The creation and dissolution of Upper Volta (1894–1932): Ethnic, administrative, and economic rationales of French colonial policy

Abstract

This paper, entitled "The Creation and Dislocation of Upper Volta (1894-1932): Ethnic, Administrative, and Economic Logics of French Colonial Policy" aims to highlight a fundamental, yet underexplored dimension  of French colonial policy in Upper Volta, namely the manipulation of ethnic, administrative, and economic factors in the territorial organization of the region. The use of these factors guided the colonial conquest, the creation of the Voltaic colony, and its dislocation. Indeed, the conquest of the territories was part of the geopolitical rivalries among the major imperialist powers, notably France, England, and Germany. France, which got ahead of the other rival powers, occupied the Voltaic territories and grouped them by ethnic groups. The knowledge of ethnic groups is the work of exploratory missions that collected information on Voltaic societies, which facilitated their submission. These same factors, notably identity-related, were used in the organisation of the conquered territories, especially in the process of creating the colony of Upper Volta. During the disbandment of the Voltaic colony, economic considerations took precedence over ethnic ones, which for a long time had supported French colonial policy. Thus, our study raises the issue centered on the challenges of territorial reorganisation and their implications in the construction and deconstruction of the colonial entity. The objective is to examine the factors that led to the creation of Upper Volta in 1919, and then to its dissolution in 1932. In other words, it analyses the identity, administrative, and economic constructions that structured French colonial policy in Upper Volta, from the territorial conquest to the dissolution of the colony. The study adopts a qualitative approach based on the analysis of oral sources, archival materials from the colonial period, and documentary sources, including books, scientific articles, and theses collected online or in documentation centers in Burkina Faso and abroad. The results show that the colonial conquest, carried out between 1894 and 1900, was based on a combination of diplomatic and military strategies. They also reveal that the creation of the colony resulted from ethnically driven debates among colonial administrators, while strategic and economic considerations mainly explain its dissolution. Thus, the territorial reorganisation of Upper Volta appears as the result of multiple issues, where ethnic, political, and economic dimensions intersect in a colonial context marked by logics of domination and administrative rationalisation. 

Keywords: colonial conquest, circle, ethnicity, Upper Volta