1882 - "Does anyone have a stamp?"
Bud's Big BlueBud's Observations
One might wonder why the French bothered to colonize West
Africa. A continuously deteriorating economy, spreading desertification, and
ungovernable peoples might have dampened their ambitions.
It didn’t.
They
wanted West Africa to have European style frontiers with defined borders that
separate neighboring colonies; Africans identified with cultural centers which
had, if any, fuzzy boundaries. The French wanted to bestow the benefits of
European civilization; the Africans were ambivalent about that, sometimes
resistant. Neither the French nor the local leaders understood the importance
of these differences in territorial negotiations like the one pictured above.
So, none of the ever-changing lines the French drew on West
Africa maps worked very well on the ground.
During BB’s classical era, maps suffered
frequent Frankenstein-type surgeries with territories lopped off of or joined
to: Niger, Middle Niger, Mauritania, Senegal, Senegambia and Niger, Upper
Senegal and Niger, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Benin, Dahomey, Upper Volta and,
of course, French Sudan (first stitched in 1892, cut apart in 1899, then re-stitched
in 1920).
The results: lots of stamps, lots of stamps with overprints, lots of
wet paint on post office signage, but not much political coherence.
With the exception of the common designs, all French Sudan
stamps depict the Sahara -- camels, caravansaries, and desert life. The one showing
the entrance into Djénné, a seat of ancient high culture and prosperity similar
to Timbuktu, offers a clue about the persistence of French colonial efforts in
the area. Might the romance of recovering lost, great civilizations have been their
motivation?
Census: 107 in BB spaces. Two tip-ins, 29 on supplement
pages
Jim's Observations
French Sudan ( Soudan Français) was a colony that was part of French West Africa.
The colony first existed from 1890-99. The "Navigation and Commerce" issues were produced for French Sudan during 1894-1900. Then in 1899 the colony was split up and divided between Dahomey, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Senegambia and Niger. From 1906-21, part of the territory was known as Upper Senegal and Niger.
The colony was reborn in 1921. Issues for French Sudan (under French West Africa administration) were resumed in 1921 with overprinted Upper Senegal and Niger stamps.
French Sudan Blog Post and BB Checklist
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Supplements
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Comments appreciated!
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