International records / OpenAlex research

Le Général de Gaulle et la guerre civile au Nigeria

This article analyses France's position in the face of the secession of Biafra. First describing the background of France's decision to become involved in the Nigerian war, the author then discusses French support for Biafra in the African political context. The principal points of French policy are summarized in three parts: the support for historic African leaders, the maintenance of a francophone community, and the primacy of geopolitical considerations. Nigeria federation represented for de Gaulle a threat to be controlled, but his attitude was modified by the generally hostile reaction of…