Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a

French colony The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...

in central Africa, a part of

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

. It was named after the Ubangi and

Chari Chari may refer to: Places * Chari River, in Central Africa * Chari-Baguirmi (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari Department, in Chad, one of three departments making up the region of Chari-Baguirmi * Moyen-Chari (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari ...

rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the Upper Ubangi (') and Upper Shari (') territories of the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910 ...

; renamed the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(CAR) on 1 December 1958; and received independence on 13 August 1960.''World Statesmen''.
Central African Republic
" Accessed 29 Mar 2014.

History

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

activity in the area began in 1889 with the establishment of the outpost

Bangi Bangi may refer to: *Bangi (surname), an Indian surname *Bangi District, Bangi, Afghanistan *Bangi, Iran (disambiguation) *Bangi, Nepal *Bangi, Malaysia ** Bangi Komuter station, Malaysia * Bandar Baru Bangi, Malaysia * Bangi (federal constituency), ...

at the head of navigation on the Ubangi. The Upper Ubangi was established as part of the

on 9 December 1891. Despite a France-Congo Free State convention establishing a border around the 4th parallel, the area was contested from 1892 to 1895 with the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leop ...

, which claimed the region as its territory of Ubangi-Bomu ('). The Upper Ubangi was a separate colony from 13 July 1894, until 10 December 1899, at which time it was folded back into the French Congo. The Upper Shari region was established as part of the French Congo on 5 September 1900. That same year the

Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates The Company of the Upper Ubangi Sultanates (french: Compagnie des Sultanats du Haut-Oubangui) was a concessionary company in the colony of Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic) between 1899 and 1927. It was founded by ten European share ...

took over 140,000 km² of Upper Ubangi as a concession.Richard Bradshaw and Juan Fandos-Rius, ''Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic'' (Scarecrow Press, 2016), p. 176. The territories were united as the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari on 29 December 1903, following the French defeat of

Abbas II of Egypt Abbas II Helmy Bey (also known as ''ʿAbbās Ḥilmī Pāshā'', ar, عباس حلمي باشا) (14 July 1874 – 19 December 1944) was the last Khedive ( Ottoman viceroy) of Egypt and Sudan, ruling from 8January 1892 to 19 December 19 ...

, who had claimed the area. On 11 February 1906, this colony merged with the French settlements around

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme ...

and became the Ubangi-Shari territory of Ubangi-Shari-Chad ('). In 1909, it received the administration over the sultanates of

Zemio Zemio is a town and sub-prefecture in the Haut-Mbomou prefecture of the south-eastern Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to th ...

and Rafai from the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

. On 15 January 1910, this administration was merged with the French

Middle Congo Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

and

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

as the Ubangi-Shari area of

(FEA). On 12 April 1916, it again became the separate colony of Ubangi-Shari, but in 1920 lost the territory around Lake Chad, and on 30 June 1934, was again folded into FEA. As a part of FEA, it was declared an

overseas territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

on 31 December 1937. Between 1915 and 1931, stamps were overprinted for use in Ubangi-Shari, and later specially printed for the colony. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, it remained loyal to

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its t ...

from 16 June to 29 August 1940, before being taken by the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

. It was granted

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...

as the

on 1 December 1958, and independence under the same name on 13 August 1960.

Concession systems and Atrocities

Ubangi-Shari had a similar concession system as the Congo Free State and similar atrocities were also committed there. Writer André Gide travelled to Ubangi-Shari and was told by inhabitants about atrocities including mutilations, dismemberments, executions, the burning of children, and villagers being forcefully bound to large beams and made to walk until dropping from exhaustion and thirst. The book "Travels to Congo" by Gide, published in 1927 describes the horrors of the concession companies in French Equatorial Africa. The book had an important impact on the anti-colonialist movement in France. Voyage au Congo suivi du Retour du Tchad Archived 16 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, in Lire, July–August 1995 (in French) The number of victims under the French concession system in Ubangi-Shari and other parts of French Equatorial Africa remains unknown.

References

External links

1870–1960 timeline

at ''World Statesmen'' {{Authority control 1903 establishments in French Equatorial Africa 1958 disestablishments in French Equatorial Africa Chari River Central African Republic–France relations Former colonies in Africa Former French colonies French colonisation in Africa French Equatorial Africa States and territories established in 1903 States and territories disestablished in 1958

History

Concession systems and Atrocities

See also

References

External links