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10 spreading the Word The Agence Générale des Colonies (1920–1931) sandrine lemaire the desire to inform the public about the abundance of resources overseas and to increase the number of bilateral exchanges between France and its territorial possessions led to the formation of the agence Générale des Colonies (General Bureau of the Colonies), an oft-misunderstood organization, yet one that was inextricably linked to the chronology of the empire’s conquests. The universal expositions also played a role in the creation of an infrastructure of propaganda, the exclusive concern of which was the colonies. The seedlings of official colonial discourse were first revealed at the universal exposition of 1855, with the creation of a permanent exposition on the colonies. However, the institutionalization of propaganda was not formalized until 1899, with the formation of the Colonial office, a branch of the Ministry of the Colonies, and organized by colonial administrators. This structure maintained its presence in all the subsequent regimes , from the Third republic through the Fifth (including the vichy regime), up to and even beyond the early period of decolonization. in short, it formed a pillar of colonial discourse. a perennial and almost “extra-political” establishment , this institution had a long-lasting, ideological impact upon the minds of the French public, and achieved its goal of justifying conquest and legitimizing the colonial empire. The agency: an information and seduction Machine as early as the 1880s, the architects of imperial France sought to gain the support of the French public, starting with the elite classes and trickling down to the masses. They dressed up their propaganda in all sorts of finery, invoking a variety of themes, all meant to “sell” colonial France. in fact, their arguments worked to redefine national interest in support of imperialism; in short, it was a resolute effort to “nationalize the colonial idea.” after the First World War, France’s colonial territories found themselves at the center of the national edifice, thanks to their active participation in the war and in the ensuing period of reconstitution. Public opinion, which was still largely indifferent to the political reality of the empire, needed to be won over through 162 Spreading the Word | 163 intense propaganda. The Great War was to be used to that end, and the effort would make public opinion an essential feature of public space. The period after the war was thus marked by acute interest on the part of public officials for this matter. as a result, by the decree of June 29, 1919, the Colonial office was reorganized and reconstituted as the agence Générale des Colonies. on February 27, 1920, albert sarraut, then minister of the colonies, underscored the importance of this issue in a speech given at the senate in which he called for a modern form of propaganda to promote the idea of empire throughout metropolitan France: it is absolutely essential that a methodic, serious, persistent propaganda, through speech and through image, in newspapers, conferences, films, expositions, impact adults and children throughout our country [ . . . ]. We must ameliorate and expand our primary schools, our middle schools, our high schools; the lessons on our history and on the composition of our colonial domain are too succinct. These lessons need to be more lively, more expressive, more practical . images, movies, projections must amuse our youth, which is today ignorant of our colonies. a page was being turned in France’s colonial history. The time of conquest was a thing of the past, while the era of this immense empire’s administration, and the related propaganda to rally the public, was just beginning. Following the war, the republic thus promoted the colonial idea like never before.1 The agence Générale des Colonies was put in charge of the “colonial education” of French youth, with the goal of encouraging them to integrate the empire into both their way of thinking and their daily life, in other words to conceive of the empire as being “one” with the metropole, an integral part of the nation. The agence Gén érale des Colonies played a crucial role in the elaboration and dissemination of this discourse. The state’s activities with respect to public opinion were particularly impactful thanks to this branch, especially between the early 1920s and the mid-1950s. The primary propagator of discourse and images on the colonies and colonized peoples, the agence Générale des Colonies and its functionaries carefully controlled their message, promoting the constructiveness...

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