Guard indigenous

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Garde indigène is a collective name for indigenous troops that were set up under slightly different names for each of the five regions during the colonial rule in French Indochina . After the end of the unrest in 1885 and the completion of the colonization, the high number of European troops was to be reduced for reasons of cost. With regard to the natives, however, the colonial rulers were faced with the question of their trustworthiness or their ability to fight. However, the traditional enmities resulting from subdivision were used, for example between Khmer and Annamites.

organization

French Marines in Indochina 1888

In Cochin China since 1879 was Régiment de tirailleurs Annamites been formed. Between 1886 and 1890 local soldiers and militia officers were raised to pacify the country completely. However, the responsibilities were confused. The militia was paid for by the Protectorate Administration, three Tonkinois infantry regiments from the Navy and another from the War Department. In addition, there were briefly (1886-90) the Chasseurs Annamites, whose four battalions were paid for by the imperial family. In Cochinchina the corresponding unit was called the Guard Civil.

The recruitment of qualified French officers was difficult because the reputation and initially the pay were low compared to the regular army. At least six officers were planned for each battalion (325 men). The hierarchy was designed in such a way that no local was in rank above a European who received 4 to 5 times the wage with the same rank. Desertion was common among the poorly paid conscripts (three years' service) in low ranks.

After Jean-Louis de Lanessan became Governor General in June 1891, an administrative reform followed that reduced the troop categories to two. A strict separation between military and civil administration did not take place until the end of colonial rule in March 1945. The four Territoires Miltaires near the border (created in 1891) remained under permanent military administration. In addition to the Garde indigène de l'Indochine , militias ( Garde urbaine ) were set up during the First World War .

Tongking

The decree of May 12, 1884 approved the establishment of two regiments of the Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT), along regional lines. These were soon assigned the militias that had been created to run the tram courier service and to support the Inspecteurs des Affaires Indigènes (inspectors for indigenous questions). By 1930 the number of Tongkinese tirailleurs had risen to 12,000.

Simple police functions and the courier service were then taken over by the guard units subordinate to the local mandarins ( lính cợ ). Depending on the size of the province, 700-1100 men should be deployed, initially only a strength of between 80 and 170 shooters was usually achieved.

By decree of February 11, 1886, civil guards of the residents ( Gardes Civiles des Résidences ) were created, which were to be recruited from reserve soldiers. The strength of this elite force, among French officers, reached 4150 for the whole of Tongking in 1887, which were equipped with the modern Gendearmerie carbine model 1879. They were each divided into a company (125 men) at the resident's seat and smaller sections in the districts ( phu ). They not only acted as guards, but also as customs officers, couriers, prison guards and the like. After 1891 they were increasingly used in the then still sparsely populated trouble spot, the delta of the Red River .

The fourth battalion mutinied on February 10, 1930. This Yên Bái mutiny, in which civilians were also involved, was organized by the national party Việt Nam Quốc dân Đảng ( VNQDD ). This threat to French rule was put down within days when the majority of the colonial troops remained loyal. 46 soldiers were punished by the courts, including 15 death sentences; another 546 were demoted or transferred, some to Africa. In response to the mutiny, the troops were restructured and were now mainly deployed outside their home regions.

Annam

Garde Indigènes (drawing 1919)

The “army” of the Vietnamese emperor was limited to simple police services and ceremonial functions. Their estimated 30,000 men (around 1880) often served as cooks, gardeners, canopy carriers, etc. at court. After the incident on 4th / 5th In July 1885 she was limited to a pure honor guard of 8-10,000 men among French officers. In September 1886 there were about 7,500 men, almost half of them Europeans, spread over 38 bases. The civil guards (militia) were organized as in Tonking .

Cambodia

Shortly after the establishment of the Protectorate, a police indigène was founded in 1863 under purely civilian control. There were 300-400 men per province. After the suppression of the uprising in 1885–86, the principle of divide et impera was followed. Most of the members of the Tirailleurs Battalion of Cambodia were Annamites, the traditional enemies of the indigenous Khmer, who, by the way, were considered by the colonial rulers to be insufficiently warlike for arms service. In 1886 there were almost 4,100 men in the country, 1,450 of whom came from Annam and almost 1,600 were Europeans, who were only stationed in the cities because of their susceptibility to tropical diseases.

