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[[File:Foreign Legion Chinese hat Bastille Day 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Mark of Originality of the actual French Foreign Legion, the utilization of the "[[Turkish crescent|Chinese Hat]]" ({{lang-fr|Chapeau Chinois}}) marks the history of this corps along with the [[French Foreign Legion Music Band (MLE)|Music]].]]
[[File:Foreign Legion Chinese hat Bastille Day 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Mark of Originality of the actual French Foreign Legion, the utilization of the "[[Turkish crescent|Chinese Hat]]" ({{lang-fr|Chapeau Chinois}}) marks the history of this corps along with the [[French Foreign Legion Music Band (MLE)|Music]].]]


The [[French Foreign Legion]] was established in 1831 with the aim of recruiting foreign nationals into the military in the service of [[France]]. The Foreign Legion was deeply rooted in the [[French conquest of Algeria]]. Since its inception, the Legion played an important role in advancing France's colonial expansion. Well before it created a specific military unit, France recruited foreign soldiers for its military. The French Foreign Legion is also distinctive in that all recruits volunteer; other countries' foreign regiments were constituted of conscripts or prisoners of war (not the case of the 1831 Legion).
The [[French Foreign Legion]] was established in 1831 with the aim of recruiting foreign nationals into the [[France|French]] military service. The Foreign Legion was deeply rooted in the [[French conquest of Algeria]]. Since its inception, the Legion played an important role in advancing France's colonial expansion. Well before it created a specific military unit, France recruited foreign soldiers for its military. The French Foreign Legion is also distinctive in that all recruits volunteer; other countries' foreign regiments were constituted of conscripts or prisoners of war (not the case of the 1831 Legion).


== Foreign nationals in service of France==
== Foreign nationals in service of France==
Line 8: Line 8:
=== Ancien Régime ===
=== Ancien Régime ===


Since before the [[Bourbon Restoration]] the [[Kingdom of France|French monarch]] had a long tradition of hiring foreign soldiers.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}
Since before the [[Bourbon Restoration]], the [[Kingdom of France|French monarch]] had a long tradition of hiring foreign soldiers.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}


In 1346, [[Philip VI of France]] deployed 15,000 Genovese at the [[Battle of Crecy]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} The 13th century and 14th century also saw the appearance of [[free company|grand companies of Scots]], Castillans, Savoyards, Swiss, and Dutch soldiers of given chiefs or princes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}
In 1346, [[Philip VI of France]] deployed 15,000 Genovese at the [[Battle of Crecy]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} The 13th century and 14th century also saw the appearance of [[free company|grand companies of Scots]], Castillans, Savoyards, Swiss, and Dutch soldiers of given chiefs or princes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

Revision as of 04:48, 15 March 2020

Mark of Originality of the actual French Foreign Legion, the utilization of the "Chinese Hat" (French: Chapeau Chinois) marks the history of this corps along with the Music.

The French Foreign Legion was established in 1831 with the aim of recruiting foreign nationals into the French military service. The Foreign Legion was deeply rooted in the French conquest of Algeria. Since its inception, the Legion played an important role in advancing France's colonial expansion. Well before it created a specific military unit, France recruited foreign soldiers for its military. The French Foreign Legion is also distinctive in that all recruits volunteer; other countries' foreign regiments were constituted of conscripts or prisoners of war (not the case of the 1831 Legion).

Foreign nationals in service of France

Ancien Régime

Since before the Bourbon Restoration, the French monarch had a long tradition of hiring foreign soldiers.[citation needed]

In 1346, Philip VI of France deployed 15,000 Genovese at the Battle of Crecy.[citation needed] The 13th century and 14th century also saw the appearance of grand companies of Scots, Castillans, Savoyards, Swiss, and Dutch soldiers of given chiefs or princes.[citation needed]

Beginning during the reign of Louis XI, the French Army consisted of 20%-30% non-French soldiers. Additionally, Louis XI employed a Garde Ecossaise, and 6000 Swiss in 1480.[1]

Francis I formed a mostly foreign infantry corps and created the Foreign Regiments of the Ancien Régime [fr].[citation needed]

Day of August 10, 1792 La Prise des Tuileries (The taking of the Tuileries). The red uniforms of the Swiss are distinct from the other combatants.

