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in the process would be better spent
at home.
Their defeat and the loss of
Alsace-Lorraine in the Franco-
Prussian War of 1870, spurred
France towards gaining status,
power, and colonies, causing it to
pursue the
mission civilisatrice
(the
civilizing mission), the notion of
rayonnement
being the spreading of
French culture to enlighten others.
The Maghreb was viewed as in need
of such improvement, as was the rest
of Africa, with the result that Tunisia
was taken in 1881 and the West
African colonies by 1900.
The mission was to assimilate
the citizens of the colonies, turning
them into model Frenchmen with no
regard for their own cultures, making
them abandon everything that was
not French. But the French were too
heavy-handed and brutal and their
efforts only fostered rebellion; the
majority of Africans neither became
French, nor did the average
Frenchman have much time for the
Africans. But the fact that the African
colonies sent many thousands to the
aid of France during the First World
War tended to create a more positive
view of
colonialism
.
French rule was centralized,
federal, and direct, with orders
issued from Paris. The Minister for
the Colonies issued orders to a
Governor-General, who transmitted
them to the Lieutenants-General,
who in turn instructed the
Colonialism
58
BELOW:
The Great Mosque, Sousse,
Tunisia.
OPPOSITE:
Fishing boats on the Bou
Regreg river and distant Casbah of the
Udayas in Rabat, Morocco.
OVERLEAF:
Marrakech, Morocco with
the Atlas Mountains in the distance.