From the Sharifian Army to the Soldiers of the Tricolor Recruitment and Perceptions of Moroccan Troops during the Great War

Abstract

This article examines the fate of Moroccan colonial troops recruited by the French colonial authority in Morocco during the early years of the French Protectorate and the Great War. It highlights the transformation of Moroccan forces from soldiers in the Sharifian Army to colonial troops defending the French tricolor, revealing the multi-scalar impact of colonialism on Moroccan society in general and the military in particular. The Fez mutiny against French training officers in 1912, the anti-colonial insurgency in the Atlas Mountains, and the sudden ‘shift of allegiance’ and recruitment into the colonial army in the ‘pacified’ areas are manifestations of this multi-scalar impact. While the French presented this military shift of allegiance as an act of ‘volunteerism’ on the part of the natives, the process conceals various forms of coercion and economic hardship that were exacerbated during the Great War. The article concludes with an exploration of the European racialized forms of representation of colonial soldiers, despite their role and heavy sacrifices in the war.