Projecting a Greater France
Martin Evans contrasts the triumphalism of France’s 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris with the rotten reality of its ramshackle empire.
On May 6th, 1931, France's Colonial Exhibition finally opened at the Bois de Vincennes in Paris. Four years in preparation, covering some 110 hectares, the vast scale of the project had created a sense of eager anticipation. People had been talking about the event for weeks, and as President Gaston Doumergue was driven from his residence to the main gate of the Exhibition, escorted by a squadron of colonial cavalry in full dress uniform, crowds clapped and cheered from the roadside. The motorcade was accompanied by a one-hundred gun salute and when Doumergue disembarked his entourage were visibly moved by this impressive display of imperial pageantry.
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