During the Seven Years' War, France mustered 32 foreign regiments: twelve German units, ten Swiss, seven Irish, two Italian and one Scottish.[2]

Following the abolition of the monarchy during the French Revolution, the National Legislative Assembly allowed the use of foreign soldiers and created foreign volunteer units, such as the Foreign Volunteer Units in Service of France [fr]. Afterward, the National Legislative Assembly, in the decree of July 26, 1792, stated that "If the Allied Kings deploy numerous Armies against the free peoples, it is important for them to admit into their ranks all the men whom a sublime impulse calls to fight for the sacred cause of Liberty." Accordingly, the Légion Franche Etrangère was created on August 1st. A Germanic Legion, an Italian Legion [fr], a Batavian Legion, and a Polish Legion were formed.[3] During this period of 146,000 available soldiers, 42,000 were not French.[4]

Empire

The conquests of First French Empire, caused a great demand for foreign troops with the proportion of non-French in the army reaching record proportions. In Spain, one-sixth of formations was made up of foreign soldiers.[4]

After his rise to power, Napoleon Bonaparte would recruit 4,000 Swiss,[5] then more than 90,000 in the course of his reign.[citation needed] They formed the Valaison Battalion [fr], in 1805.[citation needed]

In 1805, Russian and Austrian prisoners composed the Regiment of Tour d'Auvergne [fr] and the Regiment of Isembourg [fr].[citation needed] The two were later renamed the 1st Foreign Regiment and 2nd Foreign Regiment[citation needed] and later dissolved in 1814.[citation needed]

The Piedmontese Legion [fr] or Légion du Midi, created in 1803, was composed of former French soldiers and recruits from the French departments of Italy.[citation needed] Napoleon's forces would also include the Spanish Pioneers, the Catalonian Regiment [fr], the Hanoverian Legion [fr], the Egyptian Mamluks, and the Portuguese Legion.[citation needed]

Between 1806 and 1814, 60 foreign units were constituted and commanded by 136 generals.[5] A large part of these Europeans were volunteers.[citation needed] Conscripts came only from the regions annexed by the Empire.[citation needed]

It is estimated that of the 400,000 men who crossed the Neman River towards Moscow or Smolensk, just 120,000 were actually French.[5] During the Hundred Days, Napoleon assembled eight foreign regiments.[citation needed]

Restoration

Under Louis XVIII of France, 14,000 Swiss soldiers in six regiments and four regiments, composed of Portuguese and Spanish, constituted the Royal Foreign Legion in 1815.[5]

Creation of the French Foreign Legion

Causes

The creation of the Foreign Legion was in large part was due to the aftermath following the July Revolution.[6]

Following the purge of the army after the July Revolution,[6] Louis Philippe I was in need of a way to occupy those seen as dangerous or restless elements of the regular army, whether French or foreign. The Legion became a depository for those who did not conform to the governing agenda. There was also concern over those seen as foreign insurrectionists and volunteer fighters which had journeyed in the hopes of continuing the 1789 Revolution.[7] To the State, they threatened the stability of the kingdom and its economy. It became urgent to group and distance them.[8]

In addition, despite the enthusiasm showcased by the men in the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, moral was at a low[4] and the war, deemed very unpopular. Louis Philipe I was a pacifist and did not want to weigh the national and military opinion on a costly conquest which would endanger French lives and thus sought to use foreign troops. However, since the Kingdom was reduced, it was not feasible to recruit contingents in occupied lands such as during Napoleon's era. Accordingly, a new sort of troop was required.

Creation by Royal Ordinance

The French Foreign Legion was created by Royal Ordinance on March 9, 1831. The ordinance had nine articles.

A challenging start

A company of the Legion on the Champ de Mars in Paris (1836).

The Legion was formed around former Swiss regiments and the Hohenloe regiment, who formed a nucleus of professional soldiers, however, the experience of recruits varied greatly. To the State the Legion succeeded in diminishing the number of foreign exiled politicians and potential revolutionaries. It attracted both French and foreign nationals from all walks of life.[9] Certain persons enlisted from a nonetheless motivated allure and voluntary spirit, the times helping and Africa still unknown, so adventurers also enlisted.[10] Also, many friends of France, who were numerous, hoped to battle for the nation. Nevertheless, this created a motley corps, where soldiers rubbed elbows with anarchists. Inactivity in wait for assignments and nationalism of some, entailed high energies between communities, which entailed the need to have a more concise common frame.

