Art, obsession, and identity
The French Foreign Legion was created on March 9, 1831, by a royal ordinance issued by Louis Philippe I, King of the French from 1830 to 1848.
It was during the Crimean War that legionnaires were first called "leather bellies"—a reference made by their Russian enemies to the large cartridge pouches that they wore attached to their waist-belts.
The French monarch founded the military unit ostensibly to bolster the strength of the French Army by allowing foreign nationals to join its ranks, plucked from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France—effectively the country's colonial forces.
Algeria would be the Foreign Legion's homeland for 130 years and shape its character. The city of Sidi Bel Abbès was closely associated with the legion, the location of its basic training camp, and the headquarters of its 1st Foreign Regiment.
The legion served alongside the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa. Formed in 1832, also by King Louis Philippe, the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa, better known under the acronym Bat' d'Af', were French infantry and construction units drawn from men with criminal records who nonetheless were obliged to undertake military service. The Bat' d'Af' was little more than a penal unit with a notorious reputation for brutality.
Soon, the French Foreign Legion was regarded as the world's premier mercenary corps, and for most of its history enjoyed the exceptional status of being a voluntary unit in a conscript army.
The Crimean experience, though costly (total casualties in the campaign were 1,703 killed and wounded), established the French Foreign Legion's suitability for service in European warfare. Deployment in Italy followed, before action in Mexico and later in the Franco-Prussian War.
France's colonial aspirations extended to territories in the Far East. The Foreign Legion's battle-hardened First Battalion saw action against Chinese and Vietnamese forces.
As part of the Army of Africa, the Foreign Legion contributed to the growth of the French colonial empire in Sub-Saharan Africa. This it did with ruthless efficiency, suppressing various tribal rebellions and uprisings.
During the First World War, thousands of foreign nationals, including British and American citizens, volunteered to fight alongside the legion. As the conflict progressed, the Foreign Legion fought in many critical battles on the Western Front, including Artois, Somme, and Verdun. Pictured are British volunteers marching through Paris in September 1914.
The French Foreign Legion were back on African soil during the interwar period, where it played a major role in the Rif War. Siding with Spain against well-armed Berber tribesmen, the legion helped secure northern Morocco as a Spanish protectorate. Pictured is French prime minister Paul Painlevé decorating legionnaires.
The legion was less conspicuous during the Second World War, though it saw action in the Syria-Lebanon and North African campaigns. After the war and in a rare exception to its recruitment policy, the legion refused to accept former members of the Waffen-SS into its ranks. Pictured in 1940 is a legionnaire clutching his regiment's banner at Bar'Hakeim in Libya.
No sooner had the fighting in the Far East ended did the French Foreign Legion find itself deployed to a new conflict far nearer home, and one that was to have significant consequences for the unit.
In Algeria the legion was heavily engaged in fighting against the National Liberation Front and the Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN), both of which were committed to securing independence from France.
French Foreign Legion combatants and paratroopers fought alongside French parachute divisions in two of the main operations of the war, the Battle of Algiers and the Battle of the Frontiers.
The Algiers putsch of 1961, also known as the Generals' putsch, was a failed coup d'état intended to force President Charles de Gaulle not to abandon French Algeria. It was organized by retired army generals Maurice Challe, Edmond Jouhaud, André Zeller, and Raoul Salan.
Supporting the rebel generals and playing a leading role in the attempted coup d'état was the elite 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er REP), an airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion. Pictured are loyalist troops securing central Algiers after the insurrection.
In the wake of the insurrection, the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment was disbanded along with the 10th Parachute Division and 25th Parachute Division, both part of regular French Army units.
The demobilization of the 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment tarnished the image of the French Foreign Legion as a professional and non-political force. Furthermore, independence of Algeria from the French in 1962 was traumatizing in that the legion was forced to abandon the barracks at Sidi Bel Abbès, its command center since 1842.
