Troupes de Marine

Troupes de la marine
Troupes de Marine logo
Active	1622–Present
Country	France
Branch	French Army
Type	Infantry Artillery Airborne
Role	Marines
Motto(s)	Et au Nom de Dieu, vive la coloniale! ("And in the name of God, long live the Colonial")
Colors	Red and blue
Anniversaries	Battle of Bazeilles
Insignia
Beret badge of the Troupes de Marine
Abbreviation	TDM

The Troupes de marine, formerly the Troupes coloniales, are an arm of the French Army with a tradition of service overseas. Despite their title they have long been a part of the Army and were renamed from their former colonial title in 1958. They are sometimes referred to as French marines in English-speaking media, though they are not connected to either the French naval infantry (the Fusiliers Marins) or French naval special forces (the Commandos Marine).

Soldiers of the troupes de marine are likely to spend much more of their service overseas, particularly in Africa, than other French soldiers. Their units include infantry (including light tank units and airborne units) and artillery.

The Troupes de marine were founded in 1622 (officially titled compagnies ordinaires de la mer) as land forces under the control of the navy, notably for operations in French Canada. The Troupes de marine were transferred to the army in 1900 and became the Troupes Coloniales (Colonial Troops). Their nickname la Coloniale or la Colo refers to this heritage.

At their height in 1940, the Troupes Coloniales consisted of nine divisions and several demi-brigades who manned machine gun emplacements on the Maginot Line. They were recruited both in France and overseas.

With France divesting itself of its colonies, the historic title of Troupes de marine was readopted on 4 May 1961. This was after a brief period from 1958 when all the Troupes Coloniales had been designated as Troupes d' Outre-Mer (Overseas Troops) . They became a major component in France's Forces d'Intervention.

The Troupes de Marine originate from the compagnies ordinaires de la mer created in 1622 by Cardinal Richelieu. These were troops dedicated to naval combat. The French colonies were under the control of the Ministère de la Marine (analogous to the British Admiralty), so it used its marines for colonial defense as well.