The exposition will have achieved its goal if, as a result of it, many young people develop a desire for a career in the colonies! The exposition in the Bois de Vincennes followed the tradition of universal expositions and colonial expositions, whose purpose was to exalt the technological and civilising power of European and North American countries. Devoted exclusively to the colonies, it was held from May to November , and welcomed almost 8 million visitors for 33 million tickets sold.
The project was not new, since a member of the French parliament had submitted a similar project back in , and it had been taken up again after the war.
Meanwhile, Marseille was also developing its own project, which eventually took shape as the Colonial Exposition in the southern French city. Taking the form of a huge public show, a true city within a city, the six-kilometre-long exposition, three and a half kilometres wide, with its two hundred buildings representing the different French colonies and territories, stretched over an area of hectares.
The United Kingdom was absent, having declined the invitation, despite being urged to attend by Lyautey it merely accepted a booth in the Information area. The British government claimed to have other financial commitments, and negotiations were underway to determine the status of the Commonwealth. The train then continued on to the French empire, presented in all its majesty.
In contrast, the French Equatorial Africa pavilion was much more modest, as if to avoid emphasising some of its tragedies, starting with the terrible construction of the Congo-Ocean line around the same period.
