 These reforms were part of a trend away from the official policies of assimilation and direct rule in favor of administrative decentralization and internal autonomy.Although the nationalistic fervor sweeping French West Africa at this time was largely absent in Mauritania, continuous politicking (averaging one election every eighteen months between 1946 and 1958) provided training for political leaders and awakened a political consciousness among the populace.On 28 July 1960 France agreed to Mauritania becoming fully independent.