Postal antigua de Zuavo Francés

W.W.I.: Vintage postcard. tinted etching, with a French mercenary soldier, serving for the Zouaves. It was a blank postcard for soldiers, who had then just to fill in their manes and units.

Zouave was the name given to certain infantry regiments in the French army. They were first raised in Algeria in 1831 with one and later two battalions, initially recruited solely from the Zouaoua (or Zwwa), a tribe of Berbers finding homes in the mountains of the Jurjura range (see Kabyles).

The Zouaves played a major role in the 1914-18 War with their numbers being expanded to nine regiments de marche. These units retained much of their traditional panache, especially in the attack. during World War I. They were however less conspicuous in World War II, seeing service mainly during the opening stages of the War (1940) and in the course of the liberation of France (1944).
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