Senegalese soldiers

Captive Senegalese soldiers in a German military hospital. After the heavy losses of the first months of the war, the French army deployed a large number of French colonial troops on the Western front. These troops were especially feared by the German soldiers. The foreignness of this opponent was reflected in a particularly strong hatred and defensive reaction, because these colored soldiers were considered dangerous and cruel enemies, especially at night fighting and close combat. The picture, taken in the summer of 1918 after the inefficient sping offensive, shows captured and wounded French Senegalese soldiers in a German military hospital, where an army doctor distributs cigarettes to them 1918