The real barbarians: How the French and British ‘civilized’ Africa

野蠻人是誰：法英兩國"文明化"非洲的真相

Both colonizers, despite their differences, aimed at squeezing profit for their imperial centers

兩個(gè)殖民者雖有不同，但殊途同歸都是為了給帝國中心榨取利益

The colonial footprints in Africa paint a bitter picture of socioeconomic exploitation and political repression, and at its heart are Britain and France. These countries operated different complex yet similar systems of colonial governance. To this end, unmasking their colonial games is necessary for a better understanding of how this complex chain of mechanisms impact the continent today.

非洲大陸上的殖民足跡，勾勒出一幅令人心痛的圖景：社會經(jīng)濟(jì)遭受剝削，政治自由備受壓制。這一切的始作俑者，正是英國和法國。這兩個(gè)國家雖然采取了不同的殖民統(tǒng)治體系，但本質(zhì)上卻驚人地相似。要想真正理解這些復(fù)雜的殖民機(jī)制如何影響今日非洲，我們必須揭開他們的殖民面紗，直面歷史的真相。

Britain’s web
The 15th and 16th century marked an influx of colonial powers to Africa. By the early 16th century, the British under Queen Elizabeth I had deployed its ‘sea dogs’ (a group of notorious pirates) led by John Hawkins, whose duty initially was to attack and loot Spanish ships sent to Africa.

英國的殖民網(wǎng)
15、16世紀(jì)，殖民勢力如潮水般涌入非洲。16世紀(jì)初，伊麗莎白一世統(tǒng)治下的英國已經(jīng)派出了他們的"海狗"——一群臭名昭著的海上劫匪。這支隊(duì)伍由約翰·霍金斯率領(lǐng)，最初的任務(wù)是襲擊和掠奪西班牙派往非洲的船只。

By 1564, the gang had changed its focus to capturing and selling Africans as slaves to the West Indies to work on plantations, the final products of which were sent to Britain in a triangular form of trade – a system of trade which became known as the transatlantic slave trade.

到了1564年，這幫家伙改變了主意。他們開始抓非洲人，把他們當(dāng)奴隸賣到西印度群島的種植園去干活。最后，種植園的產(chǎn)品又運(yùn)回英國，形成了一個(gè)三角形的貿(mào)易鏈條。這就是后來大家所說的跨大西洋奴隸貿(mào)易。

Colonial carve-up: The 1884 borders that still profit the West
Experiencing the lucrativeness of the expeditions by the sea dogs, the queen decided to sponsor the rest of their missions. The colonial crown further institutionalized this act by establishing the Royal African company in 1672 under the authorization of King Charles II to exclusively carry out trade in looted resources in Africa such as gold, slaves, and ivory.

海盜遠(yuǎn)征的豐厚利潤讓女王看到了商機(jī)，她決定資助他們的后續(xù)行動。殖民王室更進(jìn)一步，在1672年在查理二世的授權(quán)下成立了皇家非洲公司。該公司專門經(jīng)營從非洲掠奪而來的資源，如黃金、奴隸和象牙。

Until 1884, when the concept of effective occupation was adopted as part of the General Act of Berlin during the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, the British ambitions were not primarily territorial in nature, but rather to establish a web of trade posts dealing in looted obxts in a barbaric black market. This covert system of looting was in later years transformed into the system of ‘indirect rule’.

直至1884年，"有效占領(lǐng)"的概念在1884-85年柏林會議的《柏林總法案》中被采納之前，英國的野心并非主要在于領(lǐng)土擴(kuò)張。他們的目標(biāo)是建立一個(gè)貿(mào)易站網(wǎng)絡(luò)，專門經(jīng)營被掠奪的物品，形成了一個(gè)野蠻的黑市。這種隱蔽的掠奪系統(tǒng)后來演變成了所謂的"間接統(tǒng)治"制度。

France’s ‘mission’
However, the French fancied both territorial expansionism and trade in looted obxts. This is proven by the establishment of the Saint-Louis trade post in Senegal in 1659 as part of a vision to create a North-West African dream with Senegal as its center.

法國的"使命"
然而，法國人的野心既包括領(lǐng)土擴(kuò)張，也包括掠奪物品的貿(mào)易。這一點(diǎn)從1659年在塞內(nèi)加爾建立圣路易貿(mào)易站可見一斑。這是法國人構(gòu)建以塞內(nèi)加爾為中心的西北非帝國夢想的一部分。

The dream entailed establishing effective control over territories from West Africa including present day Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania to territories in the north, such as Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. To the French, this expansionist policy offered a competitive advantage in terms of trading in looted obxts and spreading French language and culture as part of the ‘mission civilisatrice’ (civilizing mission), an idea that permeated French society’s 18th century Age of Enlightenment.