Officers and non-commissioned officers were needed;[11] but those of the Imperial Army were too old already and unequal to the times. Foreign officers who had left their armies were not familiar with the French language, and hailed from different armies or other branches of the military. Punishments were numerous and harsh with insubordination and desertion being common. In mid-May, the National Guard was called upon to prevent a possible rebellion. On that day, 20 soldiers were arrested.[12]

Despite these complications, less than six months after the royal ordinance,[13] five battalions were created, each with eight combat companies.

Nationalities by battalion
nationalities
1st Swiss and former of Hohenlohe
2nd Swiss and Germans
3rd Swiss and Germans
4th Spanish
5th Sardinians and Italians
6th Belgians and Dutch

The beginnings

Starting the month of August, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th battalions deployed to Algeria, counting a total of 78 Officers and 2,669 Sous-officiers and Legionnaires.[14]

The Legion was first preoccupied with earthworks and accordingly gained their reputation as a builder soldiers [fr], the essence base of the Legion. Accordingly, the Legion would build the route of Casbah in the region of Algiers, that of the Emperor's Fort [fr], or that of the belt of Algiers. The Legion also participated in the construction of many Forts, including the Water Fort. During the construction of the works fevers, dysentery and cholera would kill or reform 3,200 men between 1831 and 1835).[15]

Baptism by fire

April 27, 1832, 300 men of the 3rd battalion began to secure the surrounding of Algiers and engaged in combat at Maison Carré. On May 23, a detachment was exterminated: resulting in 26 fatalities.[16] The conquest of Algeria cost the French Foreign Legion: 27 Officers, 61 Sous-officiers and 756 Legionnaires.[17] Colonel Combes, arrived from Marseille with the first flag of the Legion offered by Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, in the name of the King.

Inscribed on the flag was: Le Roi des Français à la Légion étrangère ("King of the French in the French Foreign Legion"). The troop was then known and distinguished.[18]

The Legion fought at Sidi Chabal in November 1832, where the Spanish battalion distinguished itself. In March 1833, Legionnaires fought at Ouled Yacoub and Oule Attia, against Emir Abdelkader and the tribes of the Sig.

The Legion won a victory at Arzew on June 5 and took Mostaganem on July 27, 1833.

1835 was marked by fighting at Moulay Ismael and cost the lives of a hundred Legionnaires.[19]

Spain and the end of the old Legion

Goodwill to Spain

See also: Carlism and First Carlist War

On June 28, 1843, the ambassadors of London, Lisbon, and Paris signed a treaty with Spain supporting Marie-Christina. France did not favor this treaty, because it did not want to interfere in Spanish affairs or risk compromising European peace,[20] and so did not want to send the regular French Army. Sending the Foreign Legion allowed France to justify involvement.

On January 28, 1835, under pressure from Adolphe Thiers, Minister of Interior, the Legion was ceded to the Queen of Spain. On June 29, a royal ordinance stipulated that the French Foreign Legion was no longer part of the French Army.[21] The Army Corps had been ceded to Spain, and all Legionnaires embarked: the sick, imprisoned, and those on leave included. The men could not back out or they would face severe sanctions for insubordination.[20]

On July 30, 123 officers and 4,021 Sous-Officiers and Legionnaires embarked on La Royal[22] heading to Algeria.

During a stopover at the Balearic Islands, the battalions were reorganized, and all nationalities mixed together.[23]

The fighting

The Legion in Spain became the French Auxiliary Division and their chief, colonel Bernelle, became Maréchal de camp of the Spanish Armies. On arrival, the Legion entered the war against 5,000 Carlists in Catalonia. After several skirmishes in Navarre and Aragon, the Legion entered Pamplona on February 5, 1836 to encircle and isolate the province.[24]

The Legion often fought alone becoming more autonomous;[25] Bernelle supplemented his troops with three squadrons of lancers, a Howitzer battery for support, and a medical company. This was the beginning of the modern French Foreign Legion.

