Presents
African Troops in
World War I
World War I was also known as the "Great War" or the "European War." But the rivalries and tensions that began the War soon spilled into Europe's colonies in Asia and particularly in Africa. It's not well known, but over a million African troops were recruited to serve in the First World War, with another million and a half Africans participating in the war effort in one way or another.
In the beginning, attracted by comparatively high wages, many Africans volunteered out of economic necessity. Other Africans were recruited under pressure from their chiefs who were themselves pressured by colonial authorities to provide manpower.
The largest number of African troops, however, were raised by conscription or forced enlistment. France, which used African troops more extensively than any other European power, appointed an African Blaise Diagne, to the post of High Commissioner for recruitment of African troops. He exceeded his 40,000-man conscription goal, actually enlisting over 60,000. Diagne agreed to do this on condition that hospitals, schools, and medical facilities would be improved in West Africa and that France would extend (Photo above: Senegalese troops being trained in France) broader
civil and social rights to native Africans at the end of the war. The French, however, did not live up to their part of the bargain.
The French Army included 340,000 North Africans, at least 250,000 West Africans and 30,000 from the French West Indies. One regiment of Senegalese was among the most highly decorated in the French Army. A thousand Senegalese were shipped to a blood-soaked peninsula in Turkey called Gallipoli where 75% were killed or wounded in just 10 days. Unlike the British, the French did employ some blacks as high ranking officers. The Commander of the Air Defenses of Paris was a black officer, Sosthene Mortenol. While most African soldiers fought on the continent, about 170,000 served on Europe's western front. By the end of the war, over 24,000 of these troops were reported killed and thousands were missing in action. Interestingly, the last troops to surrender in World War I were the black units fighting under the German Eagle against British forces in East Africa.
This has been another Sketch in Color
Copyright 2001
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