Brazzaville Conference

After the end of the Tunisia campaign, the entire colonial empire reunited toward the Allies with the exception of French Indochina, which remained loyal to the Vichy government.

The war created many difficulties for local people and saw the growth of nationalist aspirations and tensions between communities in French North Africa, particularly in Algeria and Tunisia.

However, this group largely consisted of "elite Congolese men" and its written contributions "advocated for a very narrow type of citizenship that was dependent upon assimilation".

[3] The Brazzaville Declaration included the following points:[citation needed] The possibility of complete independence was soundly rejected,[4] as was the idea of more limited "self-government" along British lines for the colonies.

[2][5]: 314  De Gaulle stated: The aims of France's civilizing mission preclude any thought of autonomy or any possibility of development outside the French empire.

According to historian Xavier Yacono [fr], the Brazzaville Conference considered decolonization "unthinkable" (as it explicitly rejected even the long-term prospect of autonomy for the colonies).

Rather than trying and failing to make susbtantial steps towards decolonization, according to Shipway, the conference "succeeded in passing the recommendations with which the colonial service as a whole no doubt felt most comfortable.