traders and have been described as “sleep-walking” into their empire. They were interested, then as now, in trade and investment, financial services, making capital investments

OPPOSITE: Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar. It was colonized by the French in 1897 until the island gained independence in 1960. ABOVE: Gorée Island, Dakar, Senegal. The French gained control of Senegal in 1677, and like the rest of the country the island remained continuously French until 1960. The island became a base for the purchase of slaves. The French colonized great swathes of Africa from Senegal in the west to Madagascar in the east.

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