Politics of Benin century until the colonial period, the Kingdom of Dahomey (whose borders encompassed more than present day Benin) was ruled by an "Oba". The French were the colonial power from 1892 to 1960, when independence was finally achieved. Between 1960 and 1972, a series of military coups in Benin (known until 1975 as the Republic of Dahomey) brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought Major Mathieu Kérékou to power as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin (PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the
French Dahomey Dahomey became an overseas territory with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly. On 4 December 1958, it became the Republic of Dahomey ("République du Dahomey"), self-governing within the French Union. On 1 August 1960, the Republic of Dahomey gained full independence from France. The republic's first president was Hubert Maga, who had been the Prime Minister during the overseas territory's last year under French rule. French Dahomey French Dahomey was a French colony of and a part of French West Africa from 1904 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth