Decolonization with Free France

Say standard axis victory with Axis pushed out of Africa,an Allied Victory in the Pacific and an axis victory in Europe.

What would happen with free France and it's various holdings

Would French West Africa and Equatorial Africa still be broken up

What would happen with Algeria. Would a partition or a genocide of locals be likely.

Would Vietnam still be divided
 
I don't think there would be any decolonization on the part of the Free French. With mainland France gone, the French colonial empire is all they have. My guess is they'd relocate to Algeria and make Algiers their capital.

I don't know much about French colonial policies, but I don't think they'd genocide the locals. There would be some kind of apartheid and a divide between the whites and the natives, but considering their inevitable manpower situation, a genocide would be the last thing they'd do. They'd conscript the locals into joining the Senegalese Tiralleurs and use them as a kind of police force to keep their fellow Africans in line.

In regards to Vietnam, I don't see how they'd be able to maintain control over Indochina while in exile. I think in this timeline, the French don't bother fighting the First Indochina War and just leave Indochina altogether, leaving Vietnam in the hands of the Americans.
 
I don't think there would be any decolonization on the part of the Free French. With mainland France gone, the French colonial empire is all they have. My guess is they'd relocate to Algeria and make Algiers their capital.
Wouldn't they be willing to withdraw from Sub-Saharan holdings to focus on combating the Algerians.
 
Wouldn't they be willing to withdraw from Sub-Saharan holdings to focus on combating the Algerians.

If they withdraw from those territories, it's an easy bet that someone else is going to occupy them. Unless they can turn the Sub-Saharan territories into French client states.
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
The fate of the French colonies (especially those captured by Japan) would be decided by America (and to a lesser extent Britain). Neither Roosevelt, Truman, nor Churchill were fond of de Gaulle.
 
The natives ?

I was thinking maybe Germany. The shrinkage of the French colonial empire would mean more territory for the Reich. In this timeline, Germany presumably controls everything that they lost in 1918, except for the French Congo, with the Reich's own twisted version of Mittelafrika.




From Wikipedia: Approximate location of Mittelafrika in medium blue and dark blue, with pre-World War I colonies in dark blue. Light blue are possible additions, including Portuguese colonies.

The colonies you see in medium blue are the colonies they're going to take from their defeated enemies. This gives Germany a powerful foothold in African colonial affairs. Africa is bound to be a continent of proxy wars between Germany and Free France, with both sides supporting local factions fighting against each other. Free France is going to do whatever it takes to keep Germany from consuming any more territory which could put their government in exile at risk.
 
I was thinking maybe Germany. The shrinkage of the French colonial empire would mean more territory for the Reich. In this timeline, Germany presumably controls everything that they lost in 1918, except for the French Congo, with the Reich's own twisted version of Mittelafrika.
The only way they get that is if there a negotiated peace if there is a negotiated peace there is no Free France .
 
What were their problems with him?
The guy was, quite frankly, an egotist with a loud mouth. He often pressed for issues 'important to France' that pissed off the Anglo Allies. For instance, the status of Quebec (potentially destabilizing a loyal British dominion), refusing to dismantle the French colonial Empire whereas Britain begrudgingly accepted (citing it was important to French honor to keep the colonies after the humiliation of WW2) and generally acting like France was a global power when it was a fading colonial empire (while strong, its day had passed).

Granted, Churchill was equally bullheaded and was rather regressive in his views of the Empire, but he generally worked harder to keep good ties with the Americans.
 
The guy was, quite frankly, an egotist with a loud mouth. He often pressed for issues 'important to France' that pissed off the Anglo Allies. For instance, the status of Quebec (potentially destabilizing a loyal British dominion), refusing to dismantle the French colonial Empire whereas Britain begrudgingly accepted (citing it was important to French honor to keep the colonies after the humiliation of WW2) and generally acting like France was a global power when it was a fading colonial empire (while strong, its day had passed).

Granted, Churchill was equally bullheaded and was rather regressive in his views of the Empire, but he generally worked harder to keep good ties with the Americans.

There was also a failed invasion of Vichy controlled Dakar that blew up part of De Gaulle prestige back in 1940.
 
I would expect a Free France to give up any attempt to control Indochina pretty fast after the war. So I expect the center of Free France to be French West and Equatorial Africa and the capital in exile being moved to Dakar, Madagascar and Syria will likely also be give up. I expect that citizenship will be extended to the local population and we will de facto see Free France change from France in exile to simply just a African federation of French speaking former colonies, pretty much a African version of India, impoverish but mostly stable and with the colonial administration pretty continue running the new country.
 
So I expect the center of Free France to be French West and Equatorial Africa and the capital in exile being moved to Dakar,
Wouldn't the Center be Algeria like otl given the French population there

I expect that citizenship will be extended to the local population and we will de facto see Free France change from France in exile to simply just a African federation of French speaking former colonies, pretty much a African version of India, impoverish but mostly stable and with the colonial administration pretty continue running the new country.
Wouldn't they be willing to withdraw from Sub-Saharan holdings to focus on combating the Algerians similar to otl.
 
There was also a failed invasion of Vichy controlled Dakar that blew up part of De Gaulle prestige back in 1940.
There's also the fact that the Americans wanted to govern France as conquered territory, recognised Vichy as the legitimate France, tried to replace de Gaulle with an American puppet and possibly tried to assassinate him multiple times. Churchill also tried to grab Syria and Lebanon from France during the war. De Gaulle had no reason to trust the Anglo-Saxons.
 
There's also the fact that the Americans wanted to govern France as conquered territory, recognised Vichy as the legitimate France, tried to replace de Gaulle with an American puppet and possibly tried to assassinate him multiple times. Churchill also tried to grab Syria and Lebanon from France during the war. De Gaulle had no reason to trust the Anglo-Saxons.

Wait what o_O do you have any source of that?
 
Wait what o_O do you have any source of that?
Men like Raymond Aubrac, appointed by de Gaulle as commissaire de la république, were at odds with AMGOT, as the US officially recognized the Free French government only in October 1944. Henri Giraud was the American favourite, and the Levant Confrontation in 1945 is also historical. The only part hard to prove or disprove are the assassination attempts.
 
Wouldn't they be willing to withdraw from Sub-Saharan holdings to focus on combating the Algerians similar to otl.

Why do you assume that the Free French would be in a position to do anything about Algeria? Before the United States got involved, their territory was restricted to a few spots in Central Africa and the Pacific. The best de Gaulle could probably do in a scenario where Berlin firmly controls Europe and the Mediterranean would be to wrest France's Caribbean colonies and a bit more of Africa.

Algeria, on the other hand, will almost certainly be ruled by Pétain and his successors.
 
Why do you assume that the Free French would be in a position to do anything about Algeria?
Because that what I had in the OP. There number of scenarios could be made where the Free France controls just equatorial Africa,all of France's colonies expect North Africa, and one where Free France control all of France's colonial holding. I wished to do with Free France in control of all of France's colonial holdings.
 
Last edited:
Because that what I had in the OP

Ah, I see that now. Well, in any case, a scenario where the Free French are able to retake Algeria probably means a scenario where the United States declared war on the Germans, and if they have gotten that far, then I do not see how Vichy France ends up with any colonies.
 
Top