African Democratic Union

After the end of World War II, representatives of the African population of the French colonies were given the opportunity to be elected to the metropolitan parliament. However, there they were forced to join factions of traditional French parties, which made it difficult for them to fight for the interests of their voters in Africa. Some of the African parliamentarians concluded that it was necessary to create their own party.

On September 18, 1946, a manifesto was signed, signed by Felix Houphouet-Boigny , Gabriel D'Arbusier , Fili Dabo Sissoko, and Lamin Gay , expressing confidence that “Africans will have free development” and called for participation in the Congress of African representatives in October 1946 in Bamako ^[1] .

The appeal was distributed in all the territories of the Federal Law and Public Administration and the Economic Initiative, which caused concern for Marius Moutier, Minister for Overseas Territories of France. He decided to take control of the situation: on the one hand, the colonial authorities began to hinder the arrival of delegates to the Congress in Bamako, on the other hand the minister relied on Filix Houphue, who was trusted by the Felix Douphou -Buani. He ordered Sissoko to organize the sabotage of the congress and even provided him with his plane for the flight to Bamako on October 16 . However, the French Communists, in turn, chartered the plane and for Houphouë-Boigny, who in time managed to get to the capital of French Sudan . He appeared in Bamako at the moment when Fili Sissoko from the side of the truck was convincing the delegates that Houphouet-Boignane was a puppet in the hands of the communists, and seized the initiative. Ufue-Boigny with a megaphone in his hand destroyed all the arguments of Fili Sissoko and achieved agreement on holding the congress. Fili Sissoko switched sides and even agreed to chair the first meeting of the congress ^[2] .

On October 18, 1946, the First Congress of the African Democratic Union opened in Bamako, in which hundreds of representatives from French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa participated. Although representatives of the French Congo were unable to participate in the work of the congress, their leader, J.-F. Tchicaya was elected vice-chairman of the party ^[3] .

In Union with the Communists

The DOA proclaimed its goal of liberating Africa from colonial dependence and declared its "alliance with the progressive forces of the whole world and in particular the French people . " The new party was supported by the French Communist Party and in many respects shared its position. In the book DOA in the Anti-Imperialist Struggle published in Paris in 1948, its leaders wrote about an alliance with the French Communists, that the DOA is "a faithful ally because of the common interests of the working and exploited masses of all the territories of the French Union . " They noted that "the French Communist Party was the only party that never betrayed the interests of the oppressed masses and the peoples of the colonies" ^[3] .

The French colonial administration, if possible, hindered the activities of the ADO. In October 1948, Gabriel d'Arbusier stated that the creation of the territorial sections of the party was “fraught with enormous difficulties” which “consisted most likely in the systematic obstruction of the colonialists, frightened by the mighty flow that the masses had in the DAA” ^[4] .

In 1947, about one million voters voted for ADO in the FZA and FEA. It received 11 seats in the National Assembly of France, 7 seats in the Council of the Republic and 5 seats in the Assembly of the French Union. The general secretary of ADO G. d'Arbusier declared that the party should be “an irresistible physical force uniting all African masses in their struggle against colonialism and imperialism” ^[5] . Deputies from the DOA have combined their efforts in the French National Assembly with the faction of the Communists and contributed to the adoption of important decisions concerning the African colonies, in particular the increase in the number of African women voters in 1951 ^[3] .

By 1948, the ADO consisted of more than a million Africans, it had sections in 11 French colonies ^[6] .

Break with FKP

After on May 4, 1947, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of France, Paul Ramadier, signed a decree excluding the Communists from the French government, the authorities in the colonies launched a struggle with the leaders and activists of the ADO, who supported the PCF. The mass arrests of supporters of the African Democratic Union made a kind of selection in its ranks and strengthened the position of the moderate chairman of ADO Felix Houphouet-Boigny, a native of tribal nobility and an entrepreneur ^[7] .

On January 5, 1949, in the suburb of Abidjan Treisheville, the II Congress of the General Assembly opened, the delegates of which were welcomed on behalf of the PCF by Waldeck Rocher ^[8] . Kost Floret, the Minister for Overseas Territories of France, stated that the ADO is “a camouflaged communist organization” . In February, the authorities carried out regular arrests among activists of the Democratic Party BSC, which caused clashes in the cities of Dambocré, Bouaflet, Cetela, etc. Ivory Coast Laurent Peshu , also a member of SFIO ^[9] .

