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Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
The of the East India Company were an early example.J. M. Roberts, page 399 "The Triumph of the West", By the mid 18th century, these troops were beginning to be directly recruited by the Company, allowing more systematic provisioning, drill and tactics, forming the presidency armies. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, or "Sepoy Mutiny", many of the sepoys rebelled against the Company, leading to the end of Company rule in India. After the British government took British Raj in 1858, the sepoys formed the of the Indian Army, some of which survive to the present day in the national armies of India and Pakistan.
The French India and Portuguese India enclaves in the Indian subcontinent also recruited sepoys.Crocé et al, pages 50–51, Les Troupes de Marine 1622–1984,
The French Army of Africa garrisoning French Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia comprised all of these elements. The Dutch had a similar mix of locally recruited and metropolitan troops composing their garrison in the East Indies. While the Sikhs, Punjabis, Marathi people, , Jats, Baloch people, and other "martial races" making up the bulk of "native regiments" of the Indian Army were recruited from British subjects, the ten regiments of Gurkha were recruited from outside British-controlled territory. In Burma, the British recruited primarily from the Hill dwelling minorities such as the Karen people, Kachin people, and Chin people while preventing the plain dwelling majority of Bamar people, Rakhine people, and Mon people people from joining the colonial military service; this was due to the perception that they were unsympathetic towards the colonial government.
Following the French example, it was Italian colonial practice to rotate indigenous troops of the various Royal Colonial Corps between their North and East African possessions according to local requirements. At various times during the early 20th century Eritrean units were deployed in what is now Libya and vice versa.Piero Crociani, pages 7-9 "Le Uniformi Coloniali Libiche 1912-1942", Edizioni La Roccia Roma, April 1980
Many colonial powers sought to recruit minority peoples, such as the Ambonese people in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), to counterbalance majority populations seen as potentially rebellious, such as the Javanese people. Such minority groups, and those with records of loyalty in revolt, were often designated as "martial races"; their supposedly superior fighting qualities propagandized, and their communities rewarded with special status. The colonial power might face however a dilemma: when military developments made numbers a priority, it had to either trust the majority and so risk loss of control, or alternatively to rely on minorities combined with large numbers of expensive European or other non-local troops. The French Army of the Levant provided an example of the latter option. Raised to garrison Syria and Lebanon from 1920 to 1943, this force of about 10,000 men (in 1938) was predominantly recruited from Alawites, Druze, Kurds, and Circassians minorities, augmented by North African, Senegalese, and French Foreign Legion units.Christopher M. Andrew, page 236 "France Overseas. The Great War and the Climax of French Imperial Expansion", 1981 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London
Following the integration of the HEIC's european regiments from 1858 onwards, such as the 2nd Bengal (European) Fusiliers, the British Army rotated large numbers of its regular troops through India and other overseas possessions, augmenting the local colonial forces. However it is notable that British forces in Colonial Nigeria and other West African territories were under normal circumstances nearly all locally recruited, except for officers, some non-commissioned officers, and a few specialists.
Changes in colonial ruler usually meant the continuation of local recruitment - often from the same sources. Both the Spanish and United States rulers of the Philippines employed Filipino troops from the same regions and tribal groups. In the 1830s the original were volunteers from a tribal group which provided Mercenary for both the Turkish and French rulers of Algeria.Jean-Louis Larcade, page 15, "Zouaves et Tirailleurs",
Colonial troops could be used to garrison or subdue other territories than those in which they were recruited to avoid problems of conflicting loyalties. As noted, Italy used Eritrean in Italian Libya and during both wars with Ethiopian Empire (1895 and 1936). Indian regiments garrisoned Aden, Singapore, and Hong Kong at various times in the 19th and the early 20th centuries. In the 1950s, the Portuguese used African troops from Mozambique to garrison Goa, and the Dutch had West Africans (Belanda Hitam) for service in the East Indies during much of the 19th century.Kessel, Ineke van (Amsterdam 2005). Zwarte Hollanders: Afrikaanse soldaten in Nederlands-Indië. KIT Publishers. p. 213.
Even earlier, the African and Indian troops that had been sent to France in 1914 encountered a climate, diet, and general conditions of service greatly different from those with which they were familiar. The Senegalese Tirailleurs of the French Army had to be withdrawn to southern France for recuperation and training during the harsh winters of the Western Front. All Indian troops, with the exception of some cavalry regiments, were withdrawn from the Western Front in October 1915, to serve in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and East Africa.
On the other hand, the regiments of the Indian Army were an army in their own right with responsibilities in the wider Empire. They were equipped as such, apart from lacking certain specialist capabilities, and took on the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire, the Italians and later the Japanese more or less on their own but were sometimes accompanied by a substantial British presence. In the early stages of World War I (November 1914), a British-Indian expeditionary force suffered a major defeat by well-trained and well-led German askaris (Schutztruppe) at the Battle of Tanga, in East Africa, but two divisions of Indian infantry also fought with distinction in France in a type of war and a climate for which they had been little prepared.Philip Mason, "A Matter of Honour - an Account of the Indian Army, its Officers and Men", pages 412-413
The selective recruitment of particular ethnic groups for service in the colonial military was frequently influenced by the perception of their military abilities and loyalty towards the colonial regime. On occasion, these restrictions were overturned due to a lack of manpower, especially during and in the run-up to World War II.
Indian troops served in Europe in large numbers during both World Wars, as well as in the Middle East, Malaya, Burma, and North Africa in World War II. The Regulares (Moorish infantry and cavalry) of Spanish Morocco played a major role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939.Hugh Thomas, pages 357–360 "The Spanish Civil War", Penguin Books 2003 Japan recruited levies from Korea and Taiwan during the period of colonial rule in both countries. Italy employed Dubats from Italian Somaliland,Piero Crociani, "Le Uniformi dell'A.O.I." (Somalia 1889-1941), pages 24-25 la Roccia 1980 together with Eritrean and Libyan units in the conquest of Ethiopia during 1936; Eritrean troops were also used in the occupation of Libya from 1911 to 1935 and a full division of Libyan infantry participated in the Ethiopian campaign. Portugal employed Ronga language troops from Mozambique in Angola during World War I, also using them in the garrisons of Portuguese India and Portuguese Macau until the 1950s. During the 19th century, several thousand West African soldiers were recruited under the name of "Belanda Hitam" by the Dutch colonial authorities for military service in the Dutch East Indies.Kessel, Ineke van (Amsterdam 2005). Zwarte Hollanders: Afrikaanse soldaten in Nederlands-Indië. KIT Publishers. p. 213.
The US Army also organized and trained multiple colonial units during the American colonization of the Philippines from 1901 until 1946 when the Philippines became independent. These troops including the Philippine Scouts (most notably), the Philippine Constabulary, and eventually the Philippine Army in general. They were usually trained by the US military and initially led by American officers. Philippine colonial soldiers were amongst the first members of the US Army to engage in direct combat against the Japanese during World War II.
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