Composition
These included indigenous Arab or Berber volunteers (Spahis, Goumiers and Tirailleurs); regiments largely made up of French settlers doing their military service (Zouaves and Chasseurs d'Afrique); and non-French volunteers (French Foreign Legion). The divisions were not absolute and (for example) volunteers or conscripts from mainland France might choose to serve with the Muslim rank and file of the Spahis and Tirailleurs, while Arab volunteers might appear amongst the ranks of the Zouaves.
In May 1913 a limited form of selective conscription was applied to the Muslim population of Algeria. Only 2,000 conscripts a year were obtained by this method out of approximately 45,000 possible candidates and Muslim enlistment remained predominately voluntary in peacetime. As in France itself, military service was an obligation of citizenship and all physically fit male settlers of French origin were required to undertake two years of compulsory service (three years from 1913).
Officers of all branches of the Army of Africa were predominantly French, though a certain number of commissioned positions up to and including the rank of captain were reserved for Muslim personnel in the spahis and tirailleurs.
Read more about this topic: Army Of Africa (France)
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