ABSTRACT
Soldiers everywhere as well as their families—and not just in the First World War—were troubled by the separation and loss which military service in combat implied. A constant lament of wartime has always been the desire to be home again; soldiers' letters were filled with such sentiments and their relatives pined as well for their return. In French West Africa the policy was somewhat different; given the wartime manpower needs of France, colonial administrators from an early date ordered conscription policies put into effect. In macro-economic terms the resource development concept meant that Nyasaland was saddled with a huge debt to pay for a railroad infrastructure which was of dubious value even to the Protectorate's European planters and businessmen but which supported the wider imperial visions of some Britons. In France, organizations of African veterans rapidly were radicalized after their wartime service and increasingly demanded either citizenship or complete freedom from colonial rule.