Day after day, the Legion lost men. On April 15, 1836, losses had risen to 117 killed, 380 dead of wounds or disease, and 83 deserters.[26] At Tirapequi on April 26, 500 Legionnaires repelled 3,500 Carlists at the cost of 90 dead[24] and, on August 1, at Zubiri, the Legion all alone killed 1,200 Carlists in one battle.[24]

The Legion abandoned

In Spain, the Legion became more and more isolated with reinforcements arriving sporadically.[24] Paris turned a deaf ear, equipment and supplies were insufficient, the pay was irregular, and decorations and advancement did not follow. Adolphe Thiers, president of the council, refused them aid, saying that the Legion had been handed in full and entirely to Spain. Reaching a limit, Bernelle resigned and returned to France. The King didn't want to send reinforcements from the regular army, out of fear of tiring the troops and becoming entrenched. In addition, the conquest of Algeria required reinforcements. The King did not want to divide his troops. The Legion was accordingly left to its fate.

Misery and wandering

The Legion continued to fight, the lack of decent equipment aggravated by the particularly bitter winter of 1836-1837 in the plains of Aragon. With their pay in default and their living conditions poor, some joined the Carlists who were living off the land.

At the beginning of 1837, the Legion had only three battalions, then two; the Legion had been reduced in half since its arrival. However, the Legion continued to fight with a suicidal determination.[27]

In 1838, the Legion was a shadow of itself in poor living conditions, without resources, and surrounded by Carlists. It was not until December 8 that the Queen finally granted its dissolution. They left Zaragoza on January 2, 1839 and crossed the Pyrenees, starved and miserable.

Some 6,000 had disembarked at Tarragona in 1835, but only 63 Officers and 50 troops returned.[28] During the Spanish odyssey, the King had created another Legion.

The new Legion

Second Legion

Portrait of Marie Alphonse Bedeau.

The departure of the Legion to the Spanish Army in 1835 left a void. Foreigners remained numerous in France, which also needed as many men as possible in Africa and Spain. Accordingly, a New Legion formed in December 1835,[29] with a garrison in Paris of one battalion. On March 22, two general staff headquarters companies were formed, and as of June 26, the battalion was complete. The government, tired of the Spanish adventure, licensed a battalion on August 11, 1836, and sent the Legion to Spain.[29] These were the last reinforcements for the Legionnaires in Spain.

The government again began to form a Legion in November 1836. On November 21, a new battalion was constituted at Pau. With 1,200 men, it embarked at Toulon on the Suffren on December 11,[29] and arrived four days later in Algiers.

Recruitment continued in France, and on September 4, 1837, a second battalion was constituted by royal decree. The two battalions together were the equivalent of a regular infantry regiment.

Starting from Algiers, 1837 was for the French Foreign Legion of Africa a succession of battles ending in the peace accord signed between France and the resistance led by Emir Abdelkader, recognizing in the Treaty of Tafna the sovereignty of France in certain Algerian regions. Despite the treaty, the peace was relative. The Legion undertook harsh expeditions[30] in the valley of Isser to reduce rebel activity whose troublesome activities reached as far as Boufarik.

Battle of Constantine

Siege of Constantine, by Horace Vernet

The relatively calm situation allowed the elaboration of grand maneuvers. Constantine was the subject of focus. All available troops marched towards Constantine, a stronghold on rocks overlooking the Rhummel, considered invulnerable.

Since the unsuccessful expedition of Bertrand Clauzel which cost him his position, the fall of the Citadel was crucial. Battle formations constituted one Marching Legion Battalion, 500 men strong under the orders of a chef de bataillon (Commandant-Major) Marie Alphonse Bedeau.[31]

The expedition arrived in Constantine on October 6, 1837, and General Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, governor of Algiers, began the siege. The expedition was divided into four brigades; the Legion was part of the third brigade. The artillery of général Sylvain Charles Valée breached the fortress. On October 13, the men launched an assault. The Legionnaires under Colonel Combes, their former chief, engaged in close quarter hand-to-hand combat, clearing the most important arenas.[32] After three dreadful hours of fighting, the Legion and the other brigades managed to take Constantine during the night.

Bedeau was designated "Commandant du Lieu" and promoted to Lieutenant-colonel.

