Article

2005-10-30 Europe

Historians upset as France burnishes its colonial past:

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Posted by Seafarious 2005-10-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Is there any French Colony which wasn't a total fuckup after they left? Not Vietnam... not north africa.... Any others?

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-10-30 00:09|| 2005-10-30 00:09|| Front Page Top

#2 With all due regard, the French colonies in Africa generally did better than the English or Portuguese ones after independence, mainly because the French never really left (with the exception of Guinea, where they cleared out lock, stock and barrel.) They just changed the flag to some pattern of red, yellow and green, changed the faces on the postage stamps to whoever they had chosen to be the puppet ruler, and left their civil servants in place--and the knowledge of French troops on immediate call. Consequently, most of France's former African colonies actually continued to run much better than those of Britain, where when the British left they actually left completely--with the horrible results one still sees in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Posted by mac 2005-10-30 05:57|| 2005-10-30 05:57|| Front Page Top

#3 Careful Crazy, the one American colony the Philippines isn't a second world wonder either. Now the former post-WWII quasi-colonies of Germany and Japan are doing much better. However each a had the structures though not the heart for representative instututions for many decades prior to their post war de-militarizations.

Given the witnessed events in Africa, I believe a reasonable case for colonial/adult supervision could be made. The amount of manmade dead bodies generated by the local population certainly is a starting point.

Posted by Grereng Hupavirt7442 2005-10-30 07:09|| 2005-10-30 07:09|| Front Page Top

#4 It took a while for the Ghanans, Nigerians, ans Sierra Leonans to get to where they are. It didn't happen overnight. Same for Kenya, Rhodesia and South Africa. I wonder if Africa is really a good example of anyone's colonial ability, except the Belgians.

OTOH look at the Francophone countries:

Belgium
Benin
Burkina-Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of Congo
Djibouti
France
Gabon
Guinea
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Mali
Monaco
Niger
Republic of Congo
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Switzerland
Togo
Vanuatu

Not many there I'd include in a League of Democracies.

Posted by Slaimp Ulineper9814 2005-10-30 07:57|| 2005-10-30 07:57|| Front Page Top

#5 Don't forget Louisiana. Not that that disproves SU's point in any way.

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2005-10-30 09:33|| home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-10-30 09:33|| Front Page Top

#6 Thanks for the info about the colonies :). I stand corrected - learn something everyday.

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-10-30 10:24|| 2005-10-30 10:24|| Front Page Top

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