Zouave - Zouave Influence Elsewhere

Zouave Influence Elsewhere

• Features of the zouave dress were widely copied by the colonial units of various European armies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These included African regiments raised by Portugal, Britain, Spain, and Italy, as well as West Indian troops in the British service. Amongst the French North African forces the Spahis (Algerian cavalry with French officers) and the Turcos (Algerian infantry) were both dressed in the same style as the Zouaves but with different colours.
• Between 1880 and 1893 the Turkish Imperial Guard included two zouave regiments. The Abdul Hamid II Collection in the US Library of Congress has a number of photographs of these soldiers. They wore a uniform similar to that of the French Zouaves but with green turbans and less widely cut red breeches.
• Morocco and Algeria still have zouave-style dress uniforms for their ceremonial guard units. The Tunisian Presidential Guard retained such a uniform until at least 1969.
• In the Empire of Brazil, during the Paraguayan War (1864-70), a company of black volunteers called the "zuavos baianos" (bahian zouaves) was organised in Bahia Province. This unit was disbanded after a short time because its numbers were severely depleted due to deaths caused by disease and battles.