War for Equatorial Africa

The War for Equatorial Africa was a conflict involving rebellious Free French forces who rejected the pro-German government that had been installed in the French State. The war began in 1940 with the invasion of the French Congo from the Belgian Congo, and came to an end in 1944 with the French State retaking Equatorial Africa.
The French colonies of the Congo, Chad and Ubangi-Shari fell quickly to Free French forces - with the colonial governor of Chad declaring for the rebels soon after troops moved into the French Congo, with the governor of Ubangi-Shari following suit soon afterwards. The colony of Cameroon initially rejected the rebellion, despite the governor being sympathetic to the cause, while French Gabon - despite an initial pledge of allegiance to Free France - remained loyal to the French State due to the more conservative local French populace and Bishop Louis Tardy.
Initially the rebels proved to be successful, with the new manpower pool provided by the defecting colonies they were able to invade and take Cameroon before the end of 1941, with the colony having gone through four coups and counter-coups before and during the invasion, with the initial, sympathetic governor Richard Brunot declaring loyalty and being re-installed as governor.
The success ground to a halt however when Gabon refused to join the rebels. There were in total four Battles of Gabon, during which the Free French were consistently unable to capture the colony, though they came close on one occasion. This failure to capture Gabon and its capital, Libreville, gave the French State and their German overlords an ideal staging post from which to reconquer Equatorial Africa. Starting in late 1943 they moved from Gabon into the Congo, as well as landing troops in Cameroon. By mid-1944 the remainder of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion had retreated into the Belgian Congo once again, while the remainder of Equatorial Africa had come back under the control of the French State.
Category:Conflicts
Category:Conflicts involving the Greater Germanic Reich
Category:Conflicts involving France
Category:Conflicts involving Free France
Category:Conflicts involving the Belgian Congo