First Franco-Dahomean War

The 1890 conflict between France and the Kingdom of Dahomey ended with Dahomey recognizing French protection over Porto-Novo and ceding control of Cotonou.

Cotonou: A port city in present-day Benin, situated between Porto-Novo and Abomey. Dahomey's authority over Cotonou and France's occupation of its port intensified the dispute.
Kingdom of Dahomey: A West African kingdom centered in present-day Benin, powerful from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. Dahomey's expansion and control of the coast brought it into conflict with France.
Second Franco-Dahomean War: The 1892–1894 war in which France conquered the Kingdom of Dahomey. The 1890 settlement failed to resolve disputes that led to renewed fighting.
Battle of Atchoukpa: An 1890 battle between French forces and Dahomean troops near Porto-Novo. The engagement demonstrated Dahomey's military pressure on Porto-Novo during the war.
Behanzin: The king of Dahomey from 1889 to 1894, who resisted French expansion. He led Dahomey during the war and rejected France's claims over coastal territory.
Bight of Benin: A section of the Gulf of Guinea coastline stretching from Ghana to Nigeria. French ambitions along this coast framed the territorial dispute.
French Dahomey: A French colony in West Africa established after the conquest of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The war preceded the conquest that brought Dahomey under French colonial rule.
Battle of Cotonou: An 1890 clash between French and Dahomean forces at Cotonou. The fighting centered on the port whose control was central to the dispute.
Toffa: The ruler of Porto-Novo who governed under French protection in the late nineteenth century. His alliance with France placed Porto-Novo at the center of the conflict.
French protectorate of Porto-Novo: The French-protected political entity established around Porto-Novo in the nineteenth century. France's protectorate claim challenged Dahomey's influence over the neighboring kingdom.

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