ABSTRACT
A dual system of administration with French assistance and poorly trained Central Africans at all levels scarcely functioned. From the French perspective an independent Central African Republic under David Dacko was the best arrangement possible in face of the rapid collapse of the Franco-African Communaute. Jean-Bedel Bokassa had little success in eliminating France's neocolonial control over the Central African Republic. In mid-May when Amnesty International made this massacre public, the French people began to question severely their government's support for Bokassa. Despite France's many strategic, political, and economic interests in the country, Bokassa had become an embarrassment. From rather hopeful beginnings, Andre Kolingba's government rapidly moved once again toward single ethnic group and personalized rule that characterizes most postindependence African dictatorships. In spite of some initial reluctance on part of President Mitterrand and his Socialist government, the Central African Republic's relations with France had virtually returned to their time-honored patterns by the end of Kolingba's first year in power.
