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The Senegalese Tirailleurs (french: Tirailleurs Sénégalais) were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. They were initially recruited from
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, French West Africa and subsequently throughout Western, Central and Eastern Africa: the main sub-Saharan regions of the French colonial empire. The noun ''
tirailleur A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...
'', which translates variously as '
skirmisher Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an ir ...
', '
rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the ri ...
', or '
sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...
', was a designation given by the French Army to indigenous infantry recruited in the various colonies and overseas possessions of the French Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite recruitment not being limited to Senegal, these infantry units took on the adjective since that was where the first black African Tirailleur regiment had been formed. The first ''Senegalese Tirailleurs'' were formed in 1857 and served
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in a number of wars, including
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(providing around 200,000 troops, more than 135,000 of whom fought in Europe and 30,000 of whom were killed) and
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
(recruiting 179,000 troops, 40,000 deployed to Western Europe). Other tirailleur regiments were raised in French North Africa from the Arab and Berber populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco; collectively they were called or . Tirailleur regiments were also raised in
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
; they were called Vietnamese, Tonkinese or Annamites Tirailleurs.


History


Origins

The Senegalese Tirailleurs were formed in 1857 by Louis Faidherbe, governor general of French West Africa, because he lacked sufficient French troops to control the territory and meet other requirements of the first phase of colonisation. The formal decree for the formation of this force was signed on 21 July 1857 in
Plombières-les-Bains Plombières-les-Bains () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in eastern France. It was the seat of the former canton of Plombières-les-Bains. ''Les bains'' refers to the hot springs in the area, whose properties were first di ...
by
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. Recruitment was later extended to other French colonies in Africa. During its early years the corps included some former slaves bought from West African slave-owners as well as prisoners of war. Subsequent recruitment was either by voluntary enlistment or on occasion by an arbitrary form of conscription.


1870–1914

In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, the Senegalese tirailleurs continued to provide the bulk of French garrisons in West and Central Africa. Their overall numbers remained limited. However, in anticipation of the First World War, Colonel
Charles Mangin Charles Emmanuel Marie Mangin (6 July 1866 – 12 May 1925) was a French general during World War I. Early career Charles Mangin was born on 6 July 1866 in Sarrebourg. After initially failing to gain entrance to Saint-Cyr, he joined the 77th ...
described in his 1910 book ''La force noire'' his conception of a greatly expanded French colonial army, whilst Jean Jaurès, in his , suggested that the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...
should look elsewhere to recruit its armies due to the falling birthrate in mainland France. A company-sized detachment of took part in the conquest of Madagascar (1895), although the bulk of the non-European troops employed in this campaign were Algerian and Hausa tirailleurs. Regiments of ''s'' were subsequently recruited in Madagascar, using the Senegalese units as a model. In 1896, a small expedition consisting mainly of 200 was assembled in Loango (French Congo) under Captain
Jean-Baptiste Marchand :''for others with similar names, see Jean Marchand General Jean-Baptiste Marchand (22 November 1863 – 14 January 1934) was a French military officer and explorer in Africa. Marchand is best known for commanding the French expeditionary ...
. This "Marchand Mission" took two years to cross hundreds of miles of unexplored bush until they reached
Fashoda Kodok or Kothok ( ar, كودوك), formerly known as Fashoda, is a town in the north-eastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile State. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as the Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk had been an independ ...
on the Nile. Here they encountered British and Egyptian troops under Major-General Kitchener, who had just defeated the
Mahadi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
's
Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...
army near Khartoum. While the
Fashoda Incident The Fashoda Incident, also known as the Fashoda Crisis (French: ''Crise de Fachoda''), was an international incident and the climax of imperialist territorial disputes between Britain and France in East Africa, occurring in 1898. A French exped ...
raised the possibility of war between France and Britain, tribute was paid to the courage and endurance of Marchand and his Senegalese tirailleurs by both sides. By a decree dated July 7, 1900 the , the
Tirailleurs indochinois The ''Tirailleurs indochinois'' ( vi, Lính tập; Chữ Nôm: 𪜯習) were soldiers of several regiments of local ethnic Indochinese infantry organized as Tirailleurs by the French colonial authorities, initially in Vietnam from 15 March 1880 ...
,
Tirailleurs malgaches The tirailleurs malgaches were a corps of French colonial infantry established in Madagascar. Overview After the annexation of Madagascar by France in 1896, Malagasy troops were recruited, and the ''Tirailleurs malgaches'' were formed along sim ...
and the "marsouins" were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Navy and Colonies, but were reclassified as
Troupes coloniales The ''Troupes coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' ("Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the military forces of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were de ...
, different from the mainland elements Metropolitan army and separate from the Armée d’Afrique of the
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
. The anchor badge of the was worn on the collar from 1914, and when the Adrian helmet was adopted in WW1, an insignia with the anchor behind a flaming grenade was worn by the . During the early 1900s, the saw active service in the
French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...
and Chad while continuing to provide garrisons for the French possessions in West and Central Africa. In 1908, two battalions of landed at Casablanca to begin nearly twenty years of active service in Morocco by Senegalese units. On 14 July 1913, the paraded their standard at Longchamp, the first occasion upon which Senegalese troops had been seen in metropolitan France. New flags were presented to the 2e, 3e and 4e RTS at the same parade.


