French Colonial Troops, 1815-1914

In the 19th century, Muslim countries faced European military pressures, prompting them to modernize their armies and adopt Western reforms, each playing pivotal roles in regional conflicts, with a focus on their uniforms and organizations.

During the 19th century, coming under the increasing military pressure exerted by the colonial military powers of Europe, several Muslim countries of both Africa and Asia were forced to modernize – in a progressive way – their armies in order to face the new menaces coming from abroad. As a result of the above, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914, several “westernized” Muslim armies already existed around the world. The most important of these was the Ottoman Army, which was gradually reformed following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The Turkish troops played an important role in several pivotal conflicts of the 19th century – like the Crimean War – and developed their own distinctive identity across the decades. Following the Ottomans’ example, during the central decades of the 19th century, several other Muslim nations reformed their military forces along “westernized” lines: Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Persia and Afghanistan. The Egyptian Army soon became a major military power of the Mediterranean area, while the reformed troops of Tunisia and Morocco were mostly tasked with contrasting French expansionism in the Maghreb. Persia developed a strong army having western uniforms and weapons, which confronted the British; Afghanistan, instead, played a prominent role in the so-called “Great Game” that took place in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain. The main aim of the present book is to provide a detailed analysis of the history, organization and uniforms of the Muslim armies that emerged during the 19th century; this will be made also thanks to the use of dozens of color uniform plates depicting the dress of the various corps taken into account.