Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

French military policy in the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970

2014; Routledge; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09592318.2014.959766

1743-9558

Christopher Griffin,

International Law and Human Rights

AbstractDuring the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), France chose to support Biafra, but only on a limited scale, providing mercenaries and obsolete weaponry to Ojukwu's regime. General Charles de Gaulle's assistance to Ojukwu was conditioned by the French military drawdown after 1961, the increased power of French secret services on the continent, and the interventions in Katanga (1960–1963), Gabon (1964) and Chad (1968–1972). France supported Biafra primarily to protect its former colonies from Nigeria, stop Soviet subversion and acquire an economic foothold in the oil-rich Niger Delta. De Gaulle chose a limited strategy for two reasons. If Biafra won the war, France would be Biafra's greatest ally. If Nigeria won the war, France could extricate itself from the situation relatively easily and re-establish relations with the Nigerian government, which is what ultimately occurred.Keywords:: Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970)BiafraCharles de GaulleFrench military in AfricaSDECEmilitary intervention AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Lucy McCann at the Rhodes House Library, Oxford, for her assistance with this project. Lasse Heerten generously provided some important French Foreign Ministry Documents. I would also like to thank my wife, Aurélie Griffin, for her advice and support for the paper.Notes 1.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 787. 2.CitationBach, "Le Général de Gaulle," 261. 3. Michel Debré, French National Assembly, "Déclaration du gouvernement sur la politique étrangère." 2 October 1968. Accessed April 14. 2013. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/michel-debre/discours/02101968.asp 4.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 787. 5.CitationDiamond, "Who Killed Biafra?;" CitationCronje, The World and Nigeria, 196. 6.CitationOjukwu, "International Press Conference." 7. The key reference remains CitationBach, "Le Général de Gaulle." 8.CitationCronje, The World and Nigeria, 192–208; CitationDe St Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War, 195–218; CitationStremlau, The International Politics, 224–33. 9.CitationMessmer, Après tant de batailles, 261. 10.CitationChaigneau, La politique militaire, 15. Pascal Chaigneau's book is one of the most widely-cited sources in the French literature on military policy in Africa. 11. For a general overview of French military policy in Africa in English, the best available source remains CitationChipman, French Power in Africa. 14.CitationMessmer, Après tant de batailles, 276. 15. Ibid., 272. 16.CitationSteiner, The Last Adventurer, 49–51. 17.CitationGendebien, L'Intervention des Nations Unies, 140–41. 18. The SDECE was the predecessor of the current Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), established in 1982. 19.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 163–4. 20. "Biafra: The Antithesis of Katanga." 21. Ibid. 22.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 275–7. 23. Ibid., 280. 24. Ibid., 270–73, 281. 25.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 132. 26.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – II, 497. 27.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 268–9, 274–9. 28.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 147. 29.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 289, 313–15; CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 153. 30. For the events in Gabon in February 1964, see CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 194–209. 31. "Memorandum of Conversation between Nigerian Minister of External Affairs Okoi Arikpo, Nigerian Ambassador to the US Joe Iyalla, Permanent Secretary Baba Gana, and Roger P. Morris, NSC Staff," Washington, 12 October 1969, in Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), Documents on Sub-Saharan Africa (1969–1972), Vol. E-5, 2005 (128). 32. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), African Division, "Dispatch to the Chief, African Division," 31 July 1970, FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (197). 33.CitationGuisnel, "Derrière la guerre du Biafra," 149. 34.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 218, 237. 35. Ibid., 337. 36.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 160, 181–2. 37.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 118. 38. Bichelot was a member of the OAS. CitationGuisnel, "Derrière la guerre du Biafra," 149. 39.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 187. Following the counter-coup by General Gowon on 28 July 1967, there were large-scale massacres of Igbos in Northern Nigeria, leading to a migration of the Igbo residents to Eastern Nigeria, where Ojukwu was governor. The exact numbers killed in the massacres (estimated by Ojukwu as high as 30,000 dead) have never been determined with any certainty. See CitationGould, The Struggle for Modern Nigeria, 32–4. 40.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 489. 41.CitationGould, The Struggle for Modern Nigeria, 39; General Obasanjo admitted later that Federal troops shot first on 6 June 1967: CitationObasanjo, My Command, 13. 42.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 664. 43.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 340–41. 44. Ibid., 343. 45.CitationObasanjo, My Command, 20. 46.CitationDraper, Shadows, 24–32, 51–2; CitationOgundipe, "Nigeria's High Commissioner accuses France," 246–7. 47.CitationUwechue, Reflections, 96. 48.CitationOjukwu, Biafra, Vol. 2, 222–3. 49.CitationUwechue, Reflections, 96. 50.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 694. 51.CitationAchebe, There Was a Country, 102. 52.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 298. 53. "Compte rendu de l'audience," 763. For a detailed secondary description of the negotiations leading to the end of the Mali Federation, see CitationFoltz, From French West Africa. 