In contradiction with the promise to break with its post-colonial past and some attempts to change its foreign policy, France has reengaged itself massively in African crises. The military interventions launched in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Central African Republic seem to define a new French interventionist policy South of the Sahara. Based upon extensive surveys conducted in Côte d’Ivoire among young pro-Gbagbo militants, this article tries to interpret this new stance from below. It contends that the nationalist and anti-colonial mobilisations that took place in the country were not only instrumental in local power bargaining. They were (and are still) a powerful leverage for generational emancipation and reflect some conflicts of subjectification which will be key in the evolution of Franco-African relations in the future.