World War I

There were 21 battalions of (BTS) in the French Army in August 1914, all serving in either West Africa or on active service in Morocco. With the outbreak of war 37 battalions of French, North African and Senegalese infantry were transferred from Morocco to France. Five Senegalese battalions were soon serving on the Western Front, while others formed part of the reduced French garrison in Morocco. The 5th BTS formed part of a French column which was wiped out near
Khenifra Khenifra (Berber: ''Xnifṛa'', ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ, ar, خنيفرة) is a city in northern central Morocco, surrounded by the Atlas Mountains and located on the Oum Er-Rbia River. National Highway 8 also goes through the town. The population, a ...
, during the
Battle of El Herri The Battle of El Herri (also known as Elhri) was fought between France and the Berber Zaian Confederation on 13 November 1914. It took place at the small settlement of El Herri, near Khénifra in the French protectorate in Morocco. The batt ...
on 13 November 1914, with 646 dead. The 10th, 13th, 16th and 21st BTS subsequently saw heavy fighting in Morocco, reinforced by 9,000 additional Senegalese tirailleurs brought up from French West Africa. On the Western Front the served with distinction at Ypres and Dixmude during the Battle of Flanders in late 1914, at the
Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...
in the recapture of Fort de Douaumont in October 1916, during the battle of Chemin des Dames in April 1917 and at the Battle of Reims in 1918. Losses were particularly heavy in Flanders (estimated from 3,200 to 4,800)Eugène-Jean Duval, pag. 165 "Aux sources officielles de la colonisation française-2°période-1870-1940", and Chemin des Mains (7,000 out of 15,500 tirailleurs engaged). In 1915 seven battalions of were amongst the 24 infantry battalions the French sent to the Dardanelles as the
Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient The Corps Expeditionnaire d'Orient (Oriental Expeditionary Force) (CEO) was a French Expeditionary Force raised for service during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. The corps initially consisted of a single infantry division, but later grew ...
. Total French casualties in this campaign reached 27,000 but the Senegalese and regular Colonial Infantry were noted for the high morale that they maintained in spite of losses that reached two out of three in some units. The Senegalese tirailleurs particularly distinguished themselves in the attack during the initial French landings on the southern shore of the Dardanelles. After the withdrawal from the Dardanelles and the redeployment to the Macedonian front, further Senegalese battalions were deployed in this theatre of war.'On 21 November 1917, the 81st, 93rd, 95th and 96th battalions constitute the Groupement des Bataillons Sénégalais de la 17e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale. The Commanding Officer of the 96th Battalion took overall command.' Via


