French West Africa (Age of Empires)

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger. The federation existed from 1864 until 1958. Its capital was Saint-Louis, Senegal until 1902, and then Dakar until the federation's collapse in 1960.

Early Establishment
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Royal takeover
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World War II
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Political divisions of French West Africa
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Colonial Administration
In the beginning, they simply delegated administration to trading companies. However, during the last third of the 1864, the crown took over the administration of the colony, instituting tighter control and stability. The government of French West Africa, as it was in France, was highly centralised. Power was concentrated in the executive branch, and all elections where they occurred were carried out using indirect methods. From the Prime Minister's office in Paris, authority extended down to the most remote posts of French West Africa through a rigid chain of command. The authority of the government of French West Africa was residual, primarily limited to implementing policies already decided in Europe.

The Crown appointed the heads of the three departments of state: interior, foreign affairs and finances. Each was headed by an administrator-general (administrateur-général), later a secretary-general (secrétaire-général), who was obligated to enact the policies of the sovereign or else resign. Below the secretaries-general were a series of bureaucrats of decreasing rank: directors general (directeurs généraux), directors (directeurs), chefs de divisions (division chiefs) and chefs de bureaux (bureau chiefs). The departments were headquartered in Paris.

Finance was in charge of accounting for income and expenditure and tracking the public debt. Besides diplomacy, foreign affairs was in charge of shipping, education, religion and commerce. The department of the interior was responsible for defence, police, public health and public works. It was also charged with overseeing the exploitation of French West Africa's natural resources and plantations.

The oversight of all the departments was nominally in the hands of the Governor-General (Gouverneur général), appointed by the French cabinet on recommendation of the Overseas Minister. The governor-general had both executive and legislative authority. The Sovereign Council of French West Africa advised the governor-general in the running of the province. The functional cabinet consisted of five secretaries appointed by the Overseas Minister on the advice of the governor. A Legislative Council had limited powers and its main activity was approving the provincial budget. Finally, an Economic and Social Council had to be consulted on all draft legislation, and the governor-general had to justify his decision to Lisbon if he ignored its advice.