這個(gè)夢想包括有效控制從西非（包括現(xiàn)今的科特迪瓦、尼日爾、幾內(nèi)亞、布基納法索和毛里塔尼亞）到北部地區(qū)（如阿爾及利亞、突尼斯和摩洛哥）的廣大領(lǐng)土。在法國人看來，這種擴(kuò)張政策不僅能在掠奪物品貿(mào)易上占據(jù)優(yōu)勢，還能傳播法語和法國文化。這正是18世紀(jì)法國啟蒙時(shí)代所謂"文明使命"理念的體現(xiàn)。

Indirect rule by the British vs. assimilation by the French
The differences in their visions propelled the colonialists into operating different systems of colonial governance. The British took a self-righteous position in abolishing the slave trade because it began to raise antagonism among the people.

英國的間接統(tǒng)治與法國的同化政策
兩國愿景的差異導(dǎo)致了不同的殖民統(tǒng)治體系。英國以一種自以為是的姿態(tài)廢除了奴隸貿(mào)易，理由是這種做法開始引起民眾的反抗情緒。

However, under the guise of crushing leaders engaged in the slave trade, they covertly ceased the opportunity to depose political leaders such as Nana and Jaja in Nigeria who opposed British rule and had abolished the slave trade for trade in rubber and palm oil in the 1800s. This laid the foundation for the British system of indirect rule as it arguably instilled fear among opposing leaders and rallied support for British puppets. Through indirect rule, they governed the people through the elites and chiefs loyal to the British colonial crown.

然而，英國人以打擊參與奴隸貿(mào)易的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人為借口，暗中廢黜了那些反對英國統(tǒng)治的政治領(lǐng)袖。如尼日利亞的納納和賈賈，他們在19世紀(jì)就已廢除奴隸貿(mào)易，轉(zhuǎn)而經(jīng)營橡膠和棕櫚油貿(mào)易。這一舉動為英國的間接統(tǒng)治奠定了基礎(chǔ)。它在某種程度上震懾了反對派領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，同時(shí)為英國的傀儡爭取了支持。通過間接統(tǒng)治，英國人借助忠于英國殖民王室的精英和酋長來統(tǒng)治民眾。

The French had the governor general, appointed by a sext committee in France, an Advisory Council which predominantly consisted of the French and appointed local governors who were Africans.

法國人設(shè)立了由法國特別委員會任命的總督，一個(gè)主要由法國人組成的咨詢委員會，以及由非洲人擔(dān)任的地方長官。

To ensure the people trusted the colonial government, the French granted citizenship to Africans who reached a certain level in language proficiency and cultural assimilation. These people were often referred to as ‘évolués’,meaning ‘those who have evolved’. They were seen as second-class French nationals, possessed limited civil and political rights, and were often subjected to racism. Africans were allowed to elect their own governors periodically from candidates sexted by the French colonial government, and the ‘évolués’ in some instances, as in the case of Senegal, were allowed to elect their own representative to the French National Assembly. A notable example is Blaise Diagne, who served in the French National Assembly from 1914-34.

為了贏得民眾對殖民政府的信任，法國給予那些在語言和文化上達(dá)到一定"法國化"程度的非洲人公民身份。這些人被稱為"évolués"，意為"已進(jìn)化者"。然而，他們?nèi)员灰暈槎确▏?，只擁有有限的公民和政治?quán)利，并經(jīng)常遭受種族歧視。非洲人被允許從法國殖民政府選定的候選人中定期選舉自己的長官。在某些情況下，如塞內(nèi)加爾，這些"已進(jìn)化者"甚至被允許選舉自己的代表進(jìn)入法國國民議會。布萊斯·迪亞涅就是一個(gè)著名的例子，他在1914-34年間在法國國民議會任職。
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Despite inner differences in their colonial policies, the British and French authorities were flexible and often borrowed from each other. The British operated a formally similar system. There was the governor general, resident commissioners, Christian missionaries, colonial officers, chiefs, and colonial agents.

