Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T16:58:55.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

African Military Labour and the Building of the Office du Niger Installations, 1925–1950

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Myron Echenberg  and
Jean Filipovich
Myron Echenberg
Affiliation:
McGill University
Jean Filipovich
Affiliation:
McGill University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1926, the Governor-General of French West Africa issued a decree allowing local administrations to use a portion of the annual military draft as labourers on public works programmes. The only administrations to take full advantage of this decree was that of the French Soudan, where work had already begun on the first phase of the vast Niger irrigation scheme now known as the Office du Niger. During the next twenty-five years, more than fifty thousand so-called ‘second-portion’ workers from Soudan were assigned to the Office du Niger for a period of three years' service. Ironically, this new system of forced labour to exploit the irrigated land.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , November 1986 , pp. 533 - 551
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Mission Bélime, chapter III: ‘Les possibilités d'irrigation’, Archives Nationales Section Outre-Mer (hereafter ANSOM), Travaux Publics (T.P.) 38/1.

2 Sarraut, Albert, La Mise en valeur des colonies Françaises (Paris, 1923), 103–110.Google Scholar

3 Preamble to the ‘Rapport sur le fonctionnement de I'Office du Niger pendant I'année 1935’, ANSOM, T.P. 734/1.

4 Rapport de la Mission Bagot 1934–1935, Historique du S.T.I.N., ANSOM, T.P. 37/18.

5 Bulletin du comité de I'Afrique Française (hereafter BCAF) (February, 1931), 135.

6 Procès Verbal de la Séance du Conseil d'Administration de I'Office du Niger, 12 Juillet 1933. ANSOM, T.P. 733/2.

7 Letter from Governor-General Jules Brévié to the Colonial Minister, September, 1931, ANSOM, T.P. 50/3.

8 Journal Officiel, 7 Janvier 1932, 194.Google Scholar

9 Bernard, Fernand, ‘La mise en valeur des colonies et le programme de M. Sarraut’, La Revue de Paris (September, 1922), 389Google Scholar, and Henry, Yves, Les irrigations au Niger et la culture du cotonnier: etudes et travaux d'agriculture (Paris, 1922), 15–17.Google Scholar

10 Gaitskell, Arthur, Gezira: A Study of Development in the Sudan (London, 1959), 49.Google Scholar

11 Bélime, Mission, ‘Rapport sur les canaux supérieurs du Niger; canal de Ségou’, 114Google Scholar, ANSOM, T.P. 38/4. For a definitive study of the navétanes see David, Philippe, Les Navétanes (Dakar, 1980).Google Scholar

12 Note from Governor-General Marcel de Coppet to the Governor of the French Soudan, 12 January 1938, on the subject of a 1937 decree instituting a mission to study the use of North African labour in the irrigated districts of the Niger Valley. Archives Nationales du Mali, Affaires Agricoles, I-R-5.

13 Procès Verbal de la Réunion du Comité de Direction de I'Office du Niger du 29 Juin 1950, ANSOM, Affaires Economiques (Direction des Etudes Financières) (hereafter A.E. (D.E.F.)), 362/4.

14 Spitz, Georges, Sansanding. Les irrigations du Niger (Paris, 1949), 96–113.Google Scholar

15 Colonel Fernand Bernard was controller of a steamship company operating in the Mekong Delta, director of both the Banque de I'Indochine and the Crédit Fonder de l'Indochine, a perennial critic of the Colonial Ministry, and an influential member of the colonial party in France.

16 Bernard, , ‘La mise en valeur…’, 380–381.Google Scholar

17 Colonial Minister to the Board of Directors of the Office du Niger, Procès Verbal de la Séance du 30 October 1935, ANSOM, T.P. 734/1.

18 Governor-General Brévié to the Board of Directors of the Office du Niger, P.V. de la Séance du 12 Juillet 1933, ANSOM, T.P. 733/2.

19 Rapport de I'Inspector des Colonies Bargues sur le Service de la Colonisation de l'Office du Niger, Mission Bagot, 1934–5, ANSOM, T.P. 626/4.

