Paper money of the French colonies

The formation of the French colonial empire

Thanks to minister Coibert, great inspirador of the mercantilismo and the colonialismo, the expansive push went to Africa, with the occupation of the Senegal, Madagascar and the Mascareñas islands (present Reunión and Mauricio). Also important establishments in India settled down, between which we remembered Chandernagore and Pondicherry, French respectively until 1950 and 1954. Of these two small enclaves they are left few tickets, very rare, emitted between 1877 and 1945 by Banque de I'Indochine. The one is remarkable by great minucia of its 50 representations of rupias, of 1936, in which, like in all the others, epígrafes that they indicate the value is in English French and. The French flag tricolor also waved in central and southern America, between the Antilles (Guadalupe, Martinica and Santo Domingo) and Guayana, where on 1637 the famous penitentiary colony of Cayena was based, definitively closed in 1947. During this phase, French applied a political colony erroneous, that in the course of few years determined a remarkable reduction of the territories. By the general, the formal conquest did not follow the poblamiento, and sometimes he lacked even the effective occupation. The administration was centralized in excess, and the relation between property and colonos era of feudal type. It was remarkable, in addition, the religious intolerancia. In this period, France considered its possessions mere territories to explode in its exclusive benefit. In 1 763, by virtue of treaty of Paris, that ended the Seven Years' War, Canada happened to England, in as much to France only him it was left the right to fish as opposed to the coasts of Newfoundland, in addition to the possession of the two islitas of San Pedro and Miquelón, the treaty it also prohibited to France the fortification of the small bases of India, with which any possibility was limited to him in fact of later expansion. In English Canada, it was let feel the paper money necessity, because widely the emissions on behalf of the French government were had stopped with last ordonnances of 1760. In 1813, finally, bills, paper money of emergency were emitted first army whose value is indicated in English language and dollars, and French and piastras. Today San Pedro and Miquelán constitutes one, colectivity territory represented in the French parliament by a deputy and a senator. Of these islands two rarest bills of 27 are peculiar and 54 francs, equivalent respectively to 5 and 1 0 dollars, forms between 1890 and 1895 by the Banque DES Isles Saint-Pierre ET Miquelon, whose peculiar nominal values (directly related to the dollar) demonstrate that the emission is also inspired by reasons nationalists. In 1803, France were lost the last territories to the south of Canada. That year, in effect, Luisiana was sold to States United by 80 million francs. In 1810, the islands Mascareñas and Madagascar fell in English hands. The second period colony French began in 1830 with the taking of Algiers, which it followed the fast conquest of all Algeria. The reasons politicians of this new impulse colony was clear: the governments of Paris were lost too much time, and was precise to resist the enormous development colony of Great Britain, that then could be gloriar to have more than 20 million square kilometers. greater efforts were concentrated in the territorial acquisitions in Africa and Southeast Asia. This phase, that it was present at consolidation of French colonial empire, can occur by concluded in 1911.

The African colonies

In the African continent, the penetration began with the protectorates on small barren islands next to Madagascar and Comores, that they constituted the French Reestablishments of channel of Mozambique. Between 1854 and 1865, the colonial dominion extended to the Senegal, Nigeria and Guinea. Soon the bay of Obock took care, in the gulf of Adén, and of course it is not necessary to forget the colossal work the opening of isthmus of Suez (very discussed by England), that from 1 869 it increased the French influence in that area. Of this phase of the French colonization in Africa some rare bills of 25, 100 and 500 francs, emitted by the Banque have left du Senegal between 1853 and 1901: they are of blue color in the obverse, whereas reverso, anepigráfico, are black. From 1895, year in which obtained again Madagascar, until the first years of century M, France consolidated definitively its positions in Africa. In 1883 the protectorate was born French of Tunicia, while the conquests, starting off ofNorth of The Sahara, was extended towards the last free spaces that the South and the West had left to. This policy, consisting of incorporating located French territories between which already they belonged to others colonial powers, could not let provoke problems. These were solved by means of complicated agreements and protocols, but often no it was easy to reach satisfactory conclusions after all the interested ones, as for example in the case of Eastern Sudan, disputed between France and England, that almost a conflict opened between both powers caused. Two agreements, stipulated in 1899 and 1904, they sanctioned an nth and definitive distribution in this great proprietors some German, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian colonies put in themselves. Some emissions of the period previous to the first world-wide conflict are very interesting, beginning by rare bills of 50, 100, 500 and 1.000 francs printed in the diverse branches of the Banque d'Algérie between 1864 and 1870. They are very well-taken care of in the graphical aspect and in representations the emitted ones in Conakry and Dakar by the branchs of the Banque of l'Afrique Occidentale for the confederation of colonies that they formed, indeed, French Western Africa. The rare blue and pink bill of 100 francs, emitted in 1892 in the present capital senegalesa, presents/displays allegorical figures in the typical style liberty, that make seem this ticket like unadapted" to the place. Even today, almost all the States that formed this colony count on a common currency. The small emitted tickets of emergency are peculiar stops Madagascar and Comores in 1916 with values from 5 céntimos to 2 francs: for both territories seals stuck in small were used cardboard rectangles, in whose obverse they appear a dog and a zebu.