盡管殖民政策存在內(nèi)部差異，但英法兩國的殖民當(dāng)局都表現(xiàn)出了靈活性，常常相互借鑒。英國實(shí)行了一個(gè)形式上相似的系統(tǒng)，包括總督、駐地專員、基督教傳教士、殖民官員、酋長和殖民代理人。

The chiefs and colonial agents were predominantly Africans, while the rest were British. The Africans were responsible for collecting taxes, fees for enrollment in the slave trade to capture their fellow Africans and sell them to the British. They also assisted in hearing complaints for colonial justice as well as the work of the Christian missionaries. This was important because the Christian missionaries provided schools to train the locals in line with British colonial policies. In the Gold Coast (modern Ghana), the Wesleyan Methodist missionary established the Mfantsipim boys school and the Wesley Girls’ High School for this purpose, and agents such as Reverend Thomas Thompson, an educator who wrote a pamphlet titled ‘The African trade for Negro slaves shown to be consistent with the principles of Humanity and Laws of revealed Religion in 1778’.

酋長和殖民代理人主要由非洲人擔(dān)任，而其他職位則由英國人擔(dān)任。非洲人的職責(zé)包括征稅、為奴隸貿(mào)易收取費(fèi)用（這意味著他們要捕獲自己的同胞并賣給英國人）。他們還協(xié)助處理殖民司法投訴和支持基督教傳教士的工作。這一點(diǎn)很重要，因?yàn)榛浇虃鹘淌客ㄟ^開辦學(xué)校來培訓(xùn)當(dāng)?shù)厝?，使其符合英國殖民政策。在黃金海岸（現(xiàn)今的加納），衛(wèi)理公會傳教士建立了姆凡齊皮姆男子學(xué)校和衛(wèi)斯理女子高中。一些代理人如教育家托馬斯·湯普森牧師，在1778年寫了一本小冊子，題為《非洲貿(mào)易中的黑人奴隸被證明與人性原則和啟示宗教法則一致》。

By employing this strategy, the British sought to maintain intermediaries to assist them instill trust in the colonial administration, avoid resistance, and reduce administrative cost.

采用這種策略，英國人意在維持一批中間人，以幫助他們在殖民管理中建立信任，避免抵抗，同時(shí)降低管理成本。

In situations in which the French policy of assimilation encountered challenges, the French practiced a similar indirect system as in the case of French Sudan (present-day Mali). The highly Islamic-centered north in French Sudan rejected French culture, as they considered it to be contrary to their values. To address this, the French collaborated with the chiefs and elites to indirectly govern them according to the French colonial rules and consequently indirectly forced them to adopt French practices.

在同化政策遇到挑戰(zhàn)的地方，法國也采取了類似的間接統(tǒng)治方式，如在法屬蘇丹（現(xiàn)今的馬里）。該地區(qū)北部深受伊斯蘭文化影響，拒絕接受法國文化，認(rèn)為它與自身價(jià)值觀相悖。為了應(yīng)對這一情況法國與當(dāng)?shù)厍蹰L和精英合作，通過他們間接實(shí)施法國殖民規(guī)

Britain’s ‘common’ wealth: How London ensures that Africa never prospers
In a nutshell, the French policy of assimilation was geared towards creating second-class French nationals who would adhere to French values, culture, and instructions, while the British indirect rule policy sought to create ‘puppets on the string’ by allowing traditional rulers to maintain their culture while they govern the colonies through them.

更多詳情敬請閱讀：英國的"共同"財(cái)富：倫敦如何確保非洲永遠(yuǎn)無法繁榮
簡言之，法國的同化政策旨在創(chuàng)造一批遵循法國價(jià)值觀、文化和指令的二等法國公民，而英國的間接統(tǒng)治政策則試圖打造一批"傀儡"，表面上允許傳統(tǒng)統(tǒng)治者保持其文化，實(shí)則通過他們來統(tǒng)治殖民地。

Socioeconomic influence
The infrastructural development was strategically taken as part of a colonial policy. The Congo-Ocean Railway line, for instance, was constructed in the 1920s to transport timber and minerals from Congo-Brazzaville to the port of Point-Noire, to be exported to Paris.

社會經(jīng)濟(jì)影響
基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)被戰(zhàn)略性地納入殖民政策。例如，20世紀(jì)20年代修建的剛果-海洋鐵路線，其目的是將木材和礦產(chǎn)從剛果-布拉柴維爾運(yùn)送到黑角港，再出口到巴黎。

In the Gold Coast, the British in 1898 began construction of a cargo railway line lixing the Port of Sekondi to Tarkwa (a gold mining community in Ghana) to exploit minerals to be exported to Britain.