20 Fall, Babacar, ‘Le travail forcé en Afrique Occidentale Française, 1900–1946: Cas du Sénégal, de la Guinée et du Soudan’ (thèse de 3e cycle, Université de Dakar, 1984).Google Scholar

21 Mission Bélime, 1919–20, ANSOM, T.P. 38/4.

22 Bélime, Emile. La production du colon en Afrique Occidentale Française: Le programme Carde (Paris, 1925), 218.Google Scholar

23 S.T.I.N. Rapport: Campagne 1927–28, Archives Nationales du Mali, Bamako, Affaires Agricoles, I-R-30.

24 Mission Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/16.

25 Echenberg, Myron, ‘Les migrations militaires en Afrique Occidentale Française, 1900–1945’, Revue canadienne des études africaines/Canadian Journal of African Studies (hereafter CJAS), xiv (1980), 430.Google Scholar

26 For more on the mechanics of military recruitment see Echenberg, Myron, ‘Paying the blood tax: military conscription in French West Africa, 1914–1929’, CJAS, ix (1975), 171–192.Google Scholar

27 Mercier, René, Le travail obligatoire dans les colonies africaines (Paris, 1933), 66.Google Scholar

28 For text of the 1926 legislation, Journal Officiel de l'AOF, 1927, 431–433.Google Scholar

29 Archives de I'Afrique occidentale française (hereafter AAOF), Dakar, 4D 45/28, Note for Governor-General of FWA written by Director of Political and Administrative Affairs, 6 December 1937, on the history of the second portion in French Soudan, 13 pages (hereafter, ‘1937 Note’).

30 The revealing term in British forces for this type of work is ‘fatigue duty’. For complaints in Faidherbe's day, when the Senegalese Rifles were founded, at the excessive labour demanded of African soldiers, see Davis, Shelby C., Reservoirs of Men: A History of the Black Troops of French West Africa (Westport, Conn., 1970 reprint of 1934 publication), 24–40.Google Scholar

31 Mercier, , Travail obligatoire, 59.Google Scholar

32 Mercier, , Travail obligatoire, 60.Google Scholar

33 Boiteau, Pierre, Contribution à l'histoire de la nation malgache, (Paris, 1958)Google Scholar; for details of the ILO position see Padmore, George, Life and Struggles of Negro Toilers (London, 1931), 101–110.Google Scholar

34 Mercier, , Travail obligatoire, passim.Google Scholar

35 La Dépêche Coloniale, 27 February 1934.Google Scholar

36 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 29/13, a ten-page memorandum by the Directeur des Affaires Politiques et Administratives, Dakar, 18 December 1929 entitled ‘L'utilisation de la 2e portion du contingent en Afrique occidentale française’ (hereafter cited as ‘utilisation’).

37 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 29/13, ‘utilisation’. While no evidence has come to light indicating the military response, it is highly doubtful that these arguments would have convinced the military to abandon their deep-rooted opposition to the use of military engineering units for civilian projects.

38 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 29/12, Rapport d'ensemble, Dakar, 1930.

39 Suret-Canale, Jean, ‘Un pionnier méconnu du mouvement démocratique et national en Afrique, Louis Hunkanrin’, Etudes Dahoméennes, n.s. no. 3, (December, 1964), 5–30.Google Scholar

40 Echenberg, , ‘Migrations’, 434–438Google Scholar; AAOF, Dakar, 2G 29/12, Rapport d'ensemble, Dakar, 1930.

41 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 41/14, Rapport sur le Recrutement au Soudan pour 1942, Soudan, 30 January 1943.

42 Coulibaly, Sidiki P., ‘Les migrations voltaïques: les origines, les motifs et les perceptions des politiques’ (Ph.d. thesis, l'Université de Montréal, 1978).Google Scholar

43 S.T.I.N. Rapport: Campagne 1927–28, Archives Nationales du Mali, Bamako, Affaires Agricoles, I-R-30.

44 Mercier, , Travail obligatoire, 66.Google Scholar

45 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 45/28, ‘Note pour Gouverneur-Général de I'AOF’, Dakar, 6 December 1937.

46 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 27/21, Rapport politique annuel pour I'AOF en 1927, Gouverneur-Général Carde, Dakar, 22 September 1928.

47 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 50/28, Gouverneur-Général de I'AOF au Lieutenant-Gouverneur du Soudan, 30 November 1936.

48 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 45/28, ‘Note’, 6 December 1937.

49 Delavignette, Robert, Freedom and Authority in French West Africa (London, 1968, reprint of 1950 publication), 68.Google Scholar

50 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 90/81, Circular letter to all Lieutenant-Governors of FWA from Governor-General Cournarie, Dakar, 25 October 1945.

51 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/18.

52 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/16.

53 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/17.

54 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/16.

