The Troupes de marine, formerly Troupes coloniales, are an arm of the French Army with a colonial heritage. The Troupes de marine have a dedicated overseas service role. Despite their title they have been a part of the Army since 1958. They are sometimes referred to as French marines in English-speaking media, though they are not connected to the current French naval infantry, the Fusiliers Marins and Commandos Marine.
Soldiers of the troupes de marine are likely to spend much more of their service overseas, particularly in Africa, than other French soldiers. The troupes de marine include infantry (including light tank units and airborne units) and artillery.
The Troupes de marine were founded in 1622 (officially titled compagnies ordinaires de la mer) as land forces under the control of the navy, notably for operations in French Canada. The Troupes de marine were transferred to the army in 1900 and became part of the Troupes Coloniales (Colonial Troops). The nickname la Coloniale or la Colo refers to this heritage.
At their height in 1940, the Troupes Coloniales consisted of nine divisions and several demi-brigades who manned machine gun emplacements on the Maginot Line. They were recruited both in France and overseas.
With France divesting itself of its colonies, the historic title of Troupes de marine was readopted on 4 May 1961. This was after a brief period from 1958 when all the Troupes Coloniales had been designated as Troupes d' Outre-Mer (Overseas Troops) . They became a major component in France's Forces d'Intervention..
Read more about Troupes De Marine: History, Nicknames, Composition, Uniform, Kepi and Traditional Epaulettes, Golden Spurs, The Tie, Marsouins, Bigors and Biffins, Traditions, The Anchor of Gold, Location, Current Units, The Red Beret, Anthem Marine Troops, The Values of Marine Troops
Famous quotes containing the words troupes and/or marine:
“Socialite women meet socialite men and mate and breed socialite children so that we can fund small opera companies and ballet troupes because there is no government subsidy.”
—Sugar Rautbord, U.S. socialite fund-raiser and self-described “trash” novelist. As quoted in The Great Divide, book 2, section 7, by Studs Terkel (1988)
“People run away from the name subsidy. It is a subsidy. I am not afraid to call it so. It is paid for the purpose of giving a merchant marine to the whole country so that the trade of the whole country will be benefitted thereby, and the men running the ships will of course make a reasonable profit.... Unless we have a merchant marine, our navy if called upon for offensive or defensive work is going to be most defective.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)