Editing Béhanzin (section)

=== Second Franco-Dahomean War ===
{{Main|Second Franco-Dahomean War}}

The peace lasted two years, but both sides continued to buy arms in preparation for another battle. In 1892, the soldiers of Abomey attacked villages near [[Grand Popo]] and [[Porto-Novo]] in an effort to reassert the older boundaries of Dahomey. King Béhanzin rejected complaints by the French, who proceeded to declare war.

The French further justified the annexation of Dahomey by [[Civilizing mission|characterizing the Dahomeans as savages in need of civilizing]], and pointing to the [[human sacrifice]] of slaves made to the royal ancestors at the annual ceremonies known as [[annual customs of Dahomey|annual customs]] and at a king's death, as evidence of this savagery. [[Dahomey]] was already at odds with other colonial empires for their practice of attacking and enslaving neighboring kingdoms, both for domestic slaves (including human sacrifice), and trans-atlantic trade, which came at odds with the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|British Empire's anti-slavery campaign]] during the 19th century.

The French also pointed to the existence of the [[Dahomey Amazons|women's militia]] that protected the king,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alperin |first1=Stanley |date=1998 |title=On the Origins of the Amazons |journal=History in Africa |volume=25 |pages=9–25 |doi=10.2307/3172178 |jstor=3172178}}</ref> whom the Fon referred to simply as ''Minon'' (or "mothers"), but the French called [[Amazons]] after the fierce women warriors of Greek mythology. These women soldiers were thought to have become common in the Fon army due to the extreme losses suffered by Dahomey during wars with neighboring kingdoms. Some official French propaganda from the period may be seen in prints depicting these so-called Amazons.  One source{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} claims that in one of the battles an Amazon killed a French officer by ripping out his throat with her sharpened teeth. Parallel accounts of the event handed down in Benin describe the Amazon as a trusted wife of Béhanzin who had sworn to avenge members of the royal family who had been [[execution (legal)|execute]]d by Béhanzin for treachery after divulging battle plans in return for [[bribe]]s from French agents. The French officer she is said to have killed was allegedly the head of French [[military intelligence]] who committed the 'savage' act of corrupting family members to betray their own. The Amazon was reduced to using her teeth after her [[ammunition]] ran out at the battle's peak.

Through superior [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence gathering]], superior strategy, superior weaponry, bribery, and a campaign of [[psychological warfare]] that included cutting down most of the [[sacred trees]] in the [[Ouémé Department|Oueme]] and [[Zou Department|Zou]], the French defeated Dahomey, one of the last African kingdoms to succumb to European colonization, with very few French losses.<ref>[[Second Franco-Dahomean War#CITEREFAlpern1998]]</ref> Instead of attacking Abomey directly by marching straight north from Calavi just north of Cotonou, French General [[Alfred Dodds]] attacked from [[Porto-Novo]], moving up the [[Ouémé River|Oueme valley]] until he was within striking distance of [[Abomey]], via [[Cove]] and [[Bohicon]], while the Fon continued to pattern their attacks in predictable melee combat style just before dawn, with shorter machete weapons and swords that had difficulty breaking disciplined French [[Bayonet]] lines.

Over a series of battles and guerilla warfare by the Fon attempting to slow the French march towards the Dahomey capital of [[Abomey]], the French were victorious, sustaining only 85 casualties to the estimated 2000 to 4000 killed among the Fon. On November 5, 1892, following the loss of the royal palace, Béhanzin sent a truce mission to the French forces, but it failed. King Béhanzin, refusing to let the capital fall into enemy hands, burned and evacuated the city. He and the remnants of the Dahomey army fled north as the French entered the capital on 17 November, and installed Béhanzin's brother [[Agoli-agbo]] as the new King. After failing to rebuild his army, King Béhanzin eventually surrendered to the French on 15 January 1894. He lived out the remainder of his life in exile in [[Martinique]] and [[Algeria]]. 

After his death, his remains were returned to Abomey. His throne and his sculptures of wood, copper, iron and silver are now in the Musee Quai Branly, and have been the topic of important discussions about their return to the Republic of Benin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hickley |first1=Catherine |title=France takes first legal step towards restitutions to Beninds |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/french-cabinet-approves-law-allowing-restitutions-to-benin-and-senegal |website=The Art Newspaper |date=16 July 2020 |publisher=The Art Newspaper International |access-date=3 September 2020}}</ref>

Béhanzin was succeeded by [[Agoli-agbo]], his brother and one-time Army Chief of Staff, the only potential ruler with whom the French were willing to negotiate.