The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
which at one time comprised the present-day area of the
Republic of the Congo and parts of
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
, and the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...
. In 1910, it was made part of the larger
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial empire, French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, ...
.
The modern
Republic of the Congo is considered French Congo's
successor state
Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th- ...
, having virtually identical borders, and having inherited rights to sovereignty and independence from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
through the dissolution of French Equatorial Africa in the late 1950s.
History
The French Congo began at
Brazzaville on 10 September 1880 as a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its inte ...
over the
Bateke people along the north bank of the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
.
The treaty was signed between King Iloo I and
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, later known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza; 26 January 1852 – 14 September 1905), was an Italian-born, naturalized French explorer. With his family's financial help, he explored the Ogoou ...
; Iloo I died the same year it was signed, but the terms of the treaty were upheld by his queen
Ngalifourou. It was formally established as the French Congo on 30 November 1882,
and was confirmed at the
Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, also known as the Congo Conference (, ) or West Africa Conference (, ), regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergen ...
of 1884–85. Its borders with
Cabinda,
Cameroons
British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of N ...
, and the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leop ...
were established by treaties over the next decade. The plan to develop the colony was to grant massive concessions to some
thirty French companies. These were granted huge swaths of land on the promise they would be developed. This development was limited and amounted mostly to the extraction of
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals ...
, rubber, and timber. These operations often involved great brutality and the near-enslavement of the locals.
Even with these measures most of the companies lost money. Only about ten earned profits. Many of the companies' vast holdings existed only on paper with virtually no presence on the ground in Africa.
The French Congo was sometimes known as Gabon-Congo. It formally added
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...
on in 1891,
was officially renamed Middle Congo (french: link=no, Moyen-Congo) in 1903, was temporarily divorced from Gabon in 1906, and was then reunited as
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial empire, French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, ...
in 1910 in an attempt to emulate the relative success of
French West Africa.
In 1911 the
Morocco-Congo Treaty gave part of the territory to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
for an outlet on the Congo River. This land, known as
Neukamerun, was officially regained by France after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
.
A 1906 study french: label=none, L'Expansion coloniale au Congo français, translation=The colonial expansion of French Congo, was published in conjunction with the French
Colonial Exposition in Marseille.
In 1925
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
historian, sociologist, and
Pan-Africanist W. E. B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
wrote "
'Batouala' voices it. In the depths of the French Congo one finds the same exploitation of black folk as in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
or
British West Africa
British West Africa was the collective name for British colonies in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was orig ...
."
List of governors
*Chief administrators
**12 Mar 1889 - 27 Apr 1895 Fortuné Charles de Chavannes (s.a.)
** 27 Apr 1895 - 22 Jan 1899 Louis Henri Albert Dolisie (b. 1856 - d. 1899)
** 1 May 1899 - 11 Jul 1902 Jean-Baptiste Philema Lemaire (b. 1856 - d. 1932)
**11 Jul 1902 - 5 Apr 1906 Émile Gentil (b. 1866 - d. 1914)
** 5 Apr 1906 - 12 Mar 1909 Adolphe Louis Cureau (b. 1864 - d. 1913)
**17 Jan 1908 - 17 Nov 1908 Édouard Marie Bertrand Eugène Dubosc-Taret (acting for Cureau) (b. 1857 - d. 19..)
*Lieutenant governors
**12 Mar 1909 - 27 Jun 1910 Adolphe Louis Cureau (s.a.)
**27 Jun 1910 - 28 Jul 1911 Édouard Dubosc-Taret (acting) (s.a.)
**28 Jul 1911 - 16 Apr 1916 Lucien Louis Fourneau (b. 1867 - d. 1930), acting to 17 Oct 1912)
**16 Apr 1916 - 17 Jul 1917 Jules Gaston Henri Carde (b. 1874 - d. 1949), (acting to 12 Oct 1916)
**17 Jul 1917 - 2 Apr 1919 Jules Guy Le Prince (acting) (b. 1868 - d. 19..)
**2 Apr 1919 - 16 May 1919 Édmond Émilien Cadier (b. 1868 - d. 1951)
**16 May 1919 - 21 Aug 1919 Jean Henri Marchand (1st time, acting)) (b. 1864 - d. 19..)
**21 Aug 1919 - 16 Aug 1922 Mattéo Mathieu Maurice Alfassa (b. 1876 - d. 1942)
**16 Aug 1922 - 20 Apr 1923 Georges Thomann (acting) (b. 1872 - d. 1943)
**24 Apr 1923 - 21 Jul 1925 Jean Henri Marchand (acting, 2nd time) (s.a.)
** 21 Jul 1925 - 1 Dec 1929 Administration by AEF Governor-general
**1 Dec 1929 - 4 Dec 1930 Marcel Alix Jean Marchessou (acting) (b. 1879 - d. 1964)
** 4 Dec 1930 - May 1931 Pierre Simon Antonin Bonnefont (acting) (b. 1877 - d. 1950)
**May 1931 - 1932 Max de Masson de Saint-Félix (b. 1882 - d. 1958)
**1932 - 21 Nov 1932 Émile Buhot-Launay (acting) (b. 1881 - d. 1970)
**21 Nov 1932 - 10 Feb 1941 Administration by AEF Governor-general
**10 Feb 1941 - 20 Aug 1945 Gabriel Émile Fortune (b. 1897 - d. 1971)
**21 Feb 1942 - 19 Jul 1942 Jean Charles André Capagorry (acting for Fortune) (b. 1894 - d. 1981)
**20 Aug 1945 - 30 Apr 1946 Administration by AEF Governor-general
**30 Apr 1946 - 16 May 1946 Christian Robert Roger Laigret (acting) (b. 1903 - d. 1977)
** 16 May 1946 - 6 Nov 1946 Administration by AEF Governor-general
** 6 Nov 1946 - 31 Dec 1947 Numa François Henri Sadoul (b. 1906 - d. 1990)
**31 Dec 1947 - 1 Mar 1950 Jacques Georges Fourneau (b. 1901 - d. 1956)
**1 Mar 1950 - 25 Apr 1952 Paul Jules Marie Le Layec (b. 1901 - d. 1965)
**25 Apr 1952 - 15 Jul 1953 Jean Georges Chambon (b. 1896 - d. 1965)
**15 Jul 1953 - 2 Nov 1956 Ernest Eugène Rouys (acting to 19 Feb 1954) (b. 1901 - d. ....)
**2 Nov 1956 - 29 Jan 1958 Jean-Michel Marie René Soupault (b. 1918 - d. 1993)
**29 Jan 1958 - 7 Jan 1959 Charles Paul Dériaud (acting) (b. 1911 - d. 1964)
*High Commissioner
** 7 Jan 1959 - 15 Aug 1960 Guy Noël Georgy (b. 1918 - d. 2003)
See also
*
Raphaël Etifier
*
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial empire, French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, ...
*
List of French possessions and colonies
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...
*
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exis ...
*
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
*
Ngalifourou
References
Further reading
*
* Petringa, Maria. ''Brazza, A Life for Africa''. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. . Describes Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's extensive explorations of what became French Congo, and later, French Equatorial Africa.
External links
*
{{Authority control
French Equatorial Africa
Former colonies in Africa
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
History of Central Africa
History of Gabon
Ubangi-Shari
History of the Republic of the Congo
States and territories established in 1882
States and territories disestablished in 1910
1882 establishments in French Congo
1882 establishments in Africa
1960 disestablishments in Africa
1882 establishments in the French colonial empire
1960 disestablishments in the French colonial empire
France–Republic of the Congo relations