1939-1945 History of India Pondicherry





French India 1945-1954



In 1946, municipal and cantonal elections were held, in which women were allowed to participate. The Indian Congress Party applied for permission to establish a branch in French India (1946), which was received by the administration of the now overseas territory with reservation. Zivarattinam, representative of French India in the French Constituent Assembly, raised complaints against the authoritarian style of France's governor.
In June 1948 France and the Republic of India (independent since 1947) agreed on referenda to be held in the five French enclaves in India deciding if the respective enclave were to be annexed into India or remain under French administration. Referenda were held in Chandernagar (for annexation into India), in Pondicherry, Yanaon and Karikal (for continued French sovereignty), but not in Mahe, where an invasion from Indian territory of several thousand protesters created an atmosphere in which a referendum could not be held. In 1949, the French transferred Chandernagar to the Republic of India. Population of French India in 1948 : 345,000, of whom 49,000 lived in Chandernagar. From 1948 on, France regarded the question of independence (annexation into the Republic of India) settled.
While France was occupied with the insurrection in French Indochina, a movement for the liberation of French India from colonial rule emerged, and the Republic of India pressed for French withdrawal. In the year of the French defeat in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954), the Republic of India took over the administration of the territory, which consisted of 4 separate units, Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanaon.
Only in 1962 did France finally recognize Indian sovereignty over her former colony. The inhabitants were given the opportunity to opt for French citizenship; today about 20,000 French of Indian origin live in France, another 10,000 French nationals in India. In 1963 Pondicherry (with Karikal, Mahe and Yanaon, but without Chandernagar) forms a separate Union Territory within the Federation of India.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Pondicherry, from pondicherry.com, from pondicherry.net, from pondy.com
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Article : French Colonial Empire : French India, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946 p.330, 1947 p.344 [G]
Article : French Overseas Territories : French India, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1949 p.289 [G]
Article : French India, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1951 p.310, 1953 p.298, 1954 p.297, 1955 p.343 [G]
Article : French India, in : Americana Annual 1947 p.274 [G]
Article : French India, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1946 p.180, 1952 p.171 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 26th 2002, last revised on May 9th 2007

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics