Dahomeyan Democratic Rally

The party was established in August 1957 by a merger of the Dahomeyan Democratic Movement led by Maga and the Independents of the North party led by Paul Darboux.[1] However, Darboux left the party shortly after its establishment and refounded his party as the Union of Independents of Dahomey.[1]

Like most other parties in Dahomey, it was a regional one and was heavily backed by the northern section of the French colony (particularly among the Bariba)[2] without much support elsewhere.[3] However, it suffered from internal rivalries between factions based in Parakou and Nikki and conflict between the Bariba and Dendi.[1]

In 1958 the party merged with the Yoruba-dominated Republican Party of Dahomey (PRD) led by Sourou-Migan Apithy to form the Dahomeyan Progressive Party, which was to be the Dahomeyan branch of the African Regroupment Party.[1] However, internal disagreements led to the parties splitting back into their original forms in 1959.[4] The RDD won 22 seats in the 1959 elections, and in 1960 agreed to merge with the PRD again, this time under the name Dahomeyan Unity Party.[4]

The party was briefly re-established as the Dahomeyan National Union (Union Nationale Dahoméene) following a coup by Christophe Soglo in 1965. However, all parties were banned by Soglo in December 1965.[1]

• Laitin, David D. (1986), Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change Among the Yoruba, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-46790-2, OCLC 12946946.
• Matthews, Ronald (1966), African Powder Keg: Revolt and Dissent in Six Emergent Nations, London: The Bodley Head, OCLC 246401461.