The colonies of Asia

The French territorial expansion in Asia began in 1862, with the conquest of Cochinchina (present Vietnam ofSouth), which it followed in 1863 the one of Cambodia, turned that year French protectorate. Between 1 883 and 1 894, the French lndochina was constituted thanks to the treaty of Hué, that recognized France the possession of Annam (central Vietnam) and Laos. One was a territory populated by more than 17 million of inhabitants. Some of the emissions of the Banque d'lndochine are counted between the most beautiful of all the series colony Gallic. The monetary unit was not the franc, but piastra (like in Canada), equivalent to a dollar and the Spanish currency of 8 real ones, in use for centuries in Southeast Asia. One is call to pillar necklace or dollar with columns, by the columns of Hercules that appear in reverso. The international currency was this one par excellence from century XVII to aims of XIX. Between 1893 and 1907 they were emitted in Saigón and Has Phong bills of 1, 5, 20 and 1 00 dollars or piastras, today very rare, in which appears representations of classic inspiration, like Neptune, and personages of the history of navigation and the geographic discoveries. Also the evocaciones are frequent of architectonic works of the old empires of this part of Asia. The second series of tickets emitted for lndochina separates from first by the most modern characters and the substitution of the English language (previously used along with the French) by ideogramas Chinese.

The colonies of the Australian Continent

The formation of the first colonies in the Australian Continent goes back to 1853, with the Nueva occupation Caledonia, to which the islands were added of Leeward, Barlovento and Tahití, transformed of protectorates colonies themselves, and with the creation of the condominium anglofrancés of New the Hébridas. The tickets used in Nueva Caledonia the Banque of the Nouvelle Caledonie emitted them as of 1873, and soon branch in Nouméa of the Banque d'lndochine, that resorted such to types used for the emissions in lndochina. To the first two phases of expansion colony can add one third. Concluded World War I, they were adjudged to France some colonies that had belonged to Germany, like for example Togo and Cameroun, that together with the Congo, already French, consolidated mportante area colony: rancesa Equatorial Africa, In addition to these African territories, those of Syria were given to France and the Lebanon. To French Equatorial Africa belongs a remarkable series of tickets emitted as of 1917, between which it is possible to indicate by his beauty the one of 1.000 francs, of 1941-1944, that the bird represents fénix. The emissions for Syria and the Lebanon were the responsibility of the Banque de Syrie, turned from 1925 Banque de Syrie ET du GrandLiban. The monetary unit of both territories was the pound divided in 100 piastras. The tickets separate from the customary types colonial French: instead of allegorical representations of floral style they appear the local monuments, surrounded by reasons decorative.

The aim of the empire

The way towards the independence of the colonies indeed began by Syria and the Lebanon, that became sovereign States in 1946 and 1944 respectively. The disintegration of empire colony Gallic did not let provoke, nevertheless, conflicts and confrontations. It stops to contain the secession of the colonies, in the beginning the government instituted the French Union, that anticipated the incorporation of those to metropolis. The Vietnam proclaimed its independence in 1945, but when not recognizing it France, the lndochina war was triggered. To he himself time, the wars of liberation in Tunici'a and Algeria began, conflicts these that affected seriously to France during several years. After the transformation of the Union in French Community, with free adhesion to the new associative form, great part of the ex- colonies they were broken contact definitively with France. Also it is certain that in the sovereign States of western Africa, for example, it is had conserved good part of the French structures, and first of all the common monetary unit. Still today, no matter how hard the last emissions overcome to 1981, is continued using the franc in Badly, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Benín, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. And it in spite of that most of the States she is independent and independent from 1960. The same it can say of p@íses that they formed the block of colonies of Equatorial Africa (the Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad and Cameroun), where it follows in course franc CFA next to local currencies. Nowadays, France no longer has colonies; only departments of territorial overseas or colectivities. Between first, it is possible to remember Guadalupe and Martinica in America ofNorth, and Guayana in the one of The south; Meeting in Africa; and Nueva Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, Polynesia Francesa and Clipperton in the Australian Continent. The islands are colectivity of Mayotte (in the archipelago of Comores), in Africa, and San Pedro and Miquelón in America.