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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Mauritania
Index
The Mauritanian armed forces were developed by the French
colonial army and used in military ventures throughout the French
Empire. In recognition of the major contributions of African
troops to the French war effort during the two world wars, the
French government eliminated many of the distinctions between
French and African troops. Pensions and allowances were granted
to veterans in 1949, and conscripted military labor was abolished
in 1950. By 1955 discrimination was officially eliminated by
opening all military ranks to Africans. After 1956 officer
training for Africans was provided at military preparatory
schools located in Africa and, after 1958, at France's Military
Academy of St. Cyr.
An Africanized military was especially important in
Mauritania, where the military governed the colony into the 1920s
and in certain cercles, or administrative subdivisions, up
to independence. On the one hand, Mauritanian veterans, imbued
with an esprit de corps, a more cosmopolitan view of the world,
and a growing self-interest, returned home as agents of
modernization and political development. On the other hand, the
French practice of integrating all Africans into the French army
inhibited the development of a strictly territorial or national
army. Mauritanians, along with other Africans, served in France,
Indochina, Senegal, or Madagascar and operated under French
statutes, conditions of service, and recruitment policies.
Nevertheless, the Africanization program begun in the early 1950s
gave Mauritania a small core of experienced officers on which to
build its military forces.
Data as of June 1988
Mauritanian troops
The Preindependence Period
The Mauritanian armed forces were developed by the French
colonial army and used in military ventures throughout the French
Empire. In recognition of the major contributions of African
troops to the French war effort during the two world wars, the
French government eliminated many of the distinctions between
French and African troops. Pensions and allowances were granted
to veterans in 1949, and conscripted military labor was abolished
in 1950. By 1955 discrimination was officially eliminated by
opening all military ranks to Africans. After 1956 officer
training for Africans was provided at military preparatory
schools located in Africa and, after 1958, at France's Military
Academy of St. Cyr.
An Africanized military was especially important in
Mauritania, where the military governed the colony into the 1920s
and in certain cercles, or administrative subdivisions, up
to independence. On the one hand, Mauritanian veterans, imbued
with an esprit de corps, a more cosmopolitan view of the world,
and a growing self-interest, returned home as agents of
modernization and political development. On the other hand, the
French practice of integrating all Africans into the French army
inhibited the development of a strictly territorial or national
army. Mauritanians, along with other Africans, served in France,
Indochina, Senegal, or Madagascar and operated under French
statutes, conditions of service, and recruitment policies.
Nevertheless, the Africanization program begun in the early 1950s
gave Mauritania a small core of experienced officers on which to
build its military forces.
Data as of June 1988
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