New recruitment drive

French military policy towards the use of African troops in Europe changed in 1915. The French high command realized that the war would last far longer than they had originally imagined. They therefore authorized a major recruitment drive in West Africa. As a result, a further 93 Senegalese battalions were raised between 1915 and 1918, of which 42 saw service in France itself. The usual practice was to bring together battalions of white Colonial Infantry () and African Tirailleurs into . (Four such regiments were formed from the seven tirailleurs and five battalions of deployed at Gallipoli.)The harsh conditions of trench warfare were a particular source of suffering to the un-acclimatized African soldiers and, after 1914/15, the practice of hivernage was adopted: withdrawing them to the south of France for training and re-equipping each winter. In spite of their heavy losses in almost every major battle of the Western Front, the discipline and morale of the "Colonial Corps" remained high throughout the war. At the 90th anniversary commemorations of the
battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...
, then-president Jacques Chirac made a speech evoking the 72,000 colonial combatants killed during the war, mentioning the 'Moroccan infantry, the tirailleurs from Senegal, Indochina (Annam and Cochinchina), and the of the
troupes de marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibi ...
.'


Occupation of the Rhineland

The
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
of November 1918 had provision for the allied Occupation of the Rhineland and France played a major part in this. Between 25,000 and 40,000 colonial soldiers were part of this force. German attempts were made to discredit the use of non-European soldiers by the French during this occupation, as had earlier been the case during World War I. Although no hard evidence was produced, many campaigners claimed that the colonial soldiers – and the Senegalese in particular – were responsible for a substantial number of rapes and sexual assaults. Children resulting from these unions were stigmatised as "
Rhineland Bastard Rhineland Bastard (german: Rheinlandbastard) was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe Afro-Germans, believed fathered by French Army personnel of African descent who were stationed in the Rhineland during its occupation by France a ...
s" and subsequently suffered under the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
race laws.


Between the World Wars

During the War the much reduced French garrison in Morocco had consisted largely of battalions of , who were not affected by the divided loyalties of locally recruited troops and who could be more readily spared from service on the Western Front than French troops. On 13 April 1925 the
Rif War The Rif War () was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several de ...
spilled over into French Morocco when eight thousand Berber fighters attacked a line of French outposts recently established in disputed territory north of the Ouerghala River. The majority of these posts were held by Senegalese and North African tirailleurs. By 27 April 1925 39 out of 66 posts had fallen and their garrisons massacred, or had been abandoned. Faced with what had become a major war the French increased their forces in Morocco to approximately 100,000 men. West African tirailleurs continued to play a major part in subsequent operations in both the Spanish Protectorate (until 1926) and Southern Morocco (until 1934). In one of many engagements, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of won 91 citations for bravery during fighting around Ain-Gatar on 22 June 1926.


Second World War

On the eve of the Second World War, five regiments of were stationed in France in addition to a brigade based in Algeria. The was permanently deployed in the south of France due to the potential threat from Italy. It was also reasoned the climate was more suitable for African soldiers. This deployment of Tirailleurs, outside of their regions of recruitment and traditional peacetime service, arose because of the heavy casualties of the First World War. This had affected the number of metropolitan Frenchmen in the military service age group of twenty to twenty-five by more than half. Up to 200,000 tirailleurs were active during the war, which constituted about nine percent of the French forces. During the Battle of France, the Senegalese and other African tirailleur units served with distinction at Gien, Bourges, and Buzancais. German troops, indoctrinated with Nazi racial doctrines, expressed outrage at having fought against "inferior" opponents. At Montluzin, Senegalese prisoners were murdered by their German captors. The Senegalese Tirailleurs saw extensive service in
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
, Italy, and Corsica. During 1944, they assisted in the liberation of southern France. The 9th DIC (Colonial Infantry Division) included the 4th, 6th, and 13th Regiments of Senegalese Tirailleurs, and fought from Toulon to the Swiss border between August and November 1944. After the
Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...
, the Tirailleurs concluded their service in Europe. They were replaced by newly recruited French volunteers, on the order of Charles de Gaulle. This process became known as . Faced with U.S. restrictions on the size of the French forces, de Gaulle chose to incorporate the various partisan groups within the structure of the official army. The complicated process of discharge and repatriation of the Tirailleurs, coupled with the refusal of France to pay wage arrears due to released prisoners of war, led to several incidents of violence. The most notable of these was the Thiaroye massacre, in 1944, during which the French killed between 35 and 300 (sources vary) Tirailleurs. The ''Tirailleurs Sénégalais'' had been promised that in recognition of their service they would become equal citizens of France, this pledge was not kept following the end of hostilities.


