This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
The Republic of Benin was formed in 1960 when the colony of French Dahomey gained independence from France. Prior to this, the area that is now the Republic of Benin was divided largely between two coastal kingdoms, Dahomey and Porto-Novo, and a large area of various tribes in the north. The French assembled these various groups together into the colony of French Dahomey, which was part of the various colonies of French West Africa from 1904 until 1960. In the independence era, the republic was extremely unstable for the first decade and a half of existence, with multiple governments and multiple military coups. In 1972, Mathieu Kérékou led a military coup deposing the Presidential Council and appointing himself as the head of state, a position he held until 1991 when the country returned to multiparty elections. Since that point, the state has held multiple presidential and legislative elections and a number of different parties have become important.
French Sudan was a French colonial territory in the federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formally called French Sudan from 1890 until 1899 and then again from 1921 until 1958, and had a variety of different names over the course of its existence. The colony was initially established largely as a military project led by French troops, but in the mid-1890s it came under civilian administration.
Coutoucou Hubert Maga was a politician from Dahomey. He arose on a political scene where one's power was dictated by what region in Dahomey one lived in. Born a peasant in 1916, Maga served as a schoolmaster from 1936 to 1945, during which time he gradually gained considerable influence among the uneducated. He was elected to Dahomey's territorial assembly in 1947 and founded the Northern Ethnical Group, later renamed the Dahomey Democratic Rally. In 1951, Maga was elected to the French National Assembly, where he served in various positions, including premier from 1959 to 1960. When Dahomey gained its independence from France on August 1, 1960, Maga was appointed to the presidency, and was officially elected to that post on December 11.
The Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, commonly known as the RDA and variously translated as African Democratic Assembly and African Democratic Rally, was a political party in French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa which was important in the decolonization of the French empire. The RDA was composed of different political parties throughout the French colonies in Africa and lasted from 1946 until 1958. At certain points, the RDA was the largest political party in the colonies in Africa and played a key role in the French government headed by the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR). Although the regional party largely dissolved in 1958 with the independence votes for the colonies, many of the national parties retained the RDA in their name and some continue to do so. The political ideology of the party did not endorse outright secession of colonies from France, but it was anti-colonial and pan-Africanist in its political stances.
The National Democratic Rally is a political party in Senegal.
The Mali Federation was a federation in West Africa linking the French colonies of Senegal and the Sudanese Republic for a period of only two months in 1960. It was founded on 4 April 1959 as a territory with self-rule within the French Community and became independent after negotiations with France on 20 June 1960. Two months later, on 19 August 1960, the Sudanese Republic leaders in the Mali Federation mobilized the army and Senegal leaders in the federation retaliated by mobilizing the gendarmerie which resulted in a tense stand-off and the withdrawal from the federation by Senegal the next day. The Sudanese Republic officials resisted this dissolution, cut off diplomatic relations with Senegal, and defiantly changed the name of their country to Mali. For the brief existence of the Mali Federation, the premier was Modibo Keïta, who would become the first President of the Republic of Mali after the Mali Federation dissolved, and its government was based in Dakar, Senegal.
Senegalese Democratic Union was a political party in Senegal, founded in 1946 by the Communist Study Groups (GEC). UDS became affiliated as the Senegalese section of the African Democratic Rally (RDA).
The National Assembly is the unicameral legislature of Senegal. The Assembly was previously part of a bicameral legislature from 1999 to 2001 and from 2007 to 2012, with the indirectly elected Senate being the upper house. The Senate was abolished for a second time in September 2012.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Benin:
The Dahomeyan Democratic Rally was a political party in French Dahomey led by Hubert Maga.
The Black African Students Federation in France was an organization of African students in France. FEANF was influenced by the French Communist Party, and saw the struggle against French colonialism in Africa as part of a wider struggle against Western imperialism. FEANF played an important role for the formation of communist organizations in Francophone Africa. In addition, FEANF largely contributed to creating a
centralized voice that united all African student groups in France, while their
actions highlighted the greater disparities within the French colonial system.
The African Regroupment Party was a political party in the French African colonies.
The Dahomeyean Progressive Union was a political party in Dahomey.
The Dahomeyan Democratic Union was a political party in French Dahomey.
The Republican Party of Dahomey was a political party in French Dahomey led by Sourou-Migan Apithy.
The Dahomeyan Progressive Party was a short-lived political party in French Dahomey.
The Dahomeyan Unity Party was a political party in the Republic of Dahomey.
Republicain, republicaine, Le Républicain, La Républicaine, Les républicains, or variant, may refer to:
