Atoning for France’s imperial past
The French people are justly proud of much of their heritage – especially cultural icons, from the Eiffel Tower to Île Flottante, the “floating island” dessert. Recently, however, pride has partly given way to contriteness as President Emmanuel Macron, aware of France’s legacy as a former heavy-handed empire, has attempted to make amends for mistakes during the country’s imperial past.
In July, for example, Mr. Macron announced his intention to recognize a Palestinian state, in large part to help end the war and hunger in Gaza. Yet, in an allusion to France’s role – along with Britain’s – in dividing up the region more than a century ago as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, he posted on the social platform X that he wanted France to be “true to its historic commitment” to a lasting peace in the Middle East.
For Mr. Macron, “This is a moral, historical and forward-looking decision,” wrote commentator Sefy Hendler on the Israeli news site Haaretz. Soon after the announcement, Britain offered a similar pledge to recognize a Palestinian state. Its foreign secretary said it was doing so with the “hand of history on our shoulders.”
Also in July, the French leader made good on fixing the reputation of a Jewish French army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely accused in 1894 of selling military secrets to Germany during the height of European colonialism. Mr. Macron declared that, starting next July 12, the date that Dreyfus was exonerated in 1906, France will hold a memorial ceremony every year “for the victory of justice and truth against hatred and anti-Semitism.”
Since becoming president in 2017, Mr. Macron has taken steps toward atonement with several former colonies in Africa. He acknowledged a 1945 massacre in Algeria, for example, and issued an apology for a violent repression of a 1947 uprising in Madagascar. On June 19, according to news reports, France said it is “open” to a dialogue with Niger about the French role in an 1899 massacre there.
Mr. Macron has taken a steady but cautious approach in dealing with the demands of former colonies. Rather than relying on French pride, he is slowly encouraging his nation to look hard at its history. During a trip to Algeria in 2022, he was plain about what was needed. The time has come, he said, for humility, saying that “painful common past ... has at times prevented us from looking to the future.”
