Colonial Soldiering and le cafard : Boredom,Morale and Gender Dynamics in the French and Spanish Foreign Legions,1907–1939

Abstract

This article examines boredom and psychological distress – le cafard – among soldiers of the French and Spanish Foreign Legions from the onset of the European conquest of Morocco until the late 1930s. Drawing on memoirs, military reports, and contemporary literature, it explores how alcohol, gambling, and sexual relationships functioned both as coping mechanisms and institutional tools to manage morale. The research highlights gender dynamics, from regulated prostitution to informal unions and ‘situational homosexuality’, revealing how these practices underpinned military cohesion. Ultimately, it argues that boredom was not a peripheral inconvenience but a destabilising force that shaped the Foreign Legions’ cohesion, culture, discipline and practices of violence.