What is the importance of France in the book, The Black Jacobins?

Throughout The Black Jacobins, James switches from events occurring in French-controlled West Indies and in France. At the time when The Black Jacobins begins, France is only just beginning to claim its independence from the monarchy. As The Black Jacobins continues, France succumbs first to Revolution then to the Robespierre-led Reign of Terror. The final chapters deal with Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to the position of Emperor. Throughout these changes, French statesmen debate what to do about the “colonial question.”