MORALE AMONG FRENCH COLONIAL TROOPS ON THE WESTERN FRONT DURING WORLD WAR I: 1914–1918

dc.creator	William Dean
dc.date	2011-08-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T20:08:31Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T20:08:31Z
dc.identifier	10.5787/38-2-89
dc.identifier	2224-0020
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/b4cc1b1242f84c288098a6c7cbe55a82
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/8288
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/b4cc1b1242f84c288098a6c7cbe55a82
dc.description	The traditional images of the French Army in World War I on the Western<br />Front from Cyril Falls’s to Marc Ferro’s surveys (both entitled The Great War 1914–<br />1918) have been that of the grizzled yet determined French peasant or worker – the<br />poilu. It is clear from recent research that this is far from accurate and that the<br />French forces were far more heterogeneous than portrayed by previous images.1<br />Men were called from all over the French empire to serve in the frontline and in<br />logistics units. Virtually every part of the French Empire responded, although<br />somewhat grudgingly, even including Tahiti, which provided a Bataillon Pacifique.<br />Bringing men to a foreign land and culture to fight in a new type of horrific war was<br />quite a strain on these 600 000 soldiers.2 The bulk of these soldiers were drawn from<br />North and West Africa, with smaller numbers coming from Madagascar, Indochina<br />and Equatorial Africa. This article is an attempt at giving an impressionistic glimpse<br />of this subject describing colonial morale both at the frontlines and behind the lines,<br />seeing how they compare to their metropole comrades and trying to gain an<br />understanding of the vie quotiedienne of the colonial soldier.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy)
dc.relation	http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/89
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2224-0020
dc.source	Scientia Militaria : South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 38, Iss 2 (2011)
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.title	MORALE AMONG FRENCH COLONIAL TROOPS ON THE WESTERN FRONT DURING WORLD WAR I: 1914–1918
dc.type	Article