Sixteen months ago, Charles de Gaulle swept grandly through France's black Africa empirethe biggest European holdings on the continentoffering self-government and membership in a new French Community. Only Sekou Toure's Guinea turned him down. De Gaulle was able to put together a Community of eleven autonomous African states, plus the island republic of Madagascar. What if they wanted independence? "You have only to ask for it," said De Gaulle.
Already at least two of the twelve are asking. The states of Senegal and Sudan,*which last April joined as a new entity called the Federation of Mali, now want to have...