How did France establish control over the kingdom of Dahomey?

France established control over the kingdom of Dahomey through a combination of commercial treaties, strategic territorial occupation, and military conquest.

Initially, French influence grew through trade in palm oil and the negotiation of commercial treaties, such as the 1851 agreement with King Gezo. Driven by fears of British colonial expansion, France sought to secure its interests along the coast by establishing protectorates over Porto-Novo and negotiating treaties for the port of Cotonou.1

Tensions escalated when King Behanzin, who ascended the throne in 1889, resisted French claims to Cotonou. This resistance precipitated a French military invasion led by Colonel Alfred-Amédée Dodds. Following the defeat of the Dahomean forces in 1892, France established a protectorate over the region. King Behanzin was subsequently deposed and exiled to the West Indies, and the kingdom was formally absorbed into the French colonial empire. These actions allowed France to consolidate its authority and eventually define the borders of the territory that would later become the modern nation of Benin.21