MILITARIZING MARRIAGE
War and Militarism in African History
SERIES EDITORS: ALICIA C. DECKER AND GIACOMO MACOLA
* * *
Sarah J. Zimmerman
Militarizing Marriage: West African Soldiers’
Conjugal Traditions in Modern French Empire
Militarizing Marriage
West African Soldiers’ Conjugal Traditions in Modern French Empire
Sarah J. Zimmerman
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATHENS, OHIO
Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701
© 2020 by Ohio University Press
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Cover image: “Le pont de la Salamandre,” in Joseph-Simon Gallieni,
Deux campagnes au Soudan français, 1886–1888 (Paris: Hachette, 1891), 10–11.
Printed in the United States of America
Ohio University Press books are printed on acid-free paper
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Zimmerman, Sarah J., author.
Title: Militarizing marriage : West African soldiers' conjugal traditions in modern French empire / Sarah J. Zimmerman.
Other titles: War and militarism in African history.
Description: Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, 2020. | Series: War and militarism in African history | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019059725 | ISBN 9780821424223 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780821440674 (adobe pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Soldiers--Family relationships--Africa, West. | Military spouses--Africa, French-speaking West--Social conditions--20th century. | Women--Africa, French-speaking West--Social conditions--20th century. | Africa, French-speaking West--History--1884-1960.
Classification: LCC DT532.5 .Z56 2020 | DDC 960.03--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019059725
To Fatoumata Mbodj Faye, Samba Katy Faye, Ndeye Niawe Faye, and Mohamadou Lamine Faye
Contents
Introduction: French African Soldiers and Female Conjugal Partners in Colonial Militarism
2. Colonial Conquest “en Famille”: African Military Households in Congo and Madagascar, 1880–1905
4. Domestic Affairs in the Great War: Legal Plurality, Citizenship, and Family Benefits, 1914–18
6. Afro-Vietnamese Military Households in French Indochina and West Africa, 1930–56
Epilogue: Decolonization, Algeria, and Legacies
Illustrations
MAPS
2.1. French Congo / French Equatorial Africa
3.1. French Protectorate in Morocco
4.1. Four Communes of Senegal
5.1. French Mandate Territories: Syria and Lebanon
6.1. French Indochina
7.1. French Algeria
FIGURES
