Militarizing Marriage. Sarah J. Zimmerman
MILITARIZING MARRIAGE
War and Militarism in African History
SERIES EDITORS: ALICIA C. DECKER AND GIACOMO MACOLA
* * *
Sarah J. Zimmerman
Militarizing Marriage: West African Soldiers’
Conjugal Traditions in Modern French Empire
Militarizing Marriage
West African Soldiers’ Conjugal Traditions in Modern French Empire
Sarah J. Zimmerman
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATHENS, OHIO
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
© 2020 by Ohio University Press
All rights reserved
To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or otherwise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax).
Cover image: “Le pont de la Salamandre,” in Joseph-Simon Gallieni,
Deux campagnes au Soudan français, 1886–1888 (Paris: Hachette, 1891), 10–11.
Printed in the United States of America
Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Zimmerman, Sarah J., author.
Title: Militarizing marriage : West African soldiers' conjugal traditions in modern French empire / Sarah J. Zimmerman.
Other titles: War and militarism in African history.
Description: Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, 2020. | Series: War and militarism in African history | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019059725 | ISBN 9780821424223 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780821440674 (adobe pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Soldiers--Family relationships--Africa, West. | Military spouses--Africa, French-speaking West--Social conditions--20th century. | Women--Africa, French-speaking West--Social conditions--20th century. | Africa, French-speaking West--History--1884-1960.
Classification: LCC DT532.5 .Z56 2020 | DDC 960.03--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059725
To Fatoumata Mbodj Faye, Samba Katy Faye, Ndeye Niawe Faye, and Mohamadou Lamine Faye
Contents
Introduction: French African Soldiers and Female Conjugal Partners in Colonial Militarism
2. Colonial Conquest “en Famille”: African Military Households in Congo and Madagascar, 1880–1905
4. Domestic Affairs in the Great War: Legal Plurality, Citizenship, and Family Benefits, 1914–18
6. Afro-Vietnamese Military Households in French Indochina and West Africa, 1930–56
Epilogue: Decolonization, Algeria, and Legacies
Illustrations
MAPS
2.1. French Congo / French Equatorial Africa
3.1. French Protectorate in Morocco
4.1. Four Communes of Senegal
5.1. French Mandate Territories: Syria and Lebanon
6.1. French Indochina
7.1. French Algeria
FIGURES
3.1. “Casablanca.—Au Camp Sénégalais: Les futurs tirailleurs”
3.2. “Campagne au Maroc (1907–1909).—Ber Réchid—Camp et cuisines des Sénégalais”
6.1. “Sois actif et vigilant, LE VIET EST PARTOUT”
6.2. “Attention! Ta solde est pour qui?”
Acknowledgments
Research for this book spanned more than a decade and took place in six countries, twenty archival units, and the homes of over fifty West African veterans, widows, and their children. I benefitted from the resources and assistance of many actors, agencies, and institutions throughout the research and writing process. While I may not have the space or faculties of recollection to acknowledge all of them here, I am extremely grateful for their support.
At the University of California, Berkeley, I benefitted from Rocca Fellowships from the Center of African Studies, numerous grants and fellowships from the History Department, grants from the Townsend Center for Humanities, and Foreign Language Area Study