The Last Empire

...In recent weeks, the new French Resident-General has succeeded in somewhat improving relations between the French and Tunisians...

...France alone continues to draw criticism...

...Yet, even if France had developed its colonies far more than it has, if it had built many more roads, hospitals and schools, and if all traces of the colonial spirit had vanished among French administrators and settlers—even then, France's policy toward her dependent territories would be subject to sharp criticism...

...Unless Paris speedily satisfies the country's national aspirations, however, the crisis will burst forth again...

...In Morocco, where the intellectual elite is much smaller than in Tunisia and feudal and religious influences much stronger, it was the Sultan himself who for several years demanded the opening of negotiations to replace the 1912 protectorate treaty with a new one that would lead the country rapidly toward self-government...

...These are territories which, as the result of conquest or more or less peaceful exploration, have become France's "property" and are recognized by international law as under her sovereignty...

...population: 1 million) and Cameroons (area: 166,000 square miles...

...They are entitled to vote for Deputies and Senators to the Parliament in Paris and to elect local assemblies...

...They include the three states of Indo-China (286,000 square miles, 29 million inhabitants), Morocco (172,000 square miles, 8 million people), and Tunisia (48,000 square miles, 3 million people...

...although, ironically, his demands at that time were less far-reaching than those made by the Kings of Cambodia and Laos in 1948 and by Chief of State Bao Dai of Vietnam in 1949...

...To achieve this goal, however, it was essential that the French Government keep its end of the bargain...

...The outbreaks in France's Tunisian and Moroccan protectorates and the war in Indo-China make constant headlines...

...The reforms were halted after the fall of the Blum Government and were not taken up again until 1946—again through the endeavors of Marius Moutet...

...In that year, they were abolished on the initiative of Marius Moutet, Minister of Colonies in the government headed by Leon Blum...

...In fact, however, the French administration wields all power, and the local "sovereigns" are completely subservient...

...population: 3 million) fall in this category...

...These are countries which have retained their internal state structure but lost their sovereignty...

...Both were German colonies before World War I, following which they were placed under a French mandate by the League of Nations...

...It is only fair to point out that not all the criticisms leveled at France are well founded...

...It calls for the gradual creation of a Tunisian constitutional monarchy associated with France, as a sovereign state, on the military, diplomatic, economic and cultural levels...

...Indeed, if the cold war did not force the free nations to maintain a united front, the colonial powers—Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal—would probably stand isolated in the world...

...At the present time, they are making a special effort to prevent the new Labor Code for the colonies, drafted by the Versailles Assembly in 1949 but not approved by Parliament until December 1952, from being put into effect If the situation in the colonies is steadily approaching a crisis due to the selfishness of the colonial capitalists and the blindness of the Government, these same factors have already produced a disastrous war in Indo-China and a state of grave tension in Tunisia and Morocco...

...The Constitution also set up a new legislative body whose purpose, as originally conceived, was to weld the French Republic and its colonies into a federal structure...

...Is France capable of solving her colonial problems without new outbreaks of bloodshed like that in Indo-China...

...and it took seven years of war in Indo-China for France to recognize the right of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to complete independence...

...Instead, the colonial interests have constantly prevented Paris from taking bold initiatives or even, at times, making concessions...

...One colony, French Guiana, is even located in South America...

...France undertakes to lead the peoples in its charge toward the freedom to govern themselves and to democratically manage their own affairs...

...In Tunisia, the nationalist Neo-destour party represents 80 per cent of the population and is based on a labor union affiliated with the anti-Communist International Confederation of Free Trade Unions...

...On the basis of these principles, the regular colonies have been incorporated into the French Republic and the rights of French citizenship granted to all inhabitants...

...The segregation practiced in South Africa is far more odious than the vestiges of racial discrimination still found in French colonies...

...For the idea that certain European nations should employ force to hold certain other nations in Africa and Asia in a state of dependence has become an affront to the conscience of mankind...

...Metropolitan France hag an area of 212,-000 square miles and a population of 43 million...

...Only Togoland (area: 22,000 square miles...

...Tension reached its peak with the assassination of Farhat Hached, leader of the Tunisian Federation of Labor, whose killers have not yet been found...

...After World War II, France concluded a "trusteeship agreement" with the United Nations granting her the right to administer them subject to UN control...

...These territories can be divided into three categories, according to the degree of "dependence" on France: 1. Colonies...

...They are to obtain self-government when they reach the proper stage of development...

...Consequently, whereas in France a Deputy represents 80,000 persons on the average, in the colonies he represents at least 800,000...

...The French struck back with mass arrests, which led in turn to acts of terrorism by irresponsible nationalist elements...

...It is not likely to continue for long, however, and a state of open war could have disastrous consequences...

...But the French authorities turned a deaf ear and finally resorted to force: The Sultan was deposed and banished to Corsica, and a successor was installed whom the French hoped would be more docile...

...The same has been true of Britain since she granted independence to India, Pakistan and Burma...

...Oreste Rosenfeld is a member of the Colonial Committee of the French National Assembly and Sunday editor of the Socialist newspaper Populaire...

...Morocco and Tunisia are ruled, respectively, by a sultan and a bey...

...The "French Union" formula conceived in 1946 could have permitted these states to evolve rapidly toward sovereignty and independence, while retaining an association with France along the lines of the British Commonwealth...

