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Benin (Dahomey)
Moved through Loi Cadre self-government and autonomy within the French Community to negotiated independence alongside its Conseil de l'Entente partners.
- Independence
- August 1, 1960
- Before
- French Dahomey
- Metropole
- France
- Transition
- Negotiated
- Movement
- Regional parties: Maga's RDD, Apithy's PRD and Ahomadégbé's UDD (the PRD and RDD merged into the Parti Dahoméen de l'Unité on 13 November 1960)
- Head of government at independence
- Hubert Maga
“Je proclame solennellement l'Indépendance du Dahomey ce lundi 1er août 1960 en présence des représentants de la République française. (I solemnly proclaim the Independence of Dahomey this Monday 1 August 1960 in the presence of the representatives of the French Republic.)”
— Hubert Maga, Prime Minister, August 1, 1960
The Fall of Abomey
France fought the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1890 and again from 1892, when its forces entered the capital, Abomey, on 17 November after King Béhanzin had burned and abandoned it. Béhanzin surrendered in January 1894 (French accounts give 15 January, Beninese historians the meeting at Goho on 25 January) and was exiled to Martinique. Colonial Dahomey joined French West Africa, and by the 1950s its many mission-educated southerners had earned it the nickname the 'Latin Quarter' of French West Africa.
Three Regions, Three Leaders
Politics split along regional lines: Hubert Maga in the north, Sourou-Migan Apithy in Porto-Novo and the south-east, and Justin Ahomadégbé in Abomey and the Fon heartland. The 1956 Loi Cadre introduced territorial self-government, and after the 1958 referendum Dahomey became an autonomous republic within the French Community on 4 December 1958. After inconclusive elections in April 1959, Maga replaced Apithy as head of government on 22 May 1959.
Independence Under Maga
Dahomey declared support for the proposed Mali Federation in early 1959 but, under pressure from France and Ivory Coast, never ratified its constitution. It aligned instead with its Conseil de l'Entente partners and became independent on 1 August 1960, with Maga as President and Apithy as Vice-President at the head of an uneasy regional coalition. Student and trade-union unrest over economic hardship soon strained it, and in October 1963 the army chief, Christophe Soglo, took power.
Chronology
- 17 November 1892 — French forces enter Abomey
- January 1894 — King Béhanzin surrenders and is exiled to Martinique
- 23 June 1956 — Loi Cadre enables territorial self-government
- 4 December 1958 — Autonomous republic within the French Community
- 1 August 1960 — Independence
- 28 October 1963 — Maga overthrown by Colonel Christophe Soglo
Documents
- Act Loi-cadre Defferre (Law 56-619, 23 June 1956)
- Constitution Constitution of the Republic of Dahomey (25 November 1960)
- Treaty Agreement transferring the competences of the French Community to the Republic of Dahomey (1 August 1960)
Aftermath
Regional rivalries made Dahomey one of Africa's most coup-prone states, with six successful coups between 1963 and 1972, the last bringing Mathieu Kérékou to power. His regime renamed the country the People's Republic of Benin in 1975. In February 1990 Benin held francophone Africa's first national conference, which opened the way to multiparty elections in 1991.
Legacy
Dahomey's regional divisions made it a textbook case of post-colonial instability until, as Benin, it became a pioneer of democratic transition in 1990.