The pre-war strength of the Cambodian Indigenous Guard was about 2500 men, with 40-50 French officers at the head. The units took part in the fighting of the Franco-Thai War in 1941.

Laos

First a guard of 1,000 men was set up in 1886, with a population estimated at 6-800,000 around 1905. The proportion of ethnic Annamites in the Guards of Laos and Cambodia was always between half and 2/3. The armament of the locals was deliberately bad at first and partly consisted of muskets. In combat they were used in the suppression of the Phu Mi Bun uprising in 1901-7 on the Bolaven Plateau . The Police Rural was another armed unit .

After 1949, 1200 of its members formed the basis of the royal Laotian army ( Kôngthap Haeng Xā Lao ).

equipment

The uniforms of the indigenous infantry consisted of dark blue short tunics, trousers and khaki leggings. There was also a Vietnamese hat ( salako ) over a red headscarf. The color of the uniform was changed entirely to khaki by 1930. The badge of the colonial troops, a gold anchor, was found on the hat and collar. Sergeants' squares (pointing upwards) were worn on the forearm; they were red for corporals and gold for sergeants. Even after 1930, officers still wore the colonial uniform introduced in 1886 with a blue tunic and pith helmet. The parade uniform was white.

The light cavalry (e.g. Annam Chasseurs ) had a yellow ribbon around their salako, a white coat with a stand-up collar, embroidered with the badge of a golden post horn on a light blue background. There were also white trousers or riding breeches and sandals. The carbine was carried on the back, the saber hung under the rider's right leg. The equipment included a bamboo lance to which a flag was attached.

The Tirailleurs were armed either with the rifle model 1902/16, a lighter version of the Berthier rifle or the Lebel rifle (model 1886) , which was manufactured in a modified form until the 1960s. The bayonet was carried in a brass scabbard.

Historical consequences

A comparatively large number of locals had received modern military training in the Indigenous Guard. Many of these soldiers joined the anti-French resistance. They later fought on both sides of the civil wars.

literature

  • Etienne Daufès: La Garde indigène de l'Indochine, de sa creation à nos jours . Avignon 1933
  • France, Armée, Etat Major; Les Armées Françaises d'Outre-Mer . Vol. 5: Historie militaire de l'Indochine; Paris 1931-32
  • Lionel Gaurier: Indochinese Cavallry of the French Colonial Army . In: Bulletin of the British Model Soldier Society , 2000, Vol 4

Archives:

  • Center des Archives d'Outre-Mer (AOM):
    • Establishment of the Police indigène 1863–82: Ancien Fonds, Carton 263
    • Recruitment, reorganization 1896-1914: Nouveau Fonds, Carton 10

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annamites was the common name for Vietnamese until about 1945 (afterwards: Vietmiens )
  2. ↑ 1870–1961: Colonials called, colloquially also marsouins , d. H. porpoise
  3. ^ A third July 1885, fourth from February 1886
  4. ^ A b c Karl Hack, Tobias Rettig (Ed.): Colonial Armies in Southeast Asia . Abingdon 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-33413-6 ; Chapter 5, p. 138 f.
  5. ↑ Gendearmerie in France is a barracked , para-military police unit that is mainly used in rural areas
  6. ↑ p. 139, fn. 30-33
  7. ^ A b Erwin Herbert: Risings and Rebellions 1919–1939 . Nottingham 2007, ISBN 1-901543-12-9 , p. 115
  8. ↑ p. 113 ff.
  9. ↑ see en: Yên Bái mutiny
  10. ↑ P. 132 ff., 151, fn. 18
  11. ↑ a b With a population that was estimated at 1.7 million around 1905. Colonial Armies ... (2006), table 2.4, p. 51 f.
  12. ↑ Karl Hack, Tobias Rettig (Ed.): Colonial Armies in Southeast Asia . Abingdon 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-33413-6 ; Chapter 4: Womack, Sarah; The Garde indigène of Cambodia in the 1880s and 1890s
  13. ^ PL: A New Border in Asia . In: XXth Century (Shanghai), Vol. I, pp. 136-9
  14. ↑ Historical Dictionary of Laos; . 2nd Edition. Plymouth UK 2008, ISBN 978-0-8108-5624-0 , pp. 118, 284