Ubangi-Shari

Central African Republic, 1889–1958. Draft, not yet reviewed

Ubangi-Shari was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was established on 29 December 1903 from the Upper Ubangi and Upper Shari territories of the French Congo, was renamed the Central African Republic on 1 December 1958, and gained independence on 13 August 1960. French activity in the area began in 1889 with the establishment of the outpost Bangi at the head of navigation on the Ubangi. During World War II, it remained loyal to Vichy France from 16 June to 29 August 1940, before being taken by the Free French.

Seat of power: Bangui

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• Ubangi-Shari had a similar concession system as the Congo Free State and similar atrocities were also committed there.
• The French author André Gide travelled to Ubangi-Shari and was told by inhabitants about atrocities including mutilations, dismemberments, executions, the burning of children, and villagers being forcibly bound to large beams and made to walk until dropping from exhaustion and thirst.
• The book Travels to Congo by Gide, published in 1927, described the horrors of the concession companies and had an important impact on the anti-colonialist movement in France.
• The number of victims under the French concession system in Ubangi-Shari and other parts of French Equatorial Africa remains unknown.

Picture

The Ubangi River is the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River.

Image: Pete Chirico, USGS, CC BY-SA 1.0, file

Sources

• Ubangi-Shari (Wikipedia)
• Ubangi-Shari (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.