🌍 The 600,000 Colonial Troops Who Saved France in WWI, Then Were Forgotten
- Selambi Daniel
- il y a 4 jours
- 1 min de lecture
During World War I, France mobilized approximately 600,000 soldiers from its vast colonial empire, drawing mainly from North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco) and West Africa (often mislabeled as Tirailleurs sénégalais), as well as Indochina and Madagascar.
These forces were critical, fighting in major theaters including the Western Front (Verdun, the Marne, Champagne), the Dardanelles, and the Balkans. Their sacrifice helped offset the massive casualties suffered by the main French army.
Discrimination and Broken Promises: The African and Asian troops served in segregated units. Despite being promised French citizenship or guaranteed pensions for injuries, many of these commitments were broken once the war ended.
Historical Injustice Corrected (Slowly): Following 1918, the immense contribution of these colonial troops was largely erased from official French memory. For decades, they were overlooked in monuments and textbooks.
Systematic historical study of their role only began in the 1990s and 2000s. Formal recognition was delayed until 2006, when President Jacques Chirac officially acknowledged the African soldiers' service. The final step toward correcting the historical injustice came in 2015, nearly a century later, with a law that achieved the full equalization of military pensions, ending decades of discriminatory practices.
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