WEST, NATURAL RESOURCES AND POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES IN AFRICA IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, THE
Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2005 by Martin, Guy
Continued from page 24.
The colonial myth of the fight against slavery also provided the French colonialists with a unique opportunity to create in
1857 a devoted and ruthless corps of African foot soldiers constituted almost exclusively of freed slaves, the famed
Tirailleurs Sénégalais (Senegalese riflemen- actually originating from throughout French Africa-), increasing from one
battalion in 1882 to four in 1903. These troops, feared for their extreme ruthlessness and cruelty, constituted, under the
leadership of French military officers, the bulk of the French colonial expeditionary forces in French West Africa and in
Madagascar (1894). Through a decree of 1912, all male African subjects between the ages of 20 and 28 were compulsorily
conscripted into the army for a four-year period. As a result, the French administration managed to recruit large numbers of
soldiers for the war effort. Thus, the number of Tirailleurs Sénégalais increased from less than 6,000 in 1895 to 12,000 in
1910, 17,000 in 1914, 55,000 in 1920, and 110,000 in 1925. In 1916, the French mobilized a total of 51,000 troops
throughout West Africa, and 63,378 new recruits in 1918 alone, especially through the efforts of Senegalese Biaise Diagne,
appointed High Commissioner in charge of the Recruitment of African Troops for the occasion.79 Massive numbers of
Africans were forcibly recruited for the war effort either as soldiers, carriers or military labor. Thus, over 483,000
colonial soldiers-including 170,891 Tirailleurs Sénégalais-from all over Africa served in the French army during the war, and
260,000 porters from the Belgian Congo were mobilized during the East Africa campaign. All in all, over 2.5 million Africans-
including one million troops-were involved in the war effort during World War I.80 The death toll among African soldiers
was estimated at 71,000, including 25,000 Algerians and 35,000 Tirailleurs Sénégalais.Sl About a million African troops and
carriers-including 200,000 Tirailleurs Sénégalais-were used in World War II, and as many as 80,000 French African
soldiers had been fighting on the European front when France fell to the Germans.82 An estimated 36,530 (over 45 per
cent) were killed in combat, including 10,500 from Madagascar and 26,030 from sub-Saharan Africa.83
POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES IN AFRICA IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3821/is_200504/ai_n13642805/pg_25