在黃金海岸，英國于1898年開始修建一條貨運(yùn)鐵路線，連接塞康迪港和塔夸（加納的一個(gè)金礦區(qū)）。這條鐵路的目的是為了開采礦產(chǎn)并將其運(yùn)往英國。

However, infrastructural developments were carried out by coerced Africans who had to work for free for some days in a year. The French, in particular, introduced the ‘prestation policy’, which involved 12 days of compulsory free labor of Africans for what was described as public works. Forced labor, including for juveniles, became so widespread that an international labor convention prohibiting it was signed in 1930, but the colonial powers blatantly ignored it. The French further extended this practice by compulsorily enlisting Africans in the Armee d’Afrique (African Army) and using them for these types of projects.

然而，這些基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的建設(shè)是由被強(qiáng)迫的非洲人完成的，他們每年都被迫無償工作數(shù)天。法國特別引入了"prestation政策"，要求非洲人每年進(jìn)行12天的強(qiáng)制無償勞動，聲稱是為了公共工程。強(qiáng)迫勞動，包括對青少年的剝削，變得如此普遍，以至于1930年簽署了一項(xiàng)禁止強(qiáng)迫勞動的國際勞工公約。但殖民大國公然無視這一公約。法國更進(jìn)一步，強(qiáng)制征召非洲人加入非洲軍（Armee d'Afrique），并將他們用于這類項(xiàng)目。

The British West African Frontier Force and the West African Force, on the other hand, were extensively used to suppress nationalist movements that opposed British rule and the imposition of taxes, such as the Hut Tax. This was a tax imposed on residents of British colonies to fund the colonial administration based on the size of their houses – that is, huts. In Sierra Leone, attempts to suppress dissent against this tax led to the Hut Tax War of 1898.

另一方面，英國西非邊防部隊(duì)和西非部隊(duì)被廣泛用于鎮(zhèn)壓反對英國統(tǒng)治和征稅的民族主義運(yùn)動，如反對小屋稅的運(yùn)動。小屋稅是英國對殖民地居民征收的一種稅，目的是為殖民管理籌集資金，稅額基于居民房屋的大小。在塞拉利昂，試圖鎮(zhèn)壓反對這種稅收的異議最終導(dǎo)致了1898年的小屋稅戰(zhàn)爭。

Did British and French ways of economic exploitation differ?
Despite the differences, there were stark similarities between the economic policies, as both economic mechanisms perpetuated a sense of dependency.

英國和法國的經(jīng)濟(jì)剝削方式是否有所不同？
盡管存在差異，但兩國的經(jīng)濟(jì)政策之間有著驚人的相似之處，因?yàn)檫@兩種經(jīng)濟(jì)機(jī)制都延續(xù)了一種依賴關(guān)系。

Will Africa take its gold from a greedy West?
Different currencies – the British West Africa’s pound and the East Africa’s shilling, as well as the CFA Franc (Colonies Fran?aises d’Afrique) – were imposed on the colonies. By the beginning of the 20th century, both countries were operating through corporations, such as the French controlled Compagnie Francaise d’Afrique Occidentale (CFAO) and the British controlled United Africa Company (UAC), which was a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever.

更多詳情敬請閱讀：非洲能否從貪婪的西方手中奪回屬于自己的黃金？
不同的貨幣被強(qiáng)加于殖民地——英屬西非的英鎊、東非的先令，以及法郎（用于法屬非洲殖民地）。到20世紀(jì)初，兩國都通過公司來運(yùn)作，如法國控制的法屬西非公司（CFAO）和英國控制的聯(lián)合非洲公司（UAC），后者是英荷公司聯(lián)合利華的子公司。

Africans were forced to form cooperatives to grow specific cash crops that the colonial states needed. The colonial corporations later fixed the price of these crops at a minimum, which were later exported to the colonial states. Secondary goods were later imported from the colonial states for the colonies by the colonial corporations at higher prices. This ensured two things. First, that the colonies remain ‘offshore plantations’ for the colonial power, and second, that the colonies remain economically poor while clamoring for secondary goods from the colonial power.

