Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion
The Legion took part in all wars and conflicts in which France was involved in one way or another, which makes it possible to consider it one of the main instruments of Paris's overt and covert foreign policy. Lenta.ru published an article whose author attempted to understand the history and present day of the Foreign Legion.
How the Steel Was Tempered
In 1831, France was conducting active combat operations in North Africa, colonizing Algeria. Paris needed soldiers. And Louis Philippe I decided to put the numerous foreigners who had settled in the country to the service of the crown: Italians, Swiss, Spaniards. As well as Frenchmen who had run-ins with the law. Officers were recruited from the ranks of the former Napoleonic army.
By creating the Legion, the monarch killed two birds with one stone. On the one hand, he cleared the country of undesirable elements. On the other, he received combat-ready units consisting of daredevils ready to do a great deal for a second chance in life. A fundamentally important nuance: no one was interested in the recruit's past; by serving in the Legion, he could wash away any transgressions and return to civilian life with new documents and a cleaned-up biography.
That was when the tradition of not asking recruits for their real names was established. At the same time, the royal decree initially stipulated the most important condition: the Legion could only be used outside France.
In 1847, Algeria was finally conquered, but the services of battle-hardened legionnaires remained in high demand. In 1854, the Legion took part in the Crimean War. Seven years later, France, Great Britain, and Spain sent their expeditionary forces to Mexico to force the country to resume payments on its international obligations. It was during this campaign that the legendary "Battle of Camarón" took place. 65 legionnaires under the command of Captain Danjou fought an unequal battle against two thousand Mexicans, holding out for several hours.
Impressed by the defenders' tenacity, the Mexicans offered them to lay down their arms and surrender. The legionnaires responded by offering the same to the enemy. Almost all of them died, including their commander. Captain Danjou's wooden prosthetic hand is now kept in a museum and revered as a relic. The battle took place on April 30, 1863. This is the Legion's day of glory.
After Mexico, legionnaires defended French interests around the world: they colonized Africa and Indochina, landed on Taiwan, participated in various conflicts in the Middle East, World War I and World War II. And after World War II, legionnaires had plenty to do, as France again entered colonial wars, including in Vietnam. There is evidence that during this period, the unit was joined by former servicemen of the recently defeated Wehrmacht and SS men—well-trained, with combat experience. To avoid reproaches and suspicions of harboring former Nazis, recruiters indicated anything in the "nationality" column: Austrian, Swiss, Belgian, and so on.
According to some sources, there was a time when former German servicemen made up to 65 percent of the unit's personnel. This is impossible to verify; the Legion knows how to keep its secrets—its archives are closed. But the Legion's ranks also included recent Resistance fighters from France, Yugoslavia, Poland, and former Soviet prisoners of war. This "international" also participated in the famous Battle of Dien Bien Phu in the spring of 1954, when the Vietnamese emerged victorious. It is believed that most of the former Third Reich servicemen died in that meat grinder. Nevertheless, it was from that time that the command "Plus vite, que schnell" (faster than schnell—"fast" in German) entered the specific French language spoken by legionnaires.
Spearhead
Entering the post-colonial era, Paris did not abandon its habit of firmly defending its interests outside the country. The main tool in this matter is still the Foreign Legion, which has been compared more than once to the tip of a spear striking France's enemies anywhere in the world. However, the principles of recruiting the unit have changed quite significantly. Contrary to popular belief, it is now almost impossible for a person with a dark past to join the Legion, especially those who have committed serious crimes against persons.
Upon enlistment, a recruit is required to provide truthful information about himself, which security officers can verify. If the recruit turns out to be insincere, he is dismissed immediately. In addition, there is a multi-level interview system where the candidate is asked the same questions but in a different order. This also helps weed out undesirable applicants. Another important point is voluntariness. If a person leaves the training camp, they will not be searched for—you cannot force someone to stay.
All this allows the Legion to recruit proven people, usually with military training, who have made a conscious choice. Every year, about 100,000 people come to recruitment centers, but only a few remain. There is no exact data, but according to French sources, currently 7,500–8,000 soldiers and officers of 150 nationalities serve in the Legion.
"Most of the missions now assigned to the Legion can be considered delicate, but these are not special operations. Stories about trained cutthroats are usually told by those who have not been in the Legion and have not met these guys. The Foreign Legion is first and foremost an extremely disciplined military structure for which orders are paramount," a source familiar with the French army told Lenta.ru.
“But the tasks set before the unit can be very acute. For example, in 1978 in Zaire's Kolwezi (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), legionnaires were the first to be thrown in – they pulled out all the whites from there. Risky assignments, dangerous, but nothing that couldn't be talked about afterward,” the interlocutor explained. “If military intervention is necessary, legion units are sent there first and leave last. I believe that among classical military formations, the legion today is the most qualified and effective.”
In new conditions
The Foreign Legion carries out various missions in hot spots – in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali. Sometimes this is not only not hidden, but also confirmed by international mandates. This was the case, for example, with Operation Serval (Mali), in which soldiers and officers of the unit's 2nd Parachute Regiment participated. The mission's goal was to assist the country's government in confronting Islamist groups, as well as to protect several thousand French citizens living in Mali. The operation was officially completed in 2014, but French units remained in the country as part of another mission under the code name Barkhane. However, its execution was assigned to other parts of the French army.
Much less is known about French involvement in the Libyan conflict. According to some sources, in 2011 it was Foreign Legion fighters who played, if not a decisive, then an important role in defeating forces loyal to the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, destroying several convoys near Benghazi. Others claim that if French military were there at that time, it was most likely special forces unrelated to the legion.
One way or another, thanks to the fact that mostly foreigners serve in the unit, the French authorities can always deny the participation of their country's citizens in a particular operation. On the other hand, official Paris knows that an order given will be carried out. Therefore, the Foreign Legion continues to be one of the most important military-political instruments of the Fifth Republic.