ABSTRACT
In British West Africa the war was the prelude to a radical restructuring of the economy. For the first time the large expatriate commercial houses were subject to control by the colonial governments. On the outbreak of the Second World War the French had at their disposal a large, well-trained source of troops in West Africa. For French West Africa, then, the establishment of the Vichy regime meant a policy of non-involvement in the conflict. British West Africa’s contribution of soldiers to the First World War had been very small compared with that of French West Africa. For West Africans new horizons were opened up by the war and the reforms introduced during it. Most important of all, the political, economic and social changes that took place during the war opened new horizons for Africans beyond which lay self-government and independence.