Posterity

The conquest of Algeria resulted in another twenty years of mobilization. Following Constantine, the Legion regrouped in Algiers in 1838, numbering 2,823 men[33] on November 10, 1838. It continued to fight, distinguishing itself at Djidjelli, Medea and Miliana, often victorious at the cost of heavy losses.

The Legion definitely garrisoned in Algeria and France in 1840. First, owing to the return of the survivors of Spain, and their 10,000 enemies[34] which had left their country after the failure of the Carlist revolution. The structural reform which, by the intermediary royal ordinance of December 30, 1840, doubled the Legion in two Foreign Regiments. The 1st Foreign Regiment, directed by colonel Mollenbeck, was formed in Algiers on April 1, 1841. Similarly, the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, directed by colonel Jean-François de Cariés de Senilhes [fr] was constituted at Bône on April 21, 1841. The Legion first garrisoned at Sidi Bel Abbès in 1843, and left 119 years later in 1962.

In addition to Algeria, the Legion saw other action overseas to advance French colonial interests and completed successful campaigns in Indochina, Madagascar, Morocco, and other territories that eventually became part of the French empire. According to Blanchard, the Legion became part of the colonization "in the professed name of civilization and racial superiority, at a time of rising nationalism and... rivalries between European powers."[35]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 11.
  2. ^ Messager 2007, p. 10.
  3. ^ Poirmeur 1931, p. 12.
  4. ^ a b c Blond 1981, p. 25.
  5. ^ a b c d Montagnon 1999, p. 12.
  6. ^ a b Young & Bergot 1984, p. 9.
  7. ^ Porch 1994, p. 37.
  8. ^ Porch 1994, p. 34.
  9. ^ Porch 1994, p. 38.
  10. ^ Blond 1981.
  11. ^ Porch 1994, p. 39.
  12. ^ Porch 1994, p. 44.
  13. ^ Young & Bergot 1984, p. 10.
  14. ^ Montagnon1999, p. 15.
  15. ^ Porch 1994, p. 50.
  16. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 16.
  17. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 19.
  18. ^ Messager 2007, pp. 222–223.
  19. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 18.
  20. ^ a b Montagnon 1999, p. 21.
  21. ^ Messager 2007, p. 20.
  22. ^ This was the traditional surname of the French War Navy.
  23. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 22.
  24. ^ a b c d Montagnon 1999, p. 24.
  25. ^ Young & Bergot 1984.
  26. ^ Montagnon 1999.
  27. ^ Poirmeur 1931, p. 26.
  28. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 26.
  29. ^ a b c Messager 2007, p. 16.
  30. ^ Messager 2007, p. 17.
  31. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 30.
  32. ^ Montagnon 1999, pp. 30–31.
  33. ^ Messager 2007, p. 18.
  34. ^ Montagnon 1999, p. 27.
  35. ^ Blanchard.

References

  • Porch, Douglas (1994). La Légion étrangère 1831-1962 [The French Foreign Legion 1831-1962] (in French). Fayard. ISBN 978-2213031118. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Montagnon, Pierre (1999). Histoire de la Légion de 1831 à nos jours [History of the Legion from 1831 till present] (in French). Pygmalion. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Poirmeur (1931). Notre vieille Légion [Our Old Legion] (in French). Paris: Berger-Levraut. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Blond, George (1981) [1st pub. Librairie Plon]. Histoire de la Légion étrangère 1831-1981 [History of the French Foreign Legion 1831-1981] (in French). Club France Loisir. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Messager, Jean-Luc (2007). La Légion étrangère 175 ans d'histoire [The French Foreign Legion 175 years of History] (in French). EPA Hachette livre. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Young, John Robert; Bergot, Erwan (1984). La Légion étrangère voyage à l'intérieur d'un corps d'élite [The French Foreign Legion travels to an elite corps] (in French). Robert Laffont S.A. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Girordet, Raoul (1998). La Société militaire de 1815 à nos jour [The Military Society from 1815 till present] (in French). Malsherbe: Librairie académique Perin. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Barjot, Dominique; Chaline, Jean-Pierre; Encrevé, André (1995). La France au XIXs. 1814-1914 [France in the XIX century. 1814-1914] (in French). Paris: Presse universitaire de France. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Julaud, Jean-Joseph (2005). L'Histoire de France illustrée [Illustrated History of France] (in French). Paris: FIRST. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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