In April 1950, the chairman of the ADO Felix Houphouet-Boigny, on behalf of the ADO, also welcomed the congress of the French Communists, and on October 17, 1950, he announced from the podium of the French National Assembly that the Union was breaking ties with the PCF ^[10] .

Period of splits

The party’s secretary general, Gabriel D'Arbusse, sharply objected to the break with the Communists, but he was removed from his post. He left the RDA Coordination Committee, and then a group of his supporters left the party ^[10] . In 1952, after speaking out against the policy of Houphouet-Boigny, he was expelled from the party. The new course was also condemned by a number of sections - the Democratic Union of Senegal, the Democratic Union of Niger and the Union of Peoples of Cameroon. In 1955, they were also excluded from the ADO ^[5] .

The trade union activists of the General Confederation of Labor in Africa who did not comply with the decision to break contacts with the PCF and continued to receive support from the General Confederation of Labor of France ^[8] .

In 1955, Houphouet-Boigny launched a campaign to exclude from the ranks of the DAA, individuals previously actively cooperating with the French Communist Party. In May 1957, the Congolese Progressive Party was expelled from the Union, which was replaced by the Democratic Union for the Defense of African Interests (UDDIA), Abbot Fülber Yulu ^[11] .

At the same time, the ADO received increasing support from the French political elite. Over the years, such prominent French politicians as Francois Mitterrand , Edgar Fort and Pierre Mendez-France ^[12] participated in his congresses as invited guests.

March 21, 1957 elections were held in the territorial assemblies in all the colonies of tropical Africa and Madagascar . In French West Africa, out of 474 seats in the Assembly, the FZA ADO received 241 seats, the African Social Movement - 62 seats, the Party of African Accord - 52 seats. ADO won in Gabon and Chad.

In September 1957, after the 8-year break, the 3rd ADO Congress , chaired by Uphouet-Boigny, was held in Bamako. It was attended by 244 delegates ^[13] . The congress speaks in favor of the idea of ​​the Franco-African community and is against the creation of executive bodies whose competence would extend to groups of territories. However, a significant part of the delegates defends the idea of ​​creating federations of various overseas territories. The political resolution of the congress confirms the “inalienable right of peoples to independence”, but it approves the policy of creating a federation of African autonomies with the federal government and the federal parliament. Leaders led by Houphouët-Boigny remain in power, but a radical wing is also formed. The activity of the party moves to section ^[14] .

As the ADO sections received political power in the colonies, the main controversial issues in the party were the issue of the timing of independence and the federations of the French colonies as the basis for future large African states. If the leadership of ADO led by Houphouet-Boigny was in no hurry to sever relations with France, then, for example, the Guinean section - the Democratic Party of Guinea demanded independence immediately. At the party congress, the ADO leadership could not resist the ideas of the federations uniting groups of colonies, which were also supported by sections in Guinea, French Sudan, Senegal, etc. But the efforts of the ADO leadership to implement the principle of “one colony - one state” caused the party to be accused of that she balkanized French Africa and prevented the creation, instead of 11 states, of several powerful African states, federations that united several former colonies ^[15]

September 10, 1958 was distributed communiqué of the Coordinating Committee of the ADO, which met in Paris under the chairmanship of Houphouet-Boigny. It expressed support for the decision of the French government to grant the colonies the status of autonomy within the framework of the French Community ^[16] . This provoked sharp criticism from the Democratic Party of Guinea, which achieved independence for Guinea after 18 days, in November 1958, broke off relations with ADO, declaring loyalty to the program of 1946, and tried to make Conakry a new party center. The DPG even retained an elephant - the symbol of ADO - as a party symbol.

Since 1959, the Ivory Coast Democratic Party has become the formal core of the interstate ADO, but each of the party-sections has already decided the fate of their country.

The African Democratic Union as an interterritorial party was built on the principle of uniting sections created in each of the colonies. They were led by a Steering Committee headed by a chairman. The charter provided for autonomy of sections ^[14] . Felix Houphouet-Boigny was the chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the All-Union Society of Independence. The post of the General Secretary of the General Assembly was held by:

• Fili Dabo Sissoko (BSK) - 1946-1949;
• Gabriel d'Arbusier (French Sudan) - 1949-1950;
• Sheikh Anta Diop (Senegal) - 1950–1953 ^[17] .

