1959 BBC News | EUROPE | France acts on foreign soldiers' pensions BBC NEWS | Programmes | Letter: Senegal's secret soldiers This was the time that France was writing a new constitution for what would become the 5th Republic. The country's overseas possessions, like Senegal, were offered the possibility of independence. And most of them took it, to the disappointment of the French President, Charles de Gaulle. And so in 1959, on the eve of independence, Paris passed legislation which has become notorious in Africa, especially among the war veterans. It's known as the "crystallisation" law. The law froze the pensions of colonial soldiers who'd served with the French army. And if the ex-servicemen died, their widows got nothing. Things finally began to change only in 2001. Lawyers for one of the veterans appealed to France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, the Conseil d'Etat. The court agreed that their client, Amadou Diop, a veteran with 22 years' service in the French army had been discriminated against. If the ruling is followed, it will mean some 85,000 foreign soldiers from France's former colonies will receive back-payments worth tens of thousands of euros. ------------ Wonder if this has truly takne place and the veterans were paid. I did not find later news on it in the net.
In fact De Gaulle was surprised when most of the Empire became independent in such a short time. When the govenrment realized how much the pensions would cost, they used Crystalisation as a way to compensate these costs. We were talking about millions of pensions here. Of course it was not fair, but it was all a matter of money. The film Indigene has more or less brought these facts to to the knowledge of the general public, even if the historical aspect is mainly focussed on colonial troops and tends to hide that these divisions also included Europeans from north Africa among the regular soldiers, not only the officers. Now pensions are equal for all veterans, of course we are not talking about millions now. Time is also part of the strategy and soon there will be no mor epensions to pay. Sad to compare those brave men to administrative figures... It should have been done a long time ago , but better late than never.
Similar stupidities are done by our state too. First they pay a veteran for compensation who became disabled in action, then five years pass, the state wants the money back plus five years interest. Full of bullshit.
Nobody in charge dares to say it, but time is a precious ally for reluctant governments and soon nobody will claim for pensions. I personnally believe that those brave colonial veterans deserve full compensation. Instead of paying hotels for illegal immigrants, we should take care of those brave people who have shed blood for our country. It is openly said that all those who are entiltled for compensation got their money now. What most people don't know is that the minimum term is 15 years of service. That means that only career soldiers who stayed in the army after 1945 are likely to comply to the requirements , but the poor buggers who fought in Syria, Lybia and later in North Africa and Europe sometimes get nothing.....
This is exactly what they've been speculating on ! To answer to Kai, following the Court ruling, some increases were decided, which lead to another scandal, because they were taking in account the difference between the average income in France and in the considered country. Finally, a law was voted by at the unanimity of both chambers, deciding an arithmetical equality for all people, this law took effect the 1st of january 2007, and the estimated annual cost is 40.000.000 € each year. On a wider scope, with the huge improvements in field medicine and medical evacuations, one can say that wars are going to cost more and more : a cripple is way more expensive than a dead man.
Seems like I read that this country promised benifits and pensions to those who served in WWI and then in the 1920's the government canceled the benifits and the veterens rioted in Washington DC for awhile but I don't know it did any good. Also the women pilots who served in WWII got no VA benifits until decades later. Do people who serve in the Foriegn Legion get any benifits ?
People who serve in Foreign legion get benefits. Besides they are entitled to get the French nationality after their term too.
