Zouave
The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army and other units modelled on it, which served between 1830 and 1962, mainly in French North Africa. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army.
The Zouave corps was created during the conquest of Algeria in 1830 from among the local population. However, faced with the mixed success of indigenous recruitment and their desertions, the Zouaves became mixed units from 1831 onwards, with a majority of Europeans. From 1842 onwards, the men recruited to serve there were exclusively French or people of French descent born in French Algeria, a policy which continued until the final dissolution of these regiments after the Algerian War.
The name of the Zouave corps is inspired by the Zwawa group of tribes in Algeria who had gained a martial reputation fighting for local rulers under the Regency of Algiers. Unlike the Dey's battalion, the regiments formed by the French from 1830 onward included few Kabyles and had a more diverse indigenous recruitment.
In the 1860s, zouave units arose in many other countries. The Papal Zouaves were organized by Louis Juchault de Lamoricière, a former commander of North African zouaves, while a former zouave sergeant, François Rochebrune, organized the Polish Zouaves of Death who fought against Russia in the January Uprising of 1863–1864. In the 1870s, former Papal Zouaves formed the cadre for a short-lived Spanish zouave unit. The "zouave" title was also used by Brazilian units of black volunteers in the Paraguayan War, possibly due to a perceived link with Africa.
In the United States, zouaves were brought to public attention by Elmer E. Ellsworth, who created and ran a drill company called the "Zouave Cadets". The drill company toured nationally. Zouave units were then raised on both sides of the American Civil War of 1861–1865; including a regiment under Ellsworth's command, the 11th New York Infantry—the New York "Fire Zouaves". These units were composed of local American soldiers rather than North Africans, but drew their inspiration and dress from the French zouaves.
The distinctive uniforms of French and other zouave units was of North African origin. It generally included short open-fronted jackets, baggy trousers, sashes, and a fez-like chéchia head-dress.
Etymology
The Zouaoua had formerly provided soldiers for the deys of Algiers and in August 1830 the commander of the French expeditionary force which had occupied the city recommended their continued employment in this role. The word "zouave" is a French language derivative of Zouaouas, a tribe of Berbers located in the mountains of the Jurjura Range. But although this French army corps bears the name of an old army corps of the dey composed of Kabyles, this is misleading because the Kabyles constituted only a small part of the recruitment of the French Zouaves in 1830. In the battalions formed in Algiers, there were a large number of Arabs; natives of the plain, Kouloughlis, and Moors who participated in the new formation.Zouave units in French service
Recruitment
The existence of the new corps was formally recognised by a Royal decree dated 21 March 1831.Recruitment was diverse; initially, 404 men, soldiers and officers, were recruited from among the local population: Turks, Black people, individuals from Blida, Kabylia, Tunis, and Morocco, and four or five Spaniards. This local recruitment quickly dwindled: in December 1832, out of a total of 477 men, 400 were absent from the second battalion. The situation was hardly better for the first battalion, which was short 237 men who would not be recruited six months after its formation. Of the first 100 native recruits, only 53 were still present on December 31, 1830. In 1831, 22 of those who remained deserted. Over 15 months, 46% of the force had deserted. Battalion commanders, depending on their personalities, attempted different approaches to address this problem: the first, Commandant Kolb, tried to "Frenchify the Arabs," while Commandant Duvivier tried to "become Arab" and made himself familiar with the Arabic language to connect with his troops. From 1833 onwards, Zouave battalions included European recruits; by 1835, while native recruitment remained high in absolute numbers, it decreased in relative terms due to a greater recruitment of Europeans.
File:RaczynskiAleksander.ZuawiWWalce.1858.jpg|thumb|upright|French zouaves during the Crimean War; painting by Aleksander Raczyński
From their beginning the zouave units included a French European element, initially drawn from the demobilized Garde royal of Charles X and other Parisian volunteers. From March 1833 each zouave battalion was organised into ten companies, of which eight were Muslim Berbers and Arabs and two French. In 1838 a third battalion was raised, and the regiment thus formed was commanded by Major de Lamoriciere. Shortly afterwards the formation of the Tirailleurs algériens, the Turcos, as the infantry corps for Muslim troops, changed the basis for enlistment of the zouave battalions. From 1842 onwards, the recruitment of the Zouaves became exclusively European and Jewish.
