French Togoland

French Togoland
Togo français
Mandate of France
←
1916–1960 →


Flag

Anthem
La Marseillaise  •  Salut à toi, pays de nos aïeux
(instrumental only)
Location of French Togoland in West Africa.
Capital Lomé
Languages Ewe
French
Political structure League of Nations Mandate
Historical era 20th century
 • Occupation 27 August 1914
 •  Togoland partitioned 27 December 1916
 • League of Nations mandate 20 July 1922
 • Autonomy 1955
 •  Independence 27 April 1960

French Togoland (French: Le Togo français) was a French colonial mandate in West Africa, which later became the Togolese Republic.

Mandate territory

French Togoland in pale purple (British Togoland in pale green).

On August 26, 1914, the German protectorate of Togoland was invaded by French and British forces and fell after five days of brief resistance. Togoland was divided into French and British administrative zones in 1916, and following the war, Togoland formally became a League of Nations mandate divided for administrative purposes between France and the United Kingdom.

After World War II, the mandate became a UN trust territory, still administered by French commissioners.

By statute in 1955, French Togoland became an autonomous republic within the French union, although it retained its UN trusteeship status. A legislative assembly elected by universal adult suffrage had considerable power over internal affairs, with an elected executive body headed by a prime minister responsible to the legislature. These changes were embodied in a constitution approved in a 1956 referendum. On September 10, 1956, Nicolas Grunitzky became prime minister of the Autonomous Republic of Togo. However, due to irregularities in the plebiscite, an unsupervised general election was held in 1958 and won by Sylvanus Olympio. On April 27, 1960, in a smooth transition, Togo severed its constitutional ties with France, shed its UN trusteeship status, and became fully independent under a provisional constitution with Olympio as president.

See also

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