After 1945

The , comprising two battalions, served in the
Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
between 1946 and 1954. Several independent battalions of fought in the same theatre of war. The comprised up to 16 percent of the French forces during the Indochina War. Also in the suppression of the uprising in Madagascar against the French colonial rule the ''Tirailleurs'' were involved. In 1949 there were still nine regiments of in the French Army, serving in West Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Indochina. During the Algerian War the saw extensive active service from 1954 to 1962, mainly as part of the – a grid of occupation detachments intended to protect farms and roads in rural areas. About 12 separate Senegalese units (either three-battalion regiments or single battalions) served in French North Africa between 1954 and 1967, when the last French troops were withdrawn. In 1958–59 the Tirailleur units were in part dissolved, as African personnel transferred to newly formed national armies when the French colonies of West and Central Africa became independent. Substantial numbers of former tirailleurs continued to serve in the French Army but as individual volunteers in integrated Colonial (later Marine) Infantry or Artillery units. The lost their distinctive historic identity during this process. As an example, the 1er RTS, raised in 1857, became the 61st Marine Infantry Regiment in December 1958. The last Senegalese unit in the French Army was disbanded in 1964. The last Senegalese Tirailleur to have served in World War I, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, died at the age of 104 in November 1998. He had been wounded in the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
.


Uniforms

From 1857 to 1889 the wore a dark blue zouave style uniform with yellow braiding (see first photo above). This was replaced by a loose fitting dark blue tunic and trousers worn with a red
sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...
and ''
chechia The chechia (Tunisian Arabic: شاشية ) is a traditional headgear worn in Tunisia and Libya. It is considered in Tunisia to be the national headwear. Close relative to the European beret, the chechia is originally a cap-shaped bonnet, colore ...
''
fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
. White trousers were worn in hot weather and a light khaki drill field dress was adopted in 1898. Senegalese units sent to France in 1914 wore a new dark blue uniform, introduced in June that year, beneath the standard medium-blue greatcoats of the French infantry. This changed to sky-blue in 1915 and
dark khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...
started to be issued the following year. Throughout these changes the distinctive yellow cuff and collar braiding was retained, together with the fez (worn with a drab cover to reduce visibility). Until World War II the continued to wear the khaki uniforms described above, in either heavy cloth or light drill according to conditions. In subsequent campaigns they wore the same field uniforms as other French units, usually with the dark blue
forage cap Forage cap is the designation given to various types of military undress, fatigue or working headwear. These varied widely in form, according to country or period. The coloured peaked cap worn by the modern British Army for parade and other dress o ...
of the . The red fez survived as a parade item until the 1950s.


