 In September 1940, during the Second World War, pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari.In August 1940, the territory responded, with the rest of the AEF, to the call from General Charles de Gaulle to fight for Free France.After World War II, the French Constitution of 1946 inaugurated the first of a series of reforms that led eventually to complete independence for all French territories in western and equatorial Africa.