The French Foreign Legion is a unique elite unit within the
French Army established in 1831. It was created as a unit for
foreign volunteers, because foreigners were forbidden to enlist in the French Army after the
July Revolution in 1830.The Legion was primarily used to protect and expand the
French colonial empire during the 19th century, but it also fought in all French wars including the
Franco-Prussian War and both
World Wars. Although considered an
anachronism by some, the Foreign Legion has remained an important part of the French Army. It has survived three republics,
one empire, two World Wars, the rise and fall of