55 Testimony of Dramane Sarambé of Tougan, Upper Volta, on ‘Le Contingent Spécial de la Deuxième Portion’, recorded by Myron Echenberg, Tougan, 15 June 1973.

56 Inspection du 3e arrondissement – Barrage Markala, Mission Bagot, 1934–1935, ANSOM, T.P. 37/20.

57 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/16.

58 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/18.

59 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/18.

60 Bagot, ANSOM, T.P. 37/18.

61 Procès Verbal de la Séance du Conseil d'Administration de I'OfRce du Niger du 30 Octobre 1935, ANSOM, T.P. 734/1.

62 Procès Verbal de la Séance du Conseil d'Administration de I'Office du Niger du 10 Juillet 1936, ANSOM, T.P. 734/2.

63 Convention pour l'Exécution en Gérance de Travaux d'Irrigation dans la Vallée du Niger, ANSOM, T.P. 734/2.

64 Crowder, Michael, West Africa under Colonial Rule (London, 1968), 442.Google Scholar

65 Johnson, G. Wesley, ‘African political activity in French West Africa 1900–1940’, in Ajayi, J. F. A. and Michael, Crowder (eds.), History of West Africa, 2 (New York, 1973), 549.Google Scholar

66 The administrative council of the Office du Niger admitted that disclosures about the Office appeared in 1937 in the pages of the Gazette Coloniale et Maritime. Procès Verbal de la Séance du Conseil d'Administration de I'Office du Niger du 28 Juillet 1938, ANSOM, T.P. 734/2.

67 Thompson, David, Democracy in France Since 1870 (New York, 1969), 311.Google Scholar

68 Crowder, , West Africa, 442.Google Scholar

69 Letter from the Chief Engineer of Works Control at the Sansanding dam to the Director of the Manpower Service, 1 July 1938, ANSOM, T.P.1013.

70 Rapport de Madame Savineau, December, 1937, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.) 377/7.

71 Echenberg, , ‘Migrations’, 434–438.Google Scholar

72 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 84/81, Rapport sur le recrutement de 1930, Soudan, 16 April 1931.

73 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 33/7, Rapport d'ensemble pour 1933, Dakar, 20 November 1934.

74 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 29/13, Rapport d'ensemble pour I'AOF, 1929. Dakar, 3 September 1930.

75 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 50/28, Governor-General of FWA to Minister of Colonies, 30 June 1938.

76 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 50/28, Rapport sur les difficultés survenues à Markala en Juillet 1939 à I'occasion de I'emploi des travailleurs de la 2e portion. Inspecteur local du travail, Soudan, 19 August 1939.

77 AAOF, Dakar, 2G 37/1, Governor-General's ‘Rapport Politique pour 1937’, Dakar, 17 August 1938.

78 Articles I through 10 and Article 16 of the Decree of 9 December 1941, reorganizing the Office du Niger, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.) 371/1; and Bélime to Bauzil, 18 April 1942, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.), 371/1.

79 Bélime, Rapport général: ‘Production cotonniere dans le delta central nigérien,’ 1941, ANSOM, T.P. 1094/14.

80 Note from P. Viguier to M. Robin, 3 May 1950; ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.), 362/4. Letter from the High Commissioner on the subject of Bélime's request to represent Africans on the Administrative Council, 28 April 1950, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.), 362/4.

81 Spitz, , Sansanding, 67.Google Scholar Bauzil, Bélime's long time associate and second-in-command, replaced Bélime temporarily, to be succeeded by Pierre Viguier.

82 Summary of the Reste Committee Report, August, 1945, p. 5, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.), 369/4.

83 AAOF, Dakar, 4D 90/81, Rapport sur le recrutement de 1946, Soudan, 24 April 1947.

84 AAOF, Dakar, 5D 204/100, Bulletin de Renseignement no. 55, from 26 November to 23 December 1946, E.M.D.M. Section Afrique, 2e Bureau de l'Armée, Algiers, dated 23 December 1946.

85 See Réveil, 1, 13 February 1947, noting report of Journal Officiel de I'AOF for 1 February 1947, III.

86 L'AOF, 21 March 1947, I.Google Scholar

87 Réveil, 1 January 1948, 2.Google Scholar

88 Thompson, Virginia and Adloff, Richard, French West Africa (Stanford, 1957), 491.Google Scholar

89 Procès Verbal de la Séance du Comité de Direction de I'Office du Niger du 28 Avril 1949, ANSOM, A.E. (D.E.F.), 362/2.