The Zouave were a class of light infantry regiments in the service of the French Army from 1830 to 1962. The Zouaves were initially raised as a regiment of Berber volunteers from the Zwawa tribes amid the French conquest of Algeria, and 500 Zwawa were recruited in 1830. In 1842, however, the zouaves began to be recruited almost exclusively from the French pied-noirs settlers of Algeria. The Zouaves acquired an international reputation and were emulated by units serving the Papal States, Poland, the United States, the Confederate States of America, and Brazil. After 1871, the Zouaves ceased to be mostly volunteers and were instead composed primarily of conscripts. The Zouaves served as far afield as China during the Boxer Rebellion and nearly every theater of World War I. The Zouaves were less conspicuous during World War II, mainly fighting in the Battle of France in 1940 and the Liberation of France in 1944. The Zouaves did not serve in the First Indochina War, as they were mostly conscripts, but they were employed extensively during the Algerian War. After Algeria won its independence in 1962, the Zoauve regiments disbanded as the European settlers of Algeria went into exile in mainland France.