Post-1962, French Foreign Legion numbers were downsized from 40,000 to 8,000 men and relocated to metropolitan France. Throughout the 1960s, various units were deployed to trouble spots around the world, though not in North Africa.
By the 1970s, the legion was mostly operating in a peacekeeping capacity, with the exception of the famous Battle of Kolwezi in Zaire (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1978. Later a legion force, made up of 27 different nationalities, saw action in Iraq during the Gulf War (1990–1991) and has since been active in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, French Guiana, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Kuwait, Rwanda, and Somalia.
The French Foreign Legion's most recent service includes Opération Sentinelle, in Île-de-France, conducted as part of the country's defense against terrorism. Meanwhile, the legion always takes part in the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris (pictured).
Enlisting in the French Foreign Legion is no pushover. It has a reputation for being one of the most challenging units to serve within any military worldwide. It's also a strictly no-women-allowed organization.
If he makes the grade, a legionnaire will be instilled with a "fight to the death" attitude, where losing is not an option. And you'll be expected to demonstrate a ruthless tenacity in battle. Pictured is a member of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment wearing a tattoo with the legion's motto 'Marche ou Creve' ('March or Die').
While it used to accept anyone, even those with a seriously shady past, the legion today will not accept into its ranks anyone with a criminal record or who are wanted by Interpol. Traditionally, however, all new recruits to the French Foreign Legion are handed a new identity.
The selection process is rigorous. A potential recruit will undergo a period of psycho-technical evaluation, medical examinations, and necessary personality tests and motivation interviews. Physical training tests the very limits of human strength and endurance.
Once enlisted, a legionnaire serves a mandatory five years' service, after which he can choose to continue his career by means of successive contracts whose duration varies between six months and five years.
Sources: (We Are The Mighty) (French Foreign Legion Information) (Britannica) (Forces.net)
The invasion of Algiers ordered by King Charles X in 1830 stalled when the French expeditionary force found itself in need of reinforcements. This urgent military request prompted Charles' successor to establish the legion. Its deployment in Algiers the following year marked the first landing by legionnaires on foreign soil.
The legion itself soon gained notoriety for turning a blind eye to criminals and misfits seeking to join its ranks. Deserters from their home country's armies were also accepted, with no questions asked.
With its ranks swelled by Second World War veterans, the French Foreign Legion engaged in combat operations in a territory where it had served since the 1880s—Indochina. The conflict was bloody and bitter: the legion suffered the loss of over 10,000 of its servicemen.
But the legion's deployment to Spain during the Carlist War (1835–1839) to support Isabella's claim to the Spanish throne against her uncle proved a disaster. By 1838, the legion's numbers had been reduced to around 500 men. The survivors, along with many of their former Carlist enemies, returned to France, where a new unit was established.
The French Foreign Legion is one of most feared military organizations in the world. It's also one of the most mysterious. An elite unit of the French Army, the legion comprises around 8,000 volunteer combatants recruited from numerous countries across the globe. Legionnaires can expect deployments to a range of challenging, remote, and often hostile environments, and are expected to demonstrate at all times a "fight to the death" attitude. Indeed, the legion's motto says it all: "March or Die." But who are these secretive soldiers, how fearsome is their reputation, and what does it take to join their ranks?
Click through and enlist in this gallery about the French Foreign Legion.
What makes the French Foreign Legion legendary?
This mysterious French army unit is known around the world
LIFESTYLE Armed forces
The French Foreign Legion is one of most feared military organizations in the world. It's also one of the most mysterious. An elite unit of the French Army, the legion comprises around 8,000 volunteer combatants recruited from numerous countries across the globe. Legionnaires can expect deployments to a range of challenging, remote, and often hostile environments, and are expected to demonstrate at all times a "fight to the death" attitude. Indeed, the legion's motto says it all: "March or Die." But who are these secretive soldiers, how fearsome is their reputation, and what does it take to join their ranks?
Click through and enlist in this gallery about the French Foreign Legion.