historium: “Here they are! The two who wanted to devour the Europe” French Postcard, 191
historium: “Here they are! The two who wanted to devour the Europe” French Postcard, 1914 Significant deployment of colonial troops in the Western Front by the French during WWI was a controversial subject among fellow European imperial powers. West African soldiers, called Tirailleurs sénégalais (Senegalese Light Infantry) - pictured - were the largest contingent, with over 135,000 soldiers serving in the European front. They were subjected to a nasty propaganda campaign by Germany and Austria-Hungary, who depicted African soldiers as savage hordes raping and pillaging across Europe. The French, while obviously not free from racial prejudices themselves, viewed the reactions from other European nations with disgust, epitomized by French general Charles Mangin’s reply to the German mayors criticizing him for allowing tirailleurs to use the brothels during French occupation of the Rhineland in 1920; “German women are none too good for my Senegalese.” In Mein Kemp, Hitler decried at length “negrification” of France and in 1937 ordered sterilization of the mixed children born during the occupation period. Nazi propaganda against France during interwar period was significantly influenced by this episode -- source link