At the start of the 20th century, the region of Chad had come under the gaze of France as part of the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ when the European colonial powers raced to claim as much of the African continent as they could. By 1920, the French had full control of Chad and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. 

Like other French colonies in Africa, Chad went through various configurations and amalgamations over the following decades. 

After the end of the second world war, France made more constitutional changes to give more autonomy to its African possessions. 

After a referendum on territorial autonomy on September 28th 1958, French Equatorial Africa (whose constituent states were Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon and the Central African Republic) was dissolved and on November 28th 1958 Chad’s status changed to an autonomous republic within the French Community. 

Chad remained a French territory until it attained full independence in August 1960.