upper volta

Example Sentences

• "The book [Africa Dances] describes a comparatively small part of Africa. Mr. [Geoffrey] Gorer’s travels took him to Senegal, the Upper Volta, Dahomey, Gold Coast and Ivory Coast, and in the company of a Negro dancer, a man whom he met in Paris, he visited many tribes and observed their customs, rituals and dances."
• "In 1903 the French chose the area as the endpoint for a railway connecting Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) to the coast, and a small town soon developed around the train station; but without a viable port, it grew slowly at first. In 1934, shortly after the completion of the rail link to the Upper Volta city of Bobo-Dioulasso, the French moved the colonial capital from nearby Bingerville to Abidjan and began building a series of bridges between the mainland and the lagoon islands."
• "In 1898 France and Great Britain reached an accord, granting France dominion over Upper Volta. The territory was initially designated a military zone, but in 1904 it became part of the colony Haut-Sénégal-Niger, administered from Bamako. […] The first quarter of the twentieth century was a period of extreme hardship for the peoples of Upper Volta. Although the French officially ended slavery in 1901, tens of thousands of Voltaics were forced each year to albor in cotton fields and construction sites, while others were conscripted into the military."
• "New Zealand goes by only by its geographic name, the same is the case of Burkina Faso, Upper Volta (the geographic name) - its political name used to be the Republic of Upper Volta. Some countries do not have political names."
• "Broadcasting, or long-distance transmission, is accomplished by means of drums, the messages being relayed over tremendous distances with great rapidity. By “drum talk,” as it is sometimes called, news of the approaching visit of American notables to Marshal Lyautey in Morocco was learned on the Upper Volta about three hours after it was published in Paris."
• "In 1919 the French made Upper Volta a separate colony in order to better control its people and develop its economy. […] By 1931 Upper Volta was not only famine-stricken but also bankrupt, and in September 1932 the country was dismantled and divided up among neighboring French colonies."