ABSTRACT
As a manifestation of political radicalism, the Senegal election of 1914 was the high water-mark in French West African politics for the next three decades. Protest movements, voluntary associations and the activities of the elite are our main source for the history of French West African politics in these years. Education in the Lycee at Dakar or in France was only possible for those living outside the Quatre Communes if they had independent means. Religious movements served as a vehicle of protest and assertion of independence. African protest against their exclusion from participation in the colonial political system took a particularly interesting form in Guinea. To seek the origins of modern political organisations in French West Africa one must look to the voluntary associations. Before 1937 voluntary associations were restricted largely to sporting and cultural associations. Most important of all, voluntary associations gave an opportunity of contact between the educated elite of both the first and second ranks.
