Thiaroye Massacre

Mural commemorating the Thiaroye Massacre in Dakar, Senegal.

The Thiaroye Massacre was the mutiny and later massacre of French West African troops by French forces on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944. West African conscripts of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais units of the French army mutinied against poor conditions and revocation of pay at the Thiaroye camp, on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. The mutiny is seen as an indictment of the colonial system and constituted a watershed for the nationalist movement.

As colonial subjects, tirailleurs (infantry men) were not awarded the same pensions as their French (European) fellow soldiers during and after World War II. These soldiers additionally claimed they were owed back pay due to an order issued by the Minister of Colonies authorizing benefits for ex-prisoners of war from West Africa, which both fell short of the benefits given to French prisoners of war and was in any case not implemented.[1] This discrimination led to a mutiny of Senegalese tirailleurs at Camp Thiaroye on 30 November 1944. The tirailleurs involved were former prisoners of war who had been repatriated to West Africa and placed in a holding camp awaiting discharge. They demonstrated in protest against the failure of the French authorities to pay salary arrears and discharge allowances. The following day French soldiers guarding the camp opened fire killing thirty-five African soldiers. The French provisional government of Charles de Gaulle, concerned at the impact of the Thiaroye incident on serving tirailleurs acted quickly to ensure that claims for back pay and other monies owing were settled.[2]

After World War II ended, the French argued that the tirailleurs were particularly prone to revolt. The French based this claim in the notion that German soldiers, in an attempt to thwart France’s colonial goals in Africa, had treated the tirailleurs well as prisoners of war. This ostensibly good treatment of tirailleurs in prisoner of war camps is not, however, based in fact, ultimately rendering French attempts at positioning the tirailleurs as enemies false.[3]

Senegalese author and filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, directed a film, Camp de Thiaroye, documenting the events leading up to the Thairoye massacre, as well as the massacre itself. The film is considered historical fiction, as the characters are not necessarily based on actual tirailleurs who were killed. The film received positive reviews at the time it was released and continues to be heralded by scholars as an important historical documentation of the Thiaroye massacre.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Echenberg, Myron (1985). ""'Morts Pour la France': The African Soldier in France during the Second World War"". Journal of African History, 26 (1985).
  2. ↑ Tony Chafter, page 35 "History Today", November 2008
  3. ↑ Scheck, Raffael. "Les prémices de Thiaroye: L’influence de la captivité allemande sur les soldats noirs français à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale." French Colonial History, Vol. 13, 2012, pp. 73-90
  4. ↑ Ngugi, Njeri. "Presenting and (Mis)representing History in Fiction Film: Sembène's 'Camp de Thiaroye and Attenborough's 'Cry Freedom.'" Journal of African Cultural Studies Vol. 16 (1), June 2003 pp57-68
  5. ↑ Kempley, Rita. "From Africa, A 'Camp' of Tragic Heroes." The Washington Post. March 1, 1991.

Bibliography

External links