For most of their remaining history the zouaves became an essentially French body, until in 1956 a new policy of partial racial mixing was introduced amongst units of the Army of Africa.
Zouave regiments
Initially constituted as battalion sized units, the zouaves were reorganized as separate regiments in 1852:- The 1st Zouaves were linked to Algiers and central Algeria. The 1st Zouaves had a continuous existence from 1852 to 1949. After disbandment the regiment was recreated between 1956 and 1960
- The 2nd Zouaves were linked to Oran and western Algeria, 1852–1962
- The 3rd Zouaves were linked to Constantine and eastern Algeria, 1852–1962
- The 4th Zouaves were linked to Tunis and Tunisia. They were first formed as the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard in 1854, and became the 4th Zouves on the establishment of the Third Republic in 1870. They remained in existence under this title until 1962.
Other provisional regiments of zouaves were raised in 1914 and 1939 for the First and Second World Wars respectively. During World War I nine regiments de marche of zouaves were created; comprising active, reserve, and new battalions seconded from other regiments. In World War II the number reached fourteen.
The zouave regiments raised in 1914 for the First World War were the 8th and 9th. The 13th Zouaves were raised in 1919 and dissolved in 1940. The zouave regiments raised in 1939 for the Second World War were the 11th, 12th, 14th, and 21st, all of which were dissolved after the fall of France in 1940. Other regiments raised later in the Second World War were the 9th, 22nd, 23rd, and 29th.
File:Battle of Solferino, 1859.jpg|thumb|Zouaves with French Foreign Legion at Solferino, 1859
In addition, four mixed zouave and tirailleur regiments were raised for the First World War, all of which were redesignated Algerian tirailleur regiments in 1918 or 1920.
The 9th Zouaves were the last French zouave unit. The first 9th Zouave regiment existed from 1914 until the fall of France in 1940, a second 9th Zouaves was raised in the Second World War and disbanded after the Algerian War. A third 9th Zouaves existed as a nominal unit from 1982 to 2006. With this symbolic exception there was no zouave regiment in existence after 1962 and none now survives in the French Army.
Early history
The zouaves saw extensive service during the French conquest of Algeria, initially at the Mouzaia Pass action, then at Mitidja and the siege of Constantine. From 1843-44 either one or two battalions played prominent roles in each of the Kabylia campaigns.Recruited through direct voluntary enlistment or by transfer from other regiments of men with at least two years service, the zouaves quickly achieved the status of an elite amongst the French Army of Africa.
The Second Empire
By 1853, the French Army included three regiments of zouaves. Each of the three line regiments of zouaves was allocated to a different province of Algeria, where their depots and peace-time garrisons were located. The Crimean War was the first service which the regiments saw outside Algeria. Armed with the powerful fusil rayé they subsequently served as effective light infantry in the Franco-Austrian War of 1859, the Mexican Intervention and the Franco-Prussian War. In 1860 1,500 zouaves were landed in Beirut to assist in the restoration of order in the Levant, following extensive inter-communal disturbances.The distinctive dress and dash of the zouaves made them well known outside France and they were frequently portrayed in the illustrated publications of the period. The 2nd Zouaves had their mutilated eagle decorated with the Legion d' Honneur following the Battle of Magenta in 1859.
On 23 December 1854 a fourth regiment was created, the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard. The actual formation of this unit was delayed until 15 March 1855 when detachments from the zouave regiments already serving in the Crimea were brought together before Sebastopol for this purpose. Having earned the unusual distinction of being created on the field of battle, the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard served through the remainder of the Crimean War and subsequently in all the campaigns of the Second Empire. Their peace-time garrisons were initially at Saint-Cloud and then Versailles from 1857. This regiment wore the classic zouave uniform but with yellow braiding and piping substituted for the red of the line regiments.
In the opening stages of the Franco-Prussian War the bulk of the serving zouave units were amongst the Imperial field army defeated at Sedan in September 1870. Drawing on remnants of the Imperial forces, depot troops from Algeria and volunteers it was possible to reconstitute all four regiments as part of the Army of the Loire and the Republican defenders of Paris.
Image:Tonkin Zouave officer.png|thumb|left|upright|French zouave officer in Tonkin, Spring 1885