The Troupes coloniales or Armée coloniale, commonly called La Coloniale, were the colonial troops of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were designated Troupes de marine, and in 1961 they readopted this name. They were recruited from mainland France and from the French settler as well as indigenous populations of the empire. This force played a substantial role in the conquest of the empire, in World War I, World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War.
French regulars of the Colonial Infantry disembarking in Madagascar 1895.
French marines ('marsouins') of the Infanterie Coloniale, from a Régiment Mixte Coloniale, practising an advance at Mudros in May 1915, prior to deployment to Gallipoli.
Recruitment poster of the Colonial Forces for the Free French Forces.
Vichy regime poster: "We must rebuild the empire: Madagascar, Syria, French Equatorial Africa. Enlist in La Coloniale."
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
Call-up ad inviting citizens to enlist in French Colonial Forces, after colonies of North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia) had been reconquered by the Allies in World War II.
A Punjabi sepoy of the British Indian Army in 1910
Locally recruited riflemen of the French Colonial Army in Indochina, 1884
Force Publique soldiers in the Belgian Congo, late 1940s.
