A novel data collection provides comparative evidence on colonial states of the ‘second’ French colonial Empire, since their foundation to their devolution in the 1960s. Colonial states were neither omnipotent Leviathans nor casual night watchmen. On the one hand, we emphasize the extractive efficiency and capacity of adaptation of colonial states to varied socioeconomic contexts and to varying historical conditions. On the other hand, we put forward dualism as the main common feature and legacy.