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24. The Colonial Economy: Between Propaganda Myths and Economic Reality (1940–1955)
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24 The Colonial economy Between Propaganda Myths and Economic Reality (1940–1955) sandrine lemaire, Catherine Hodeir, and Pascal Blanchard over the course of the second World War, the empire became increasingly perceived in the popular imagination as an extension of the national territory. inextricably bound to an affirmation of imperial culture, this notion was legitimized in and through the colonial space, which for its part was seen as indispensable to the nation’s future. during this period, propagandist rhetoric argued for the creation of a “French-colonial economic block,” and subsequently for policies suited to this ambition.1 The economic-strategic dialectic was an outcome of prewar nationalism and the idea of a self-sustaining imperial government that, with the vichy government, was thought would transform itself into a mythified “imperial nationalism,” thereby justifying the new regime. various cogs in the regime’s propaganda machine and the news, which itself faced censorship issues, voiced this message. For example, France Europe asserted the following: “empire, a prestigious word, a word of order. if we want to save France, we must save the empire. Keeping the empire is tantamount to keeping France. losing the empire is tantamount to losing France. every parcel of land taken from us is a wound from which our unhappy homeland bleeds.”2 a project of unity, of fraternity through shared sacrifice, was used to draw the contours of a new society. Certain groups were the target of exclusion, a premise upon which the national fabric could be recomposed, upon which the group could be redefined. The nation’s defeat was attributed to a multifaceted plot concocted by a variety of groups: Jews, Freemasons, communists, and foreigners. Meanwhile, groups of so-called healthy people were employed to fulfill the project’s aims. among these latter figured the empire’s “natives,” the ones to appear in Éric Castel’s famous image Trois couleurs, un drapeau, un Empire (Three Colors, One Flag, One Empire), who shared a common fate of constructing “Greater France” under the aegis of Marshal Pétain. also figuring into this group were the “elite of the nation,” as depicted in Pierre Fix-Masseau’s poster titled L’Empire réclame: 320 The Colonial Economy | 321 des hommes d’élite, des savants, des techniciens . . . (The Empire Calls upon Elite Men, Scholars, Technicians . . . ); finally, there were the “empire builders,” those depicted in Falucci’s famous poster La France continue (France Carries On, 1942). The three allegorical figures sum up and make clear the regime’s propagandist lexicon, along with its message for the nation. it is also worth mentioning the different campaigns that called upon French youth to support the colonial movement .3 a 1941 poster put out by the French Maritime and Colonial league offers a stylized summation of this rhetoric. a world map. a francisca over France. The empire illuminated by its economic wealth and its people. a catchphrase: “The French empire united behind the Marshal.”4 Political Messages and new economic realities The allegories and symbolism employed in the regime’s rhetoric are rich in political (and propagandist) significance. For example, the alignment of stereotyped faces evocative of “Greater France” in the poster Trois couleurs, un drapeau, un Empire . . . expresses the notion of equality. The collective, convergent gaze translates as the union. Facing the right, they are examining the future. Their dignified attitude, signified by the way in which they carry their heads, suggests pride and determination to complete the coming mission and construct the “new French imperial.” The empire is thus shown in both its diversity and its unity. Thanks to France’s culture and “civilizing work,” these men, though different in culture, gather together under the French flag. The “union of races” is an expression of France’s greatness. Meanwhile, the glorification of the empire serves to compensate for the humiliation felt in the post-defeat occupation of the metropole. This reading demonstrates the idea behind the image: that, in spite of differences in skin color and physical features, these men were cast from the same mold. it was as though, after a long process, France had “changed” the very nature of the peoples put under its protection, as though differences between the various “races” living in the empire had been erased. The messages are even more explicit in the two other posters. For Pierre FixMasseau , the empire was for specialists. The time of adventurers, amateurs, uneducated settlers, exploiters, was over. as the poster shows, now was a time for professionals, scientists, technocrats...