ABSTRACT
The structuring of memorialisation processes followed different paths, with close interaction between former officers and civilians in the French case, compounded by a strong touristic and cultural drive as opposed to initiatives spearheaded by ex-officers or ex-colonial servants in Britain, which resulted in only a limited echo among the British public. In Britain, desert spaces appeared as peripheral to the empire, in stark contrast with more productive and prestigious possessions elsewhere. Whereas Britain and France had differing relationships with desert spaces when they were part of their empire, the trajectories towards decolonisation of the two countries’ ‘desert’ colonies were generally similar–in large part, because of their comparable circumstances: being sparsely populated, these regions were not propitious to major nationalist uprisings.
