Tirailleur means sharpshooter in French. The term dates back to the Napoleonic period where it was used to designate light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Subsequently "tirailleurs" was generally used by the French military as a classification for infantry recruited in the various French colonial territories during the 19th and 20th centuries, in particular the famous tirailleurs sénégalais. Such units were generally battalion to regiment in size and were commanded by French officers. A marksman (also designated marksman) is a profession which is mostly to be found in military context. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers or marines who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units. ... Map of the first (light blue) and second (dark blue — plain and hachured) French colonial empires. ... National motto: Un Peuple, Un But, Une Foi (French: One People, One Goal, One Faith) Official languages French Capital Dakar President Abdoulaye Wade Prime Minister Macky Sall Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 85th 196,190 km² 2. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ...

Tirailleurs from Algeria served in the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars (1870). During World War I (1914-18) tirailleurs from the various African territories served on the Western Front, incurring heavy losses. The Great Mosque of Paris was constructed afterwards in honour of the tirailleurs sénégalais who had fought for France. The colonized people whom had fought for the imperialist power in the war were disappointed when they found out that France had absolutely no plan to allow them self-rule or autonomy, let alone independence. This frustration in turn led to several revolts, such as Abd el-Krim's Rif War in the 1920s, or the creation of Messali Hadj's Star of North Africa in Algeria. Combatants United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Second French Empire, Ottoman Empire, Kingdom of Sardinia Imperial Russia Strength 250,000 British 400,000 French 10,000 Sardinian 1,200,000 Russian Casualties 17,500 British 90,000 French 35,000 Turkish 2,050 Sardinian killed, wounded and died of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... Minaret of the Paris Mosque The Grande Mosquée de Paris (Paris Great Mosque), located in the Ve arrondissement, was founded after World War I as a sign of Frances greatfullness to the Muslim tirailleurs from the colonies who had fought against Germany. ... Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires, either through direct territorial conquest or settlement, or through indirect methods of exerting control on the politics and/or economy of other countries. ... Self rule is the term used to described a people or group being able to exercise all of the necessary functions of power without intervention from any authority which they cannot themselves alter. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... Time Magazine, August 17, 1925 Abd el-Krim (c. ... Messali Hadj (مصالي الحاج) was the founder of the Mouvement National Algérien, an early Algerian nationalist group and rival of the Front de Libération Nationale. ... ...

During World War II (1939-45), these regiments comprised tirailleurs recruted from the Maghreb (Algerian, Moroccans, and Tunisians), from French West Africa (tirailleurs sénégalais), from Madagascar, from Indochina (Amman, Tonkin and Cambodia). Most of these units were disbanded as the various French colonies and protectorates achieved independence between 1956 and 1962. However, there is still one regiment of tirailleurs in the modern French Army, which descends from the Algerian tirailleurs. While the staff is now entirely French, traditional North African uniforms are still worn on ceremonial occasions to commemorate the Algerian "turcos" who served France for over 130 years. Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Marrakesh, Morocco, in front of Atlas Mountains in Maghreb The Maghreb (المغرب العربي ; also rendered Maghrib (or rarely Moghreb), meaning western in Arabic, is the region of Africa north of the Sahara Desert and west of the Nile — specifically, coinciding with the Atlas Mountains. ... French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) was a federation of eight French territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), Guinea, Côte dIvoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin). ... Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. ... Amman, sometimes spelled Ammann (Arabic عمان Ê¿Ammān), the capital of the Kingdom of Jordan, a city of more than 1. ... Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of Chinas Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. ... Colonialism in 1945 Decolonization is the process by which a colony gains its independence from a colonial power, a process opposite to colonization. ... French soldiers of the IFOR in Mostar, 1995. ...

See also

• Colonialism