Word: guinea
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...outer precincts of French power, the sweep of Charles de Gaulle's triumph increased. In Martinique in the Caribbean the ratio was 14-1 for De Gaulle. On the Pacific island of New Caledonia, 52-1. In the Sahara, 70-1. Of 18 overseas territories, only French Guinea voted no. French residents in the Soviet Union plumped for De Gaulle 74-43, and in the New York voting area, 2,343 to 152. France itself, in a record turnout, jammed the polling places to roll up a majority of 79.25% for the new Gaullist constitution...
...morning last week, 50 Guinean maidens clad in pink robes and blue turbans gathered outside a large white house in Conakry to serenade the man who had just brought them independence. Alone among the territories of French West Africa, Guinea (pop. 2,500,000) had voted no to the new French constitution. But the young man responsible was hardly in a mood for jubilation. At a brief ceremony, Premier Sékou Touré, 36, took over as chief of government, then faced the outsized task of setting up a government for a new nation that had not even taken...
...Afrique Noire, he ruthlessly slashed his way to power, often quieted his opponents by the simple expedient of burning down their houses. Though he was a constant troublemaker, French officials grudgingly admired him as the brightest of West Africa's rising young black men. Furthermore, since Guinea sends 67% of its exports to France, and French capital has been pouring into the territory's industries and bauxite mines, Paris never dreamed that Touré would dare to cut himself loose from France entirely...
...Gaulle lost no time in showing Guinea the price of saying no. A special envoy rushed down from Paris, ticked off to Touré the dreaded list of things to come. All French public servants, technicians and army units would leave within three months. Financial aid would cease, and Guinea's exports (coffee, bananas, bauxite) would be subject to the same stiff tariffs as those of other foreign countries. As the French tricolor vanished from the land, Touré began to hope that, having slammed the door, he would not find it irrevocably locked behind him. He hailed France...
...Guinea black Africans voted no and got their independence. In Togoland they did not have to vote, but they won a far brighter victory...