A Future Painted in Sombre Colours

Abstract

In order to truly understand the ways in which French razzias functioned, the manner in which they were directed and their effects upon Indigènes, it is necessary to look at specific, and quite typical, campaigning moments in greater detail. We are then able to gain a richer sense of the ways in which razzias were the product of dialogues and decision-making between the office of the Governor General, commanders in the field and the Ministry of War in Paris (with the possibility of assigning some sense of accountability among these parties who, individually, were wont to absolve themselves of responsibility for the most horrific features of such raids). Closer investigation of the extensive sets of documentation on such attacks offers not only a greater sense of the ways in which razzias functioned but also the opportunity to see the manner in which more programmatic features of French campaigning were stitched across military interventions which were invariably described as reactions to specific circumstances and as being quite unprogrammatic in their character.