Why did the French abandon the policy of Assimilation?

Explanation

Reasons why French abandon the policy of assimilation:

(i) The policy of assimilation was an expensive policy. The French government decided that there was no need wasting a lot of money on an expensive policy in order to make West Africans French men.

(ii) There was stiff resistance by West Africans against the imposition of French colonial rule and the policy of disregarding of the West African traditional institutions.

(iii) The policy was discriminatory on the grounds that there was no room for utilizing the traditional institutions of the West African people.

(iv) Lessons from the British policy of Indirect Rule which was very useful in order to win the loyalty of the traditional peoples of West Africa.

(v) There were intellectual arguments in France at the time against the policy on the grounds that it created a situation of cultural enslavement by France against West Africans.

(vi) There was a feeling of apathy towards colonialism in France as a result of the lessons of the Second World War.

(vii) To rise to power of President Charles de Gaulle and his determination to replace assimilation with association.

(viii) Nationalism in British West Africa affected assimilation policy in French West Africa.