Nothing like a historical film to stir up controversy in France. Especially a film on this page of colonial history that was the participation of Senegalese skirmishers in the First World War. Inspired by David Diop’s novel, soul brotherthe film by Mathieu Vadepied, Skirmishers, released on January 4 and featuring Omar Sy, however, raised little controversy. If several critics have underlined a clumsy production and an interpretation under the sign of naivety, to everyone’s surprise, the historical reconstruction which avoids the pitfall of a victim vision seemed to achieve consensus.
It was a great opportunity to recall this page of history, explains historian Julien Fargettas. This former army officer, who has devoted three books to these African fighters in France (including The skirmishers Senegalese, Black soldiers between legends and realities 1939-1945, Tallandier), regularly receives letters from descendants of these heroes of the First World War who seek to find the traces of their ancestor. “There is a real thirst for knowledge among young people and the population in general,” he says. After a period of erasure of this memory following independence, we are witnessing a renewed interest. »
Beyond the cliches
If it is important to restore certain historical truths, it is also necessary to put an end to certain clichés about these fighters, he explains. If this expeditionary force was created in Senegal in 1837, as colonial expansion progressed, its recruits very quickly came from all over Africa under French domination. “The reasons are simple, these fighters are better adapted to the terrain and the climate than French soldiers, who are often the subject of pathologies such as yellow fever. Then, they cost less and are recruited according to a system of contracts. »
With the approach of the First World War, recruitment methods became harsher. In the film, the young Thierno is the object of a roundup while his father, Bakary Diallo (Omar Sy), voluntarily undertakes to find him. “While raids may have occurred, recruitment was above all the subject of negotiations with the chiefs of tribes and villages who were required to provide contingents. Some took advantage of it to get rid of bad apples or to send the handicapped. These methods of recruitment will cause a revolt in 1915 and 1916. Revolt after which, under the influence of the deputy Blaise Diagne, representing Senegal in the National Assembly, a campaign of voluntary recruitment will be a great success.
It has been written that these recruits, who then represented up to 5% of the French army, were considered cannon fodder, and most of the time sent to the front line. “It is false, explains Julien Fargettas. There was no difference in treatment with French soldiers. Besides, the loss rates were exactly the same. If this myth has persisted, it is probably because skirmishers were in the front line during the famous Chemin des Dames offensive which took place in atrocious conditions. »
Out of 134,000 recruits, 30,000 skirmishers will leave their lives in France. It is noted that, more than the others, these skirmishers often died of disease. Because of the climate, they were prone to many lung ailments like tuberculosis. Desertions are no more numerous than in the French contingent.
“We quickly realize that these soldiers are not those ferocious warriors ‘born for war’ that General Charles Mangin praised in his bestseller Strength black, published in 1910. From October to April, they are quartered in the south of France and one avoids sending them to fight in North. They enjoy an adapted diet that respects cultural habits and religious taboos. We want to keep their morale up. »
“Men like the others”
In Mathieu Vadepied’s film, we feel the camaraderie that unites despite everything the fighters of these battalions, where we found all the same a third of French soldiers. “These are men like the others who think of their family, their village, women, even if they see that they are different,” says Julien Fargettas. Most do not speak French. For a Frenchman at the time, seeing an African was really a curiosity. It also aroused deep respect, because they came to defend France. But you also have to put yourself in the shoes of these men who were pulled out of the bush, dressed, shod and sent into a world of which they had no idea. It must have been a terrible shock. »
At the end of the war, the vast majority of them wanted to return to the country, where they were promised a pension, French citizenship and some advantages such as jobs in the administration. Promises that will sometimes remain a dead letter, especially for those who live far from big cities. With the exception of certain troops stationed in France, the instruction is to demobilize them in Africa. “The leftist opposition feared that they would be used by the right for political purposes,” says the historian. It should not be denied either that certain racial theories were already circulating at that time. »
The presence of black soldiers in the French army, who could be lieutenants or captains, would not fail to shock the Americans, whose expeditionary force landed in France from 1917. “The Americans, who practice segregation and confine blacks mainly to stewardship tasks, says Fargettas, will write officially to the French government to complain. »
In a document known as Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops, General Pershing himself took up the pen to complain to Lieutenant-Colonel Linard of the excessive familiarity shown by the French troops with regard to black soldiers. Linard will publish a circular urging French troops not to offend American sensitivities. “On August 16, 1918, the Franco-American special office of the army staff decided to withdraw this circular which conveys ideas contrary to the principles of human rights”, wrote in 2012 the historian Olivier Lahaie in the review Inflections, issued by the Army. Linard will also be summoned to explain himself to his staff.
A “negrified” France
In 1918, many riflemen will be mobilized to occupy the Rhineland and, later, in 1923, the Ruhr. The latter will be the object of an impressive racist campaign painting them like gorillas and describing them as rapists. A few years later, Hitler would also denounce in Mein Kampf a “negrified” France. In June 1940, in full debacle, this racist propaganda will lead to the extermination by the Wehrmacht of several thousand skirmishers who, if they had not been black, would have been taken prisoner according to the rules of war.
It is moreover because his mother had sent him to visit a cemetery of Senegalese skirmishers executed by the Germans near Lyon that Julien Fargettas began to take an interest in this subject.
More than a century later, what memory remains of these fighters? “France has not forgotten the skirmishers, explains the historian. She honored them in 1924 with the construction of the monument To the heroes of the black army in Reims, place of their highest feat of arms. An identical replica was erected in Bamako. The monument in Reims was also financed by popular donations, which shows the esteem they enjoyed in the population. Destroyed by the Germans in 1940, it was replaced by a stele in 1958 and then by a new monument in 1963. In 2013, an identical replica of the first monument was installed in a park in Reims. It will be inaugurated in 2018 by Emmanuel Macron.
Even if it will be necessary to wait for the 1940s to really take care of these veterans, many of whom are war-disabled, the Senegalese skirmishers are today in all school textbooks. “These men come back transformed,” says Julien Fargettas. They saw the world, discovered new realities. Back home, they are sometimes acclaimed, sometimes the object of suspicion. One thing is certain, they are no longer the same, whom the writer and future president of Senegal Léopold Senghor called “my black brothers with warm hands under ice and death”.