{"id":1142,"date":"2010-07-21T22:45:25","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T22:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1142"},"modified":"2017-10-18T14:39:37","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T12:39:37","slug":"conquete-coloniale-conquete-spatiale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/conquete-coloniale-conquete-spatiale\/","title":{"rendered":"From Colonial Conquest to Space Conquest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"LA CONQUETE DE L ESPACE\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iDOvtrDoJrM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>From <em>la Conqu\u00eate Coloniale<\/em> (the Colonial Conquest) to <em>la<\/em> <em>Conqu\u00eate Spatiale <\/em>(the Space Conquest), <em>la boucle\u00a0semble desormais ferm\u00e9e <\/em>(It has come full circle.)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Comment est-ce que cela est arriv\u00e9? <\/strong><\/em>(How did that happen?)<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>La course\u00a0\u00e0 l&#8217;espace<\/strong> <\/em>(the Space Race) between the United States and the USSR lasted almost <em>30 ans <\/em>(30 years), from <strong>1957 <\/strong>to<strong> 1975<\/strong>, and\u00a0reflected one of the many\u00a0fronts of <em><strong>la guerre froide<\/strong> <\/em>(the Cold War)\u00a0opposing the two powers.<\/p>\n<p>It is within this context that <em>la France<\/em>, under the leadership of\u00a0<em><strong>le\u00a0G\u00e9n\u00e9ral de Gaule<\/strong>, <\/em>decided to emerge as a contender in this new\u00a0developing\u00a0field, and was in fact, <em>chronologiquement<\/em>,\u00a0the\u00a0third power, after the US and<em> l&#8217;Union Sovi\u00e9tique<\/em>, to enter <strong><em>la conqu\u00eate de l&#8217;espace <\/em><\/strong>(space conquest.)<\/p>\n<p>The French\u00a0<em><strong>fus\u00e9e<\/strong><\/em> (rocket) called &#8220;<em><strong>Diamant<\/strong><\/em>&#8221; (Diamond) was used in 1965\u00a0to launch the first French satellite named <strong><em>Ast\u00e9rix <\/em><\/strong>(it was\u00a0first meant to be\u00a0called &#8220;<strong><em>Z\u00e9bulon<\/em><\/strong>&#8220;,\u00a0after the famous &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SEOIP5YfprU\"><em>Man\u00e8ge<\/em> <em>Enchant\u00e9<\/em><\/a>&#8221; which got its own &#8220;launch&#8221; around the same time,\u00a0but the ever-jumpring big-mustached fictional character by the same name was\u00a0eventually deemed too frivolous\u00a0to\u00a0lend his name\u00a0to\u00a0a spacecraft.)<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0space base that was used for the\u00a0<em>Diamant <\/em>fus\u00e9e was located in the south of\u00a0<strong>Algeria<\/strong>,\u00a0near the city of <strong>B\u00e9char<\/strong>, from a location called &#8220;<strong>Hammaguir&#8221;<\/strong>, which was initially constructed as a military base\u00a0by the colonial General <strong>Lyautey <\/strong>(who, incidentally,\u00a0may have inspired <strong>Marcel Proust<\/strong>&#8216;s\u00a0character, &#8220;<em>baron\u00a0de Charlus<\/em>&#8220;, in his famous\u00a0<em>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/summer-reads-summary-fra\/\">\u00c0 la recherche du temps perdu<\/a>.&#8221;<\/em>)\u00a0 The site of this\u00a0military space\u00a0base in Algeria\u00a0is\u00a0also not too\u00a0distant from\u00a0where were conducted, among other places in the Algerian desert,\u00a0several French nuclear essays, such as the infamous <strong>Reggane <\/strong>experiments.\u00a0The destructive effects of these tests unfortunately last\u00a0until today, as witnessed by both local inhabitants and French soldiers who were serving back then:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"VENT DE SABLE, LE SAHARA DES ESSAIS NUCLEAIRES de Larbi Benchiha\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5xfuVPQiJAs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But since Algeria\u00a0regained \u00a0its independence in 1962, following a seven-year hardly fought struggle,\u00a0the French government\u00a0was compelled a few years later\u00a0to transfer its Algerian space base onto another\u00a0colonial property,\u00a0<em><strong>la Guyane fran\u00e7aise <\/strong><\/em>(French Guiana), precisely at<strong> Kourou<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>When the\u00a0Space Race between the US and the USSR came to an end in 1975,<em> la France,\u00a0l&#8217;Allemagne<\/em> (Germany),\u00a0and<em> le Royaume-<\/em>Unis (the UK) decided to join forces\u00a0together in order to launch the first\u00a0European space consortium,\u00a0giving birth to the<strong> Ariane <\/strong>program, which was also established in\u00a0Kourou, French Guiana. The Kourou site was particularly convenient for space launches,\u00a0thanks to its proximity to<em> l&#8217;\u00e9quateur<\/em> (the equator),\u00a0situated at a distance of about 500 km.\u00a0Two centuries ago, however,\u00a0it\u00a0provided another\u00a0sort of &#8220;convenience.