ABSTRACT
The attitude of French unions also justified the decision of public authorities to isolate colonial workers. Labor organizations remained generally hostile to the massive infusion of non-European workers during the war. Before 1914, French unions paid virtually no attention to the dramatic growth of the overseas empire, judging it irrelevant to the direct concerns of French workers. During thirty-two national meetings held between 1886 and 1914, only two resolutions were passed dealing with the colonies, both merely demanding that national labor legislation be applied to the workers of the empire.46 The Socialist Party paid more attention to colonial affairs, frequently criticizing government exploitation of indigenous populations. Yet the majority of French Socialists before the war, notably Jean Jaures, stopped short of demanding independence for the colonies, recommending instead more humane forms of tutelage that would gradually prepare the natives for self-government.47 As several historians have pointed out, French workers in the late nineteenth century were by no means immune to pro-colonial propaganda, which usually included an emphasis on white racial superiority. In spite of a theoretical commitment to working-class internationalism, therefore, the French labor movement’s lack of concern with workers in the nation’s colonies comes as no surprise.48
