French Sudan French Sudan French Sudan (; "") was a French colonial territory in the federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formally called French Sudan from 1890 until 1899 and then again from 1921 until 1958, and had a variety of different names over the course of its existence. The colony was initially established largely as a military project led by French troops, but in the mid-1890s it came under civilian administration. A number of administrative reorganizations in the early 1900s brought increasing French administration over issues
French Colonial Union many of these larger scale backers, the French Colonial Union was not as potent nor nearly as authoritative as it could have been. The Union instead had to rely on less-influential commercial businesses to add to its resume and empower its impact. This was an unfortunate flaw of the French Colonial Union, because it greatly hampered its power whenever the Union voiced its views. One positive was that by having such a strong-minded figure as Chailley-Bert in its offices, the French Colonial Union was able to remain a figure among reform and colonial affairs. French foreign policies in its colonies