La Giraudiere South West France African Holiday and Travel Partners in Africa

France and Africa ~ France's big push to colonize parts of Africa began in 1827, when an argument arose between the French consul and the dey, or governor, of Algiers. In the course of the argument, the dey called the French consul names and flicked him with his fly whisk. The French king, Charles X, was incensed at the dey's insult to France and sent a fleet to blockade Algiers. The blockade was followed by a French invasion in 1830.
The French easily captured Algiers, but it took them years to conquer all of present-day Algeria. In 1831, the new French king, Louis Philippe, established a colonial military force, the French Foreign Legion, to fight France's African wars. The legion, which still exists, was made up mainly of non-French soldiers (see photo) commanded by French officers. It became legendary for its soldiers' bravery and fighting skills.
The legion took the lead in battles that put Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia under French rule. By 1911, the French controlled not only those three countries but also a large area of western Africa and equatorial Africa. French colonies in those areas included what are now 14 African nations: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Togo.
A driving force behind the French colonial expansion in Africa was mission civilis atrice, the idea that France should raise up other peoples to the French way of life by spreading their language and civilization around the world.
The French colonial empire in Africa began to fall apart after World War II (1939-1945). After France lost a war to keep its colonies in Indochina (now Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia) in 1954, it allowed most of its African colonies to vote for independence in 1960. The exception was Algeria. France fought a brutal war with Algerian independence fighters and lost. Algeria gained independence in 1962. In the years since, many people from the former colonies, having learned the French language and culture, immigrated to France looking for a better life.