Bordel militaire de campagne

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"Au camp d'Arbalou l'Arbi - Le BMC" , field brothel in French Morocco , 1922

Bordel militaire de campagne ( French for 'military field brothel ') or Bordel mobile de campagne ('mobile field brothel') or Bordel militaire controlé ('controlled military brothel'), abbreviated to BMC , was the name for von Military brothels operated bythe French army . In the 20th century, they were mostly used in places where “civil” brothels did not exist, for example in remote garrison locationsand near the front.

history

Colonial soldiers in a brothel alley in Marseille , early 20th century.

The first field brothels officially administered by the French military were probably introduced there after the French conquest of Algeria towards the middle or end of the 19th century, but were initially limited to the North African colonial army. During the First World War , the BMC were then introduced in large numbers in metropolitan France . This was initially due to racist reasons, as the military leadership wanted to prevent sexual contact between soldiers from the colonies and French women. The prostitutes consequently came almost exclusively from the French colonies; Algerians formed the majority, including members of the Ouled Nail .

The field brothels quickly found great popularity among soldiers. In the interwar period, they were used almost everywhere in every military location. The French military leadership hoped that this would increase morale , curb sexually transmitted diseases (women were checked, but syphilis in particular was widespread among soldiers), prevent rape, homosexuality and sexual contact with local women, and end those around Military associations widespread “wild” (i.e. unregulated) prostitution. The military's operating costs were minimal as the soldiers had to pay for the visit. Despite the official administration and the widespread use, the whole issue was hushed up by the military.

During the German occupation of France in World War II , the Wehrmacht had soldiers' brothels set up on a large scale . This was one of the reasons why, after the war, Loi Marthe Richard banned all brothels in metropolitan France in 1946. However, the military received a special permit for garrisons of the colonial troops and the Foreign Legion on the condition that the prostitutes there did not come from the mother country .

In the Indochina War , the BMC were very widespread. The usual segregation between colonial soldiers and “white” French was lifted when visiting brothels in the colonies. In Indochina about half of the prostitutes were Algerians, the other half Vietnamese (who were often suspected of espionage ). In addition to permanent military establishments such as the huge Parc à Buffles in Saigon , there were mobile field brothels. These were driven after the troops with trucks, often right into the middle of the combat area. Even in the besieged Điện Biên Phủ there were two BMC, one with Vietnamese women, one with Algerians. During the fighting, the women took part in caring for the wounded; several of them were killed in the course of the siege. Since her existence was concealed here as well, only the medical officer Geneviève de Galard Terraub achieved fame as the “only woman in Điện Biên Phủ”. After the surrender, the prostitutes (around a dozen women) were also taken prisoners of war; the surviving Algerian women were eventually released, while the Vietnamese women presumably disappeared in re-education camps . When French officers suggested honoring two prostitutes for heroic actions during an ambush in Lai Chau province , the military leadership refused on the grounds that this was "not appropriate".

The BMC were also used on a large scale during the Algerian War. With the end of the colonial empire, the brothels were finally limited to the locations of the Foreign Legion. The last BMC in the mother country was closed in 1978 in Calvi on Corsica (location of the 2nd REP ). The last BMC on French territory was not dissolved until 1995 in Kourou in French Guiana (location of the 3rd REI ) after a local Brazilian pimp complained about state competition. A comparable establishment existed in the Foreign Legion base Djibouti ( 13e DBLE ) into the 21st century.

reception

The Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel (1929–1978) denounced the practice of military brothels in his French-language chanson Au suivant (German, 'The Next') from 1964, in which the (French) military “supplied prostitutes” to young conscripts, for everyone "One after the other in the chain". At the same time, Brel sang in the song he wrote and composed about the sexual misery of sex without love.

"Au suivant au suivant
J'avais juste vingt ans et je me déniaisais
Au bordel ambulant d'une armée en campagne
Au suivant au suivant"

The chanson was later written by the Dutch comedian Freek de Jonge (* 1944) in Dutch under the title Wie volgt? (German about 'Who will come next?') covered, also by Alex Harvey and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

literature

  • Jean-Marc Binot: Le repos des guerriers. Les bordels militaires de campagne pendant la guerre d'Indochine. Fayard, Paris 2014, ISBN 978-2-213-64422-6 (French).
  • Christopher E. Goscha : Historical dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). An international and interdisciplinary approach. NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2011, ISBN 978-87-7694-063-8 , p. 68 (entry Bordels mobiles de campagne ) and p. 391 (entry Prostitution ) (English).
  • Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la guerre d'Indochine. 1945-1954. Armand Colin, Paris 2006, ISBN 2-200-26925-0 , p. 208 (entry prostitution ) (French).
  • Eugène Durif: BMC (=  Collection Morari ). 2nd Edition. Ed. Comp'Act, Seyssel-sur-Rhône 1992, ISBN 2-87661-056-6 (French).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoper E. Goscha: Dictionary of the Indochina War (1945-1954). NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2011, p. 68 (entry Bordels mobiles de campagne ) and p. 391 (entry Prostitution ) (English);
    Jacques Dalloz: Dictionnaire de la Guerre d'Indochine. 1945-1954. Armand Colin, Paris 2006, p. 208 (entry prostitution ) (French).
  2. ↑ Christian Benoit: "L'armée a fermé son dernier bordel en 1995" , In: Guerres & Histoire , edition No. 13, June 2013 (French).
  3. ^ Jacques Brel: Au suivant (1964). In: Ders .: À s'offrir en partage. Ed. Complexe, Brussels 2005, ISBN 2-8048-0068-7 , pp. 78–79 (French; excerpt from Google Books ).