&#8221;\u00a0Together with the\u00a0neighboring\u00a0<em><strong>\u00cele du Diable <\/strong><\/em>(the Devil&#8217;s Island), Kourou was used\u00a0as early as <strong>Napol\u00e9on III&#8217;<\/strong>s reign\u00a0as<em> <strong>une terre d&#8217;exil<\/strong>, <\/em>where\u00a0political dissidents and other <em>&#8220;ind\u00e9sirables<\/em>&#8221; and <em>personnae non gratae<\/em> were infamously expedited. The 1969 Steve McQueen-starring movie, <strong><em>Papillon<\/em><\/strong>, based on the\u00a0<em>autobiographie<\/em> of French prisoner\u00a0<strong>Henri Charri\u00e8re<\/strong>, depicts a famous, particularly\u00a0daring, and\u00a0ultimately successful escape from <em><strong>l&#8217;\u00cele du Diable<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f526tn-pNMY\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f526tn-pNMY<\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nThousands of\u00a0Algerians who were charged\u00a0with <em>activit\u00e9s anticoloniales <\/em>throughout the <em>occupation fran\u00e7aise <\/em>were\u00a0expelled to the French Guiana capital, <strong>Cayenne<\/strong>, thus\u00a0losing forever\u00a0all <em>liens <\/em>(links)\u00a0with their home\u00a0families and cultural\u00a0roots. Several <strong><em>pieds noirs<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0namely the French who were born in colonial Algeria (1830-1962),\u00a0were also\u00a0forcibly sent\u00a0into exile in French Guiana. As a side note, only linking Algeria, France, and French Guiana, here is an interesting excerpt\u00a0from the French Guiana TV, &#8220;<em>T\u00e9l\u00e9 Guyane<\/em>&#8220;, of <strong>Nicolle Morand<\/strong>, author of the book <em><strong>&#8220;Alg\u00e9rienne, je suis&#8221;<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nicolle Morand:Alg\u00e9rienne, je suis\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9uWIW7489VM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The ruins of the Kourou colonial\u00a0prisons are\u00a0still visible today, and\u00a0stand not too far from where\u00a0is now\u00a0located <em><strong>le<\/strong> <strong>Centre Spatial Guyanais<\/strong><\/em> (Guiana Space Centre), which\u00a0hosts <em>the lanceur <\/em>(launcher)<strong> Ariane 5<\/strong>, used to set satellites into their\u00a0<strong><em>orbites g\u00e9ostationnaires<\/em><\/strong> (geostationary orbits), or other heavy space loads onto what is called <strong><em>orbites terrestres basses <\/em><\/strong>(low earth orbits.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Sn7DnuzWENs\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Sn7DnuzWENs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today, <strong>Ariane 5 <\/strong>launches commercial as well as military satellites, as it is the case with the deployment of\u00a0this series of\u00a0<em><strong>satellites de renseignements<\/strong><\/em> (spy satellites) called &#8220;<strong>Helios<\/strong>&#8220;,\u00a0probing the\u00a0Afghanistan region with a\u00a0ground resolution\u00a0of about 30 cm.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"HELIOS 2B - Le nouveau satellite espion fran\u00e7ais (JT DU 20 HEURES - LE 7 DECEMBRE 2009)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qNllO1fWNyU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>One can therefore conclude that the\u00a0French <strong><em>conqu\u00eate<\/em> <em>coloniale<\/em><\/strong> (colonial conquest) has to a\u00a0very large measure\u00a0served\u00a0the French\u00a0<em><strong>conqu\u00eate spatiale<\/strong> <\/em>(space conquest.)<\/p>\n<p>Today, conversely,\u00a0it is\u00a0the turn of\u00a0the <strong><em>conqu\u00eate <\/em><em>spatiale<\/em><\/strong> to return the favor,\u00a0by\u00a0extending its state-of-the-art imaging technology\u00a0services to the &#8220;new\u00a0old&#8221; age\u00a0of the\u00a0<strong><em>conqu\u00eate<\/em> <em>coloniale<\/em><\/strong> (the latter being conveniently &#8220;refashioned&#8221;, of course, in name and style,\u00a0according to\u00a0the\u00a0latest\u00a0&#8220;<em>go\u00fbt <\/em><em>du jour.<\/em>&#8220;)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From la Conqu\u00eate Coloniale (the Colonial Conquest) to la Conqu\u00eate Spatiale (the Space Conquest), la boucle\u00a0semble desormais ferm\u00e9e (It has come full circle.) Comment est-ce que cela est arriv\u00e9? (How did that happen?) La course\u00a0\u00e0 l&#8217;espace (the Space Race) between the United States and the USSR lasted almost 30 ans (30 years), from 1957 to&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/conquete-coloniale-conquete-spatiale\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[10245,10278,9553,9554,10263,10252,10268,4229,10244,10242,10260,10264,10235,10230,10229,10231,10233,10239,10248,10250,10238,10237,10269,10236,10265,10249,10272,10255,10251,10266,10241,10243,9129,10257,10262,10279,10270,10271,10256,10261,10246,10273,10232,10253,10267,10234,10258,10254,1376,8286,10240],"class_list":["post-1142","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-a-la-recherche-du-temps-perdu","tag-activites-anticoloniales","tag-algeria","tag-algerie","tag-algerienne-je-suis","tag-ariane","tag-ariane-5","tag-asterix","tag-baron-de-charlus","tag-bechar","tag-cayenne","tag-centre-spatial-guyanais","tag-cold-war","tag-colonial-conquest","tag-conquete-coloniale","tag-conquete-spatiale","tag-course-a-lespace","tag-diamant","tag-essais-nucleaires","tag-french-guiana","tag-fusee","tag-general-de-gaule","tag-geostationary-orbit","tag-guerre-froide","tag-guiana-space-centre","tag-guyane-francaise","tag-helios","tag-ile-du-diable","tag-kourou","tag-lanceur","tag-le-manege-enchante","tag-lyautey","tag-marcel-proust","tag-napoleon-iii","tag-nicolle-morand","tag-nuclear-tests","tag-orbite-geostationnaire","tag-orbite-terrestre-basse","tag-papillon","tag-pieds-noirs","tag-reggane","tag-satellite-de-renseignement","tag-space-conquest","tag-space-consortium","tag-space-launcher","tag-space-race","tag-steve-mcqueen","tag-terre-dexil","tag-usa","tag-ussr","tag-zebulon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1142"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28097,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions\/28097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}