The British had adopted khaki after the Boer War, and the Germans were about to make the change from Prussian blue to field-gray. But in 1912 French soldiers still wore the same blue coats, red kepi, and red trousers they had worn in 1830, when rifle fire carried only two hundred paces and when armies, fighting at these close quarters, had no need for concealment.
Visiting the Balkan front in 1912, Messimy saw the advantages gained by the dull-colored Bulgarians and came home determined to make the French soldier less visible. His project to clothe him in gray-blue or gray-green raised a howl of protest. Army pride was as intransigent about giving up its red trousers as it was about adopting heavy guns. Army prestige was once again felt to be at stake.
To clothe the French soldier in some muddy, inglorious color, declared the army’s champions, would be to realize the fondest hopes of Dreyfusards and Freemasons. To banish “all that is colorful, all that gives the soldier his vivid aspect,” wrote the Echo de Paris, “is to go contrary both to French taste and military function.”
Messimy pointed out that the two might no longer be synonymous, but his opponents proved immovable. At a parliamentary hearing, a former War Minister, M. Etienne, spoke for France. “Eliminate the red trousers?” he cried. “Never! Le pantalon rouge c’est la France!”
The photographed soldiers are Lineol and Elastolin produced in Germany (1930s).
A nice collection, the ruins of the church are very effective, did you make them yourself?
ReplyDeleteHi Brian. I found these church ruins at https://ttcombat.com/
DeleteThey look effective with the soldiers.