The French Foreign Legion is a unique military formation for the modern world. Legally belonging to France, he gives a new life to his legionnaires, if necessary, even hiding their justice. All that is required of them in return is devotion to the Legion. It is the legionnaires who are sent to places where, for political or other reasons, the presence of official troops is undesirable. In fact, the Legion is an organization of mercenaries, only the employer is not a private firm, but the state.
The myth that in the ranks of the legionaries you can hide from any crime – just a myth. The Legion accepts people wanted for petty crime, but all candidates are checked by Interpol. If a person is wanted for a serious crime, he will be arrested and handed over to the police. The history of the Foreign Legion has nearly two hundred years. Initially, it was formed as a military unit, subordinate only to the French king personally. Now the Legion is subject only to the president. The salary of an ordinary legionary in our time – about a thousand euros. For business trips and participation in combat operations accrued additional salary. Also, legionnaires pay extra for long service and for the title. Another popular myth is that the Foreign Legion is used as cannon fodder. In fact, for many years, the loss of foreign players does not exceed 1%. In the Foreign Legion are immigrants from more than 130 countries. The French, by the way, too.
Every year on April 30, Legionnaires loudly celebrate the Day of Glory – the anniversary of the Battle of Cameron, when in 1863 in Mexico 65 legionnaires resisted for ten hours the storming of the Mexican army, numbering almost three thousand people. They refused to lay down their arms, and when only four legionaries were left on their feet, they rushed the Mexicans into hand-to-hand combat. Three of them survived. They demanded from Mexicans their flag and body of the deceased commander. The demand was met – the Mexicans were amazed by the courage of the enemy. During the Spanish Civil War, 3,780 out of 4,000 legionnaires died during the fighting. Today, the legionnaires keep order in the overseas possessions of France – in French Guiana and in New Caledonia. USSR Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky is a former legionary. The loudest defeat in the history of the Foreign Legion is the battle of Dienbenfu in Vietnam. Then the entire regiment of legionaries quartered there died in full force. Iron discipline is maintained in the Legion, which does not prevent the military from regular units from considering legionnaires to be monsters and bloodthirsty murderers. Reputation – she is.
After five years of service in the Foreign Legion, you can apply for permanent residence in France. When joining the Legion, the newcomer’s name changes to a new one. Subsequently, it is possible to return the old name, save a new one, or choose another one. At home, the legionnaires earned notoriety after the bloody suppression of the uprising in Algeria, shortly before that country gained independence. Service in the Foreign Legion is not limited in age. Each legionary can serve as long as he is able to hold a weapon in his hands and pass physical training standards. In the case of injury in battle, the legionnaire receives the right to French citizenship, even if he has not served five years yet. Beards are allowed to be worn only by one regiment of the Foreign Legion, which, with some exaggeration, can be called a “heavily armed stroybat”. All other legionnaires should be clean shaven In France itself, the attitude towards the legionnaires is very different – someone considers them heroes and peacemakers, and someone – despicable mercenaries. Recognizable white caps of legionaries became their official headgear only in 1955. Initially, they were khaki, but under the hot sun of Africa they burned out and turned white, and the whiter was the cap, the longer the legionnaire’s service life said.
The only woman who ever served in the Foreign Legion is an Englishwoman, Susan Travis. The Legion is accepted from the age of 17.5 years, but minors will need parental consent. A candidate has the right to apply to the recruiting office of the Foreign Legion, even if he sneaked into France absolutely illegally – no one cares. Obtaining an officer’s rank in the Legion is possible only after obtaining French citizenship. Unless, of course, it was not originally. Spain has a so-called Spanish Foreign Legion. But there can be only holders of passports of Spain or its former Spanish-speaking colonies. International law does not consider the French Foreign Legion as mercenaries.
