History of West Africa Niger
1922-1939






Niger, 1899-1922



The southeast of Niger had long formed part of the Sultanate of BORNU, the southwest part of the Empire of SONGHAI. In the arid regions of the north and center, the TUAREG dominated, in the 19th century expanding into the south.
The French established military presence in the region in 1899. In 1900, Niger was established as a military territory within UPPER SENEGAL & NIGER. The French met determined resistance of the TUAREG. Only in 1922, administration was handed over to civilians. The capital was located at ZINDER.
In 1916-1917 the Tuareg rose in rebellion against the French, reacting on the taxation imposed by the French (despite the famine of 1913-1914) and French efforts to recruit soldiers to fight in the trenches; the rebellion was brutally suppressed.
To compensate Italy for promised territorial gain in Dalmatia, which only partially was realized, stretches of border regions of Niger were ceded to Italy in 1919, and incorporated into Italian LIBYA.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Niger, history of, from Infoplease,
Zinder, from Osinga.com
DOCUMENTS Act of Navigation for the Niger, from General Act of the Berlin Conference, 1885, posted at this site
Map : Africa 1906-1912, from Historical and Political Maps of the Modern Age
REFERENCE Article : West Africa and the Sahara : Senegambia & Niger Territories, in : Statesman's Year Book 1905 pp.660-667 (on events of 1904) [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on October 5th 2006

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