...3. Protectorates...

...This body, which has sat at Versailles since December 10, 1947, stirred hope and enthusiasm among the colonial populations...

...It dominates the foreign policy of India, Burma, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Arab states and often the Latin American countries as well...

...Because many natives are unable to meet the basic qualifications, however, all adults of both sexes do not vote...

...In the eyes of the world, then, France is the colonial power par excellence...

...Nevertheless, since Indonesia was given her freedom, the Netherlands has attracted far less attention from the foes of colonialism...

...As for the territorial assemblies, these have very limited powers...

...In the past twenty years, the only serious reforms have been those made in the brief periods when Socialists were represented in the Government...

...But the Assembly was granted only consultative powers by the Constitution, and its decisions, in order to have the force of law, must be approved by both houses of Parliament...

...rejecting any system of colonization based on arbitrary rule, it guarantees to all equal access to public office and to the individual or collective exercise of the rights and liberties proclaimed or confirmed above...

...To make matters worse, the colonial administration is profiting from the present wave of reaction at home to re-establish its former arbitrary rule, and the French settlers, always hostile to reform, are trying to regain their "master race" status...

...Similarly, the Negroes living under French rule, who have enjoyed full political rights since 1946, are much better off in that respect than their kinsmen in the Belgian Congo (though the latter's living conditions may be somewhat superior...

...This would have been beneficial to both sides, since the homeland and the colonies are in great measure economically interdependent and a military and cultural union with France is desired by all concerned...

...The "French Empire"—as it was called before World War II—includes metropolitan France and its colonies scattered throughout Africa, Asia and the islands of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans...

...Theoretically, the natives possess the same civil and political rights as persons living in metropolitan France...

...The 1946 Constitution, had it been carried out, would have resolved the colonial problem in the best possible manner...

...Meanwhile, time is running short...

...Its preamble proclaims the most liberal, modern principles: "France forms with the overseas peoples a Union based on equality of rights and duties, without distinction as to race or religion...

...Moreover, in many places—particularly Algeria and Madagascar —the natives form a separate electoral college, so that the whites, though much less numerous, have almost as many Parliamentary seats...

...In all these "protectorates," the population has reached a relatively high stage of development, with intellectual elites trained largely in French universities...

...They occupy some 4 million square miles with 38 million inhabitants, including 1.5 million whites...

...The events in Indo-China have apparently had no effect on the French colonials in Tunisia and Morocco...

...For the leaders of the Fourth Republic, dominated by capitalist interests in the colonies, show no signs of understanding the evolution and national aspirations of the colonial peoples...

...and the French governors possess the right of veto, with final decisions often reserved to the Minister of Colonies in Paris...

...National feelings, which awakened after the First World War, have become acute since the Second...

...THE LAST EMPIRE Old-style French colonialism—thinly disguised as a free 'Union'—constitutes a dangerous anachronism in a world of rising nationalism By Oreste Rosenfeld Paris The colonial problem continues to bulk ever larger in the deliberations of the United Nations...

...As a result, the negotiations with Ho Chi Minh in 1946 ended in failure and war...

...For the French middle class lacks two essential qualities possessed by its English counterpart: breadth of vision and the wisdom to make concessions before it is too late...

...And the Arab populations of French North Africa undeniably enjoy a higher standard of living than the inhabitants of some independent Arab states...

...I believe that, as long as the present right-wing elements continue to rule in Paris, a peaceful solution beneficial to all concerned is unlikely...

...When Paris rejected this program in December 1951, Tunisia appealed to the United Nations...

...Thanks to martial law and censorship, "order reigns" in Morocco today...

...All five of these protectorates are more or less absolute monarchies...

...Conditions in her Togo-land and Cameroons trust areas are hotly debated in the Trusteeship Committee of the UN General Assembly, while her refusal to provide information on other dependent areas has provoked legal disputes...

...This is the Assembly of the French Union, composed half of representatives from metropolitan France chosen by Parliament and half of representatives from overseas chosen by the local assemblies...

...The French Union is composed of nations and peoples which pool or coordinate their resources and efforts with a view to developing their respective civilizations, increasing their well-being and assuring their security...

...Before the last war, Vietnam—then called Annam—was ruled by an emperor, while Cambodia and Laos are still kingdoms...

...Neither Parliament nor the French Government pays attention to the extremely serious, useful work of this so-called "colonial chamber," and its legislative proposals—of which there are already several hundred—are allowed to gather dust...

...2. Trust areas...

...Just as in the colonies and trust territories, the French settlers enjoy all economic, social and political privileges...

...Its overseas dependencies have a total area of 4,645,000 square miles and a population of 82 million, of whom only 2 million are whites...

...When Moutet left the Government in 1947, the movement for colonial reform again came to a halt, despite the provisions of the Constitution adopted in October 1946...

...And Portugal and Belgium, with their relatively small empires, have never really "rated" as colonial powers...

...Slavery was formally abolished throughout the French Empire after the Revolution of 1848, but forced labor and corporal punishment continued in most of the colonies until 1936...

...As a result, disillusionment is growing in the colonies, where the native population feels that France is retracting the promises she made after the Liberation and returning to the prewar colonial regime...