The first Coordination Committee included Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Secretary General Fili Sissoko and Vice-Chairmen Jean-Félix Tchicaya (French Congo), Mamadou Konate (French Sudan), Gabriel D'Arbusse (BSK). The heads of the sections were approved: Joseph Correia in Senegal, Modibo Keita in French Sudan, Auguste Denis in Ivory Coast, Madeira Keita in Guinea, Djibo Bakari in Niger, Charles Nignan Nacouzon in Upper Volta, Alexander Adande in Dahomey, Ruben N'Yube Cameroon, Gabriel Lisett in Chad and Hubert Lunda in the Congo ^[18] .

Section of the African Democratic Union

The ADO also influenced the French mandated territory of Togo and French Somalia ( Djibouti ) ^[19] . Gabriel d'Arbusier defined the African Democratic Union as a movement rather than a full-fledged political party, which he wrote in an open letter to Houphouë-Boigny on July 24, 1952 and spoke at the 4th ADO Congress in September 1959 in Abidjan ^[20] . A party member could be any person living in French Africa. The black African elephant on a white background was the emblem of ADO , the official color at elections and in propaganda was white, with an emblem in the shape of an elephant. The slogan for ADO was “Peace. Freedom. Justice " ^[18] .

• I Congress - October 18-21, 1946 , Bamako ;
• II Congress - 5 -? January 1949 , Treisheville, Abidjan ;
• III Congress - September 25-28, 1957 , Bamako ^[21] ;
• IV congress - September 1959 , Abidjan

The fate of the parties arising from the ADO sections was different. The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon was banned and destroyed by the French colonial authorities during anti-partisan actions. The Congolese progressive party of Jean-Félix Tchicaya was unviable and, accused of collaborating with the communists, already in 1956 began to play a secondary role in the political life of the country ^[10] . Many other parties came to power and led their countries to independence. However, independence has become a test for most of them, which they could not stand. In August 1963, the YUDDIA regime was overthrown in the Congo; in November 1963, after the military coup, the Dahomean section was dissolved. By the end of 1963, the ADO sections formally existed in the BSK, Niger, Upper Volta, Chad, and Gabon. The Sudanese Union of Mali retained the prefix "ADO", but did not maintain contact with Abidjan and did not participate in the work of the Coordination Committee ^[19] . The Voltai Democratic Union-ADO lost power after the military coup on January 3, 1966 , the Sudanese Union-ADO in Mali after the coup on November 19, 1968 , the Nigerian Progressive Party after the coup on April 15, 1974, and the Progressive Party of Chad after the coup on April 13, 1975 .

Currently there are parties in a number of African countries that declare themselves heirs of ADO or its affiliated parties.

• Soviet historical encyclopedia. T.1 M.1961 - pp. 102. −103.
• Africa. Encyclopedic reference. Т.1 А-К / Гл. ed. A.Gromyko - M .: Soviet encyclopedia, 1986 - p. 397.
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• Iordansky V. B. Strategy of struggle for independence. Guinea in the years 1945-1968. / M.1968
• Le Rassemblement Democratic Africain dans lutte anti-imperialiste, [P., 1948]
• Blanchet A. L`itineraire des partis africains depuis Bamako. P., 1958
• Hodgkin Th. African political parties. Boston, 1962
• J.-R. de Benoist, La balkanisation de l'Afrique Occidentale française, Dakar, Les Nouvelles Éditions africaines, 1978
• J.-R. de Benoist, L'Afrique occidentale française de la Conférence de Brazzaville (1944) on l'Indépendance (1960), Dakar, Les Nouvelles Éditions africaines, 1982
• Ibrahima Thioub , Le Rassemblement democratic africa et la lutte anticoloniale de 1946 à 1958, Dakar, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, 1982, 78 p. (Mémoire de maîtrise)
• Lisette, Gabriel Le Combat du Rassemblement démocratique african pour la décolonisation pacifique de l'Afrique noire, 1983
• CR. Ageron , La décolonisation française, Paris, Armand Colin, 1991

• The official website of the party ADF-RDA (Burkina Faso), one of the heirs of ADO (inaccessible link)