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crops and activities that would yield
taxable revenue, and emigration was
encouraged where a locality was not
financially viable. In the final
analysis, commercial interests
mattered more than the grand
vision. Empire must have weighed
heavily on bureaucrats, for by the
1870s the French Colonial Ministry’s
message to Senegal was “Let us not
hear from you.”
It was becoming increasingly
clear that many in Francophone
Africa had little stomach for French
rule, though some wished to retain
some cultural and economic ties. A
bitter civil war finally led to Algeria
becoming independent in 1962, six
years after Tunisia and Morocco.
The French held on longer to
their colonies than others,
maintaining greater involvement
after independence. This may
possibly have been to maintain
supplies of uranium, for 75 percent
of French energy is supplied by
nuclear power.
What was left behind was
La
Francophonie
, 29 African countries of
which 18 have French as their
Colonialism
62
An edition of
Le Petit
Robert
, a French
dictionary, defines
colonialism as “valuing,
enhancing, and exploiting the
natural resources of foreign
countries,” which has caused
some comment and attracted the
ire of anti-racist groups. The
British, meanwhile, cringe at the
thought, being too ashamed to
think about or even teach their
own history sensibly.