French reservist soldiers marching in front of the Brasserie Bougeneaux (9 Rue de Strasbourg), Paris, France, on their way to the Gare de l'Est, during World War I. A reservist is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. They are usually a former member of the armed forces, and remain a reservist either voluntarily, or by obligation. In January 1914, the French Army had 47 divisions, composed of 777,000 French soldiers and 47,000 colonial troops. Another 2.9 million men were mobilized in the summer of 1914, and heavy losses on the Western Front forced France to conscript men up to the age of 45. At the end of the war the French had called up 8,317,000 men, including 475,000 colonial troops, and suffered over 4.2 million casualties, with 1.3 million dead. Bain News Service circa 1914/15.