Desiree+K.

[] works sited Iperilism-The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations.

The French in West Africa. The red is French

France had an intrest in the region boardering the Meiterranean sea. France lost most of its original overseas empire in the Seven Years war and the Napaleonic wars and suffered a mojor set back in its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. Thus French Imperialism was an effort to regain lost power.