1945 French legislative election in Dahomey and Togo

none Elections to the French National Assembly were held in French Dahomey and French Togoland on 21 October 1945. The territory elected two seats to the Assembly via two electoral colleges. French missionary Francis Aupiais of the Popular Republican Movement was elected from the first college and Sourou-Migan Apithy in the second,Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Erster Halbband, p529 de but Aupiais died before taking office.Aupiais, Francis (1877-1945) Boston University School of Theology Background Some residents of French Togoland opposed attempts to entrench French rule by allowing elections to the French National Assembly in what was a League of Nations mandate rather than a French colony. Petitions against French policy were sent to the United Nations by the Ewe, who sought to be reunited with their brethren in British Togoland. Campaign Despite having left Dahomey seventeen years before the elections, Aupiais remained a popular figure in Dahomey, even amongst animists.Edward Mortimer (1969) France and the Africans 1944–1960: A political history, Faber, p66 His former pupil Sourou-Migan Apithy benefitted from his association with Aupiais, although he had also become an important figure in his own right through his work on the Monnerville Commission, which had reported on the future of the French colonies. Results First College Francis Aupiais Popular Republican Movement 523 599 Robert Agier 253 497 Bourgeois 116 Bourjac 84 Appert UDSR 70 22 7 1274 1279 De BenoistJoseph-Roger de Benoist (1982) Afrique occidentale française de 1944 à 1960, pp522–523 Second College Sourou-Migan Apithy 6600 Casimir d'Almeida 643 Robert Sanvée 548 Hyacinthe da Silva 241 Sylvestre Kponton 193 Antonio d'Almeida 175 Paulin Norward 135 Louis Ignacio-Pinto 102 420 11599 De Benoist Aftermath Following the elections, Senegalese MP Lamine Guèye attempted to persuade all the African MPs to form an African Bloc, which would be affiliated with the SFIO. Although the attempt failed, Apithy did sit with the SFIO.Mortimer, p72 References Dahomey French French Category:French elections in Dahomey Category:French elections in Togoland Dahomey Dahomey