54.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 119, 179. 55. Ibid., 102–10. 56.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 694. 57. "Memorandum of Conversation between US Secretary of State William Rogers and French Minister of Foreign Affairs Michel Debré," 1 March 1969, in FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (48). 58. "Research Memorandum from the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research [Thomas Hughes] to Secretary of State Rogers: USSR-NIGERIA: Bilateral Tensions Increase as War Drags On," 2 April 1969, in FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (53). 59. "Telegram from the Central Intelligence Agency to the White House Situation Room," CIA, 20262, TDCS DB – 315/00173-70 (ADVANCE), 14 January 1970, in FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (160). 60.CitationObasanjo, My Command, 152. 61.CitationCronje, The World and Nigeria, 201. 62. "Telegram from the Embassy in Nigeria to the Department of State," 8 August 1967, FRUS, Vol. XXIII, Africa, 1995 (392). 63.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 721. 64. Ibid., 728–9; CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 343. 65.CitationGould, The Struggle for Modern Nigeria, 64–7. 66.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 732, 744; CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 344; CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 186. 67.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 344; CitationMessmer, Les Blancs s'en vont, 93–6; "Airgram from the Embassy of Nigeria to the Department of State," A-469, 7 March 1968, FRUS, Vol. XXIII, 1995 (395). 68.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 346–7. 69.CitationSteiner, The Last Adventurer, 49. 70.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 161–2. Denard would become known later for a failed coup attempt in Benin in 1977 as well as three coups in the Comoros Islands in 1978, 1989 and 1995. 71. Ibid., 183–4. 72.CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 346–7. 73.CitationSteiner, The Last Adventurer, 49–52. 74.CitationObasanjo, My Command, 151. 75. The CIA says that 300 French mercenaries went to Biafra in August 1968. CIA, "Central Intelligence Bulletin," No. 0245/68, CIA-RDP79T00975A012000010001-6, 27 August 1968, (Declassified in 2004). Accessed April 21, 2013. http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/5829/CIA-RDP79T00975A012000010001-6.pdf. See also CitationArmand, Biafra vaincra. 76.CitationSteiner, The Last Adventurer, 163. 77.CitationOffroy, Quand le cœur a raison, 64. 78.CitationAkpan, The Struggle for Secession, 109, 191. 79.CitationDiamond, "Who Killed Biafra?," 4. For the halting of Czech shipments, see CitationDesmazières, Chargé d'Affaires, A.I. à Lisbonne, "Télégramme à M. Debré," 229 (115). 80.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 299; CitationGuisnel, "Derrière la guerre du Biafra," 148, 152. 81.CitationDraper, Shadows, 51–2, 58, 62, 187–8. 82. The Biafran Historical Research Centre was located at Rue Galilée in Paris' 16th arrondissement. Archives des Affaires Etrangères (AAE) 1541, Afrique-Levant, Nigeria, Réprésentations nigérianes en France et à l'étranger, 1966–1970. Biafra Delegation in France: "Letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," 12 March 1969. 83. AAE 1541, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, sous-direction de l'Afrique: "Note: délégation du Biafra à Paris," 2 October 1968. 84.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs, 744. 85.CitationGuisnel, "Derrière la guerre du Biafra," 151–2. 86.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 299–301. 87.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 182. 88. Ibid., 182. 89.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 300–301. 90.CitationRobert, 'Ministre de l'Afrique', 183. 91.CitationFoccart, Tous les soirs avec de Gaulle, 787. 92. Reproduced in CitationFoccart, Foccart parle – I, 481. 93.CitationFoccart, Le Général en mai, 317–18. 94. Ibid., 53–4. 95. Ibid., 95–6. 96. Ibid., 87–8. 97. Ibid., 94–6. 98. 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Jean-Charles Asselain, "Le siècle des dévaluations," Ministère d'Economie et des Finances, 4 February 2002. http://www.finances.gouv.fr/notes_bleues/nbb/nbb227/227_dev.htm114.CitationFoccart, Le Général en mai, 458.115. "Note de la sous-direction d'Afrique pour le ministre," 26 November 1968, in Documents diplomatiques français1968: II, Commission des Archives Diplomatiques, 891 (410).116. For the effects of Kouchner and Recamier's actions and the subsequent founding of Médecins sans Frontières in 1971, see CitationDesgrandchamps, "Revenir sur le mythe fondateur," 95–108.117.CitationJung, "L'image télévisuelle," 62.118.CitationFoccart, Le Général en mai, 469, 471–2.119. TNA CAB/128/43, CC46(68) "Conclusions of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street, S.W.1, on Tuesday, 12th November 1968, at 11 a.m." 12 November 1968.120. Henry Kissinger, "Memorandum for the President," 28 January 1969, FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (25).121.CitationFoccart, Le Général en mai, 662.122.CitationGuisnel, "Derrière la guerre du Biafra," 150.123.CitationObasanjo, My Command, 53–4.124.CitationFoccart, Le Général en mai, 671.125.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 352.126.CitationFoccart, Dans les Bottes du Général, 78–9.127. Ibid., 92–3.128. Henry Kissinger, "Memorandum from the President's Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Nixon," 11 August 1969, FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (102).129.CitationFoccart, Dans les Bottes du Général, 119, 139–40.130.CitationDraper, Shadows, 221.131.CitationFoccart, Dans les Bottes du Général, 188–9.132.CitationBat, Le Syndrôme Foccart, 303.133. "Telegram from the CIA to the White House Situation Room," CIA, 20262, TDCS D13-315/00173-70 (ADVANCE), 14 January 1970, FRUS, Vol. E-5, 2005 (160).134.CitationFoccart, Dans les Bottes du Général, 199–200.135. Ibid.136.CitationBach, "Dynamiques et contradictions," 58–9.