非洲人被迫組建合作社，種植殖民國家指定的經(jīng)濟(jì)作物。殖民公司隨后以最低價(jià)格收購這些作物，并將其出口到殖民國家。緊接著，殖民公司又以更高的價(jià)格將二級商品從殖民國家進(jìn)口到殖民地。這種做法確保了兩點(diǎn)：首先，殖民地始終是殖民大國的"離岸種植園"；其次，殖民地在經(jīng)濟(jì)上持續(xù)貧困，同時(shí)渴望從殖民大國獲得二級商品。

After French colonies had gained independence, France desired to keep these policies through series of agreements under an arrangement known as Fran?afrique. However, this created antagonism against Charles De Gaulle for several reasons, particularly his failure to provide justifications that resonated with the Africans. He created a sense of entitlement to the colonies that were determined to gain independence, as in the case of Guinea under Sekou Toure.

法國殖民地獲得獨(dú)立后，法國試圖通過一系列協(xié)議，在"法蘭西非洲"的框架下維持這些政策。然而，這引發(fā)了對戴高樂的敵意，原因有幾個(gè)，尤其是他未能提供非洲人認(rèn)可的理由。他對那些決心獲得獨(dú)立的殖民地表現(xiàn)出一種權(quán)利感，如在塞古·圖雷領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下的幾內(nèi)亞就是如此。
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The efforts to become independent in 1958 and adopt its own currency angered the French government and led to ‘Operation Persil’. This was blatant sabotage by France to destabilize Guinea for voting for complete independence from France’s influence on three fronts. Economically – by flooding Guinea with fake banknotes to create hyperinflation, politically – through mass shipments of weapons into Guinea and transforming the opposition into paramilitaries to cause chaos and eventually overthrow the president, Sekou Toure. And lastly, socially – by destroying critical civilian infrastructure in Guinea, including telecommunications and sewage systems.

1958年，幾內(nèi)亞爭取獨(dú)立并采用自己的貨幣的努力激怒了法國政府，導(dǎo)致了"潘趣酒行動"。這是法國對幾內(nèi)亞投票完全脫離法國影響的公然破壞，從三個(gè)方面進(jìn)行：經(jīng)濟(jì)上，通過向幾內(nèi)亞大量投放假鈔造成惡性通貨膨脹；政治上，大規(guī)模運(yùn)送武器到幾內(nèi)亞，將反對派轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)闇?zhǔn)軍事組織，制造混亂并最終試圖推翻總統(tǒng)塞古·圖雷；社會上，破壞幾內(nèi)亞的關(guān)鍵民用基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，包括電信和污水系統(tǒng)。

On the other hand, after a series of agitations with the colonies, such as the Gold Coast, Britain and other Western countries decided to grant power to the colonies to govern their own affairs to a large extent after gaining independence. By this, African states could adopt their own currencies as well as developing independent economic and security policies, but Britain maintained engagements with its former colonies through the Commonwealth of Nations. Through this, former colonies maintain British structures, such as language and common legal systems. Unlike France, Britain also strategically positioned its firms, such as De La Rue, as a better alternative to print currencies of its former colonies through commercial agreement rather than political intimidation.

另一方面，在與殖民地（如黃金海岸）發(fā)生一系列爭端后，英國和其他西方國家決定在殖民地獲得獨(dú)立后，賦予它們在很大程度上管理自身事務(wù)的權(quán)力。這樣，非洲國家可以采用自己的貨幣，制定獨(dú)立的經(jīng)濟(jì)和安全政策，但英國通過英聯(lián)邦維持與其前殖民地的聯(lián)系。通過這種方式，前殖民地保留了英國的某些結(jié)構(gòu)，如語言和共同的法律體系。與法國不同，英國還戰(zhàn)略性地將其公司（如德拉魯公司）定位為通過商業(yè)協(xié)議而非政治恐嚇來印刷其前殖民地貨幣的更佳選擇。

Undoubtedly, despite the differences, both the French policy of assimilation and British indirect rule perpetuated a sense of dependency aimed to impoverish African colonies. The glaring effects of this barbarism are still deeply felt in Africa today.

無疑問，盡管存在差異，法國的同化政策和英國的間接統(tǒng)治都延續(xù)了一種依賴關(guān)系，旨在使非洲殖民地持續(xù)貧困。這種野蠻行為的影響至今仍在非洲深深感受到。

By Maxwell Boamah Amofa, research officer at the West Africa Transitional Justice Center (WATJ) and coordinator for International Partnerships for African Development (IPAD)

作者：Maxwell Boamah Amofa，西非過渡司法中心（WATJ）研究官員，非洲國際發(fā)展伙伴關(guān)系（IPAD）協(xié)調(diào)員