A Colonial Expedition? French Soldiers' Experience at the Dardanelles. (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Horne, John
• Is Part Of: War & society. Volume 38:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 286
• Page End: 304
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: French soldiers -- Gallipoli -- First World War -- colonial expedition -- Corps Expéditionnaire d'Orient; War and society -- Periodicals; 303.6605
• DOI: 10.1080/07292473.2019.1643493
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0729-2473

Abstract

Abstract : As many French soldiers as ANZACs fought at Gallipoli. Their preconceptions had more to do with colonial campaigning than with the dominant French experience of the Great War — mass mobilisation to defend the nation on home territory. Moreover, a significant proportion of the troops at the Dardanelles were colonial. Yet the French soldiers discovered at Gallipoli a 'front' that was part of the mutual siege that ringed Europe and that bore more than a passing resemblance to the front in France. The article explores the experiences and perceptions of the French soldiers facing this paradox.