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Causes for liberation of French colonies in

India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many interrelated political, cultural, socio-economic and geographical factors contributed to the
independence of French Establishments in India.

Contents
1 End of French control in former possessions
1.1 Pondichry
1.2 Karikal
1.3 Mah
1.4 Yanaon
1.5 Chandernagore
2 Geographical and cultural divergence
3 Decolonization phenomenon
4 Pre-Independence factors
5 Post-Independence factors
6 Immediate causes for independence
6.1 Governor's interference
6.2 Kandamangalam Conference
7 Date of events
8 Active Members involved in the Independence
movement
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

French establishments in India

End of French control in former possessions

Pondichry
Location: Southern region of Madras Presidency.
Language: Tamil.
Culture: There the culture and way of life of people was typical Tamil lifestyle.
External factors: Then was the time, when the Tamil people in Madras Presidency were very
powerful at Centre and State governments in Indian Union. They used to have large impact
on local pondicherians.
Views: There was a mixed proportion of nationalist and francophile sentiments prevailing in

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Pondichry.
Sphere of Influence: Pondichry and its neighbouring communes were completely under the
sphere of influence of Pondichry.

Karikal
Location: 132 km to the south of Pondichry in Madras Presidency.
Language: Tamil.
Culture: There the culture and way of life of people was typical Tamil lifestyle. It was the
only colony in French India which does not have much of cultural and linguistic differences
w.r.t Pondichry.
External factors: The changes political movements in Pondichry and Madras State used to
have very impact on Karikal.
Views: From a long time, Karikal used to have anti-French sentiments prevailed in them.
Sphere of Influence: It was completely under sphere of influence of Pondichry.

Mah
Location: It was located along the Malabar coast of Arabian sea in Madras Presidency.
Language: Malayalam.
Culture: There the culture and way of life of people was typical Malayali lifestyle.
External factors: Keralite Congress politicians in Madras Presidency used to influence Mah.
Views: Mah used to have strong impact of nationalist feelings.
Sphere of Influence: It was largely out of sphere of influence of Pondichry.

Yanaon
Location: Along the coast of Godavari in northern region of Madras Presidency.
Language: Telugu.
Culture: There the culture and way of life of people was typical Andhra lifestyle.
External factors: Andhra State politics had no impact on pro-French Yanam.
Views: Yanaon used to have extremely dominant pro-French atmosphere. It was the only
colony which had very high francophile population in native people.
Sphere of Influence: It was largely out of sphere of influence of Pondichry.

Chandernagore
Location: West Bengal State.
Language: Bengali.
Culture: There the culture and way of life of people was typical Bengali lifestyle.
External factors: Bengal unit of Indian National Congress used to show large influence on
Chandernagore.
Views: Since Bengal Presidency was one of the birthplaces for Indian Nationalism,
Chandernagore used to have strong feelings of Indian nationalism and predominant
anti-French sentiments.

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Sphere of Influence: It was completely out of sphere of influence of Pondichry.

Geographical and cultural divergence

Geographical and cultural divergence in the French India made the French weak in keeping their
hold on these colonies.

Decolonization phenomenon
Decolonization was a global phenomenon which was predominant in the colonial world between
1940 and the 1960s. Many colonies sought independence from the colonial empires. Nationalism
and Socialism played an important role in achieving this in many colonies globally.

Pre-Independence factors
Insignificance in population and area: This was one of very dominant causes for liberation
of French colonies in India.
Insignificance in territorial size: The insignificance in area compared with the Indian
Union. The total area of the settlements was well under 2,000 square miles
(5,200 km2), that of the Union (excluding Kashmir) well over 1,000,000 square miles
(2,600,000 km2).
Insignificant in population size: The insignificance in population compared with Indian
Union. The total population of the settlements was less than 1,000,000 that of the
Union over 360,000,000.
Lack of clearcut frontiers with India: Very few of the settlements had clear-cut frontiers
with India. There were many enclaves entirely surrounded by Indian territory, especially in
Pondicherry district.
Economic Factors: The very economic existence of the settlements depended on Indian
goodwill.
Lack of military resistance: If India wished to annex the settlements forcibly there was very
little that France could do to stop her.
The above four factors are most important factors that existed in 1947 which ultimately led to
merger of French colonies in India.

Post-Independence factors
After independence, the factors that lead to merger are,
Indian Nationalism: With the Independence of India in 1947, there was rise of Indian
nationalism in the people of the colonies in India. This was clearly seen by the rise of

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nationalist local parties in those regions. Their increasing dominance in the politics of French
India created an anti-French feeling in people.
Shift of Socialists: This was the most important Post-independent cause, probably the sole
cause that led ultimately to the liberation of French colonies in India. The members of the
French India Socialist Party shifted their stance towards pro-Merger nationalist groups. This
gave a catastrophic and devastating effect to the French rule in India. The switch of Edouard
Goubert towards pro-Merger camp became the death knell to the French sovereignty in its
colonies.

Immediate causes for independence

Governor's interference
A momentous event in the independence movement of Pondichry occurred on 18 March 1954,
when most of the members of the executive council and mayor of Pondichry and seven adjoining
communes proclaimed their decision to merge with Indian Union without a referendum. All the
communes in Karikal also followed suit. This decision was to be confirmed by the Representative
Assembly and when the French India Socialist Party was preparing to move the merger resolution,
the French Governor scuttled it by postponing the session. Provoked by this, the Socialists planned
to capture the outlying communes one by one and move to Pondichry. Accordingly, the leaders of
the French India Socialist Party hoisted the Indian National Flag atop the Nettapakkam police
station on the last day of March in 1954.
Result of Governor General's interference,
Capture of Nettapacom commune.
Capture of Mannadipet and Bahour communes.
Formation of Provisional government at Nettapacom.

Kandamangalam Conference
The conclusion of Consul General, Sri Kewal Singh on the night of 11 April 1954 at the conference
at Kandamangalam, that For real liberation of colonies one should attack any of the big four
French settlements, Since the French authorities are making fun of petty provisional government at
Nettapacom. Since Yanam is small in area and population, he requested Monsieur Dadala for a plan
for its liberation which resulted not only the Coup d'tat de Yanaon but also the ultimate
liberation of French colonies in India.
Result of conclusion at Kandamangalam conference,
Coup d'tat de Yanaon under Dadala Raphael Ramanayya on Sunday, 13 June 1954. Yanaon
taken by Indian Military.
Picketing by Mahajana Sabha under I. K. Kumaran at Mah, 16 June 1954. Mah gains
independence, it was handed over by its Administrator to people.

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Date of events
Inde franaise
de facto
transfer

Treaty of
Cession

1 November
1954

28 May 1956

16 August
1962

1 July 1963

Chandernagore -

26 June 1949

28 February
1951

9 June 1952

1 October
1954

Karikal

1 November
1954

28 May 1956

16 August
1962

1 July 1963

Mah

16 June
1954

1 November
1954

28 May 1956

16 August
1962

1 July 1963

Yanaon

13 June
1954

1 November
1954

28 May 1956

16 August
1962

1 July 1963

Colony
Pondichry

Liberation
-

de jure
transfer

Merger

Active Members involved in the Independence movement

V. Venkatasubha Reddiar, Conseil municipal de Nettapacom
Muthukomarappa Reddiar
V Subbaih
Edouard Goubert
Sellane Naicker,
Sri Kewal Singh, Consul General
I. K. Kumaran
C. E. Bharathan
Mangalat Raghavan
Dadala Raphael Ramanayya
Kamichetty Venugopala Rao Naidou, Membre du assemble reprsentative de Yanaon
Yerra Jagannatha Rao
Yerra Satyanarayana (George Babu)
Madimchetty Satianandam, Maire de Yanaon

See also
Municipal Administration in French India
Dadala Raphael Ramanayya
Coup d'tat de Yanaon
Pondicherry
Coup d'tat
Karikal
Mah
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Yanam, French India

Decolonisation of Asia

References
"My Struggle for freedom of French Provinces in India" autobiography written by Sri Dadala
Raphael Ramanayya

External links
Indian Ministry for External Affaires - 1956 Treaty of Cession (http://meaindia.nic.in
/treatiesagreement/1956/chap133.htm)
THE FRENCH AND PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA (http://www.blackwellsynergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1955.tb02588.x/)
Future of French India, by Russel H. Fifield (Associate Professor of Political Science at
University of Michigan (http://www.links.jstor.org
/sici?sici=0362-8949(19500322)19%3A6%3C62%3ATFOFI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23)
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Categories: History of Puducherry Former French colonies French India Yanam
Political integration of India Causes of events
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