Filmography

'' Emitaï'' (1971) depicts the effects of conscription on a
Diola The Jola or Diola (endonym: Ajamat) are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. Most Jola live in small villages scattered throughout Senegal, especially in the Lower Casamance region. The main dialect of the Jola langu ...
village. '' Black and White in Color'' (1976), by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1 hour 30 minutes '' Camp de Thiaroye'', by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, 1987, 153 mins. ''Le Tata, paysages de pierres'', by French director
Patrice Robin Patrice is a given name meaning ''wiktionary:noble, noble'' or ''Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician'', related to the names Patrick (given name), Patrick and Patricia (disambiguation), Patricia. In English language, English, Patrice is often a fem ...
and Author Eveline Berruezo, 1992, 60 mins. *Rafael Gutierrez and Dario Arce : Le Tata sénégalais de Chasselay : mémoires du 25° RTS" Documentary film, 52', 2007. Productions Chromatiques- TLM, France.


Literature

'' At Night All Blood Is Black'' () is a novel by French author
David Diop David Mandessi Diop (9 July 1927 – 29 August 1960) was a French West African poet known for his contribution to the Négritude literary movement. His work reflects his anti-colonial stance. Biography Diop started writing poems while he wa ...
. First published in French on August 16, 2018, by
Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil' ...
, it won the
Prix Goncourt des Lycéens The Prix Goncourt des Lycéens is a French literary award created in 1987 as a sort of younger sibling of Prix Goncourt, a prestigious prize for French language literature. The ten members of the Académie Goncourt select twelve literary works as ...
that same year. The book centers around Alfa Ndiaye, a Senegalese Tirailleur who loses his close friend Mademba Diop while fighting in World War I. The English translation by Anna Moschovakis won the 2021
International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...
. It was published in the UK by Pushkin Press and in the US by
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...
. The Franco-American journalist and historian Ted Morgan volunteered to serve during the Algerian War as a junior officer with the Senegalese, whom he described as highly disciplined soldiers with cheerful dispositions, serving in a corps that was full of surprises.


See also

*
Tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...
: history of the original French skirmishers of this designation plus the colonial (e.g.: Algerian, Senegalese etc.) ''tirailleur'' units * French colonial troops *
Spahi Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now ...
: French colonial cavalry regiments including Senegalese units. *
Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under L ...
*
French colonial flags Some of the colonies, protectorates and mandates of the French Colonial Empire used distinctive colonial flags. These most commonly had a French Tricolour in the canton. As well as the flags of individual colonies, the governors-general of F ...
* French Colonial Empire *
List of French possessions and colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...


References


Bibliography

* * *Myron Echenberg, "Tragedy at Thiaroye: The Senegalese Soldiers' Uprising of 1944 ", in Peter Gutkind, Robin Cohen and Jean Copans (eds), African Labor History, Beverly Hills, 1978, p. 109-128 *Myron Echenberg, Colonial Conscripts: The Tirailleurs Senegalais in French West Africa, 1857–1960. Heinemann (1990), * *
Christian Koller Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
:»Von Wilden aller Rassen niedergemetzelt«. Die Diskussion um die Verwendung von Kolonialtruppen in Europa zwischen Rassismus, Kolonial- und Militärpolitik (1914–1930) (= Beiträge zur Kolonial- und Überseegeschichte, Bd. 82). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, . *Nancy Ellen Lawler. Soldiers of Misfortune: Ivoirien Tirailleurs of World War II. Ohio Univ Press (1992) * * *


Filmography

*Eveline Berruezo and Patrice Robin : Le Tata – paysages de pierres. Documentary film, 60', 1992. Espace Mémoire, France. *Rafael Gutierrez and Dario Arce : Le Tata sénégalais de Chasselay : mémoires du 25° RTS" Documentary film, 52', 2007. Productions Chromatiques- TLM, France.


External links


Senegalese Tirailleurs in WWI
* ttp://www.dixmude.eu/ Site on the Battle of Flandres, attention to Tirailleurs Sénégalais* Christian Koller
Colonial Military Participation in Europe (Africa)
in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senegalese Tirailleurs French West Africa Military history of Senegal Military history of France Military units and formations established in 1857 1857 establishments in the French colonial empire Colonial troops 1850s establishments in Senegal People of colonial Senegal People of French West Africa