French Equatorial Africa had some borders that made more sense to the French then the native tribes. Even when it broke down into smaller states such as Chad, there was not readily the makings of a cohesive country. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
An African topical stamp. Well at least there really are antelopes in Chad. This also presents itself as a postage due issue. I have a difficult time imagining a mail sender dropping off his mail with no money, receiving this stamp to stick to the envelope. The letter than gets mailed and the receiver pays his postman 2 Francs that then gets back to the post office, all in chaotic post independence Chad. Call me cynical. As early as the 1970s, there were at least 3 government agents, including President Tombalbaye personally giving contracts to produce postage stamps for Chad, so sorting real issues is a challenge.
The stamp today is issue D5, a 2 African Franc stamp issued by the independent republic of Chad. It was part of a 12 stamp issue in various denominations that displayed African wildlife and tribal warriors. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.
Chad was the first colony returned to the Free French after the fall of France. This was due to the efforts of Frances first black colonial governor and Sara tribesman. In revenge, in 1942 the capital Fort Lamy was bombed by the Germans. After this the French understandably favored the Sara tribe over the Arab tribesman of northern Chad. Thus it was a Sara tribesman, Francois Tombalbaye that was groomed to rule after the French left and became the last colonial governor in 1959 and the first President in 1960. Post independence he set upon a process of Africanization he called Chaditute that saw his fellow tribesman favored for government service. This cost money and new taxes were collected in what Tombalbaye called national loan. It amounted to Sara tribesman shaking down Arab tribesman and offering much less in return than the old French administration. Trombalbaye required all government employees to go through initiation in the Sara tribe. Doing so was heresy to Christians and Muslims alike. He also changed names of the capital from Fort Lamy to N’Djamena and his own first name from Francois to Ngarta.
The Arab north was soon rebelling with help of northern neighbor Libya. The Chad army proved incapable and President Tombalbaye had to request French help to put it down. With French soldiers came administrators to try to put the government back together and have more Muslim representation. This angered even Tombalbaye’s allies who hated the French.
As soon as French soldiers left in 1971, Tombalbaye tried to solidify his position, he purged his army in the so called black sheep affair. He arrested several officers on the crime of sorcery, for sacrificing black sheep in a ceremony designed to curse President Tombalbaye. He then got back to marginalizing the French by reaching out to Libyan strongman Qaddafi. He in turn cut off aid to the Arab rebels to the north and replaced cut off French aid. Tombalbaye was obviously trying to cover his bases but perhaps his military purge did not go deep enough. In 1975, the Army attacked the Presidential Palace and killed him without a trial. Chad’s situation did not really improve till many years later when oil was discovered. The country is now dominated by the northern Arabs.
Well my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting