French Sudan French Community; however, divisions between Senghor and Keïta on the governance of the federation resulted in its dissolution on 20 August 1960. The area of French Sudan formally proclaimed itself the Republic of Mali and, with increasing radicalization of Keita, left the French Community in September 1960. Books and Journal articles Newspapers (organized chronologically) 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
French colonial empire French colonial empire The French colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "first colonial empire," that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost, and the "second colonial empire", which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. The second colonial empire came to an end after the loss in later wars of Indochina (1954) and Algeria (1962), and relatively peaceful decolonizations elsewhere after 1960. Competing with Spain, Portugal, the Dutch United Provinces and later England,