Brazzaville Conference of 1944

The Brazzaville Conference was a meeting of prominent Free French leaders held in January 1944 in Brazzaville, the then-capital of French Equatorial Africa, during World War II.

After the Fall of France in 1940, and the subsequent alignment of most of France's colonial empire with the Allies; Charles de Gaulle recognized the need to revise the relationship between France and its colonies in Africa. In January 1944, Free French politicians and high-ranking colonial officials from the French African colonies met in Brazzaville in the modern-day Republic of the Congo. The conference recommended political, social, and economic reforms and led to the signature of the Brazzaville Declaration.

During World War II, the French colonial empire played an essential role, through its gradual alignment with Free France. After the end of the Tunisia campaign, the entire colonial empire reunited in favor of the Allied forces; with the exception of French Indochina, which remained loyal to the Vichy government.

Because of this role the French Committee of National Liberation began questioning the future of the colonies. The war created many difficulties for local people, and saw the growth of nationalist aspirations and tensions between communities in French North Africa; particularly in Algeria and Tunisia. In addition, the French were being aided by the US, which opposed colonialism. In Madagascar, the month of occupation by the United Kingdom after the invasion of the island had weakened French authority.

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