1958 — Guinea Gains Independence

On October 2, 1958, the Republic of Guinea was born, the only French African territory to say no. Weeks earlier, in a referendum, 95 percent of Guineans had rejected Charles de Gaulle's French Community. Their leader, Ahmed Sekou Toure, had told de Gaulle to his face: we prefer poverty in freedom to riches in slavery. France punished that defiance, stripping the country of administrators, equipment, and even records.

Guinea survived, and Toure went on to help found the Organization of African Unity. The choice carried a hard price, but it was made freely and held. One small nation said no to an empire, and meant it: independence could be claimed, not only granted.