Alienation or Political Strategy? The Colonised Defend the Empire

At the end of the nineteenth century, the ‘colonial idea’ was far from widely accepted by French public opinion.1 One of the tasks of the parti colonial therefore was to convince a reluctant public of the value of empire. Thus, during the first half of the twentieth century, placing members of the indigenous population of colonial countries in the public arena for propaganda purposes was one of the strategies used in an attempt to achieve this.2 However, although much is known about the passive role attributed to some of those who were put forward to be seen, admired or feared (for example, in colonial exhibitions), little study has been made of the conditions in which certain prominent African individuals were induced to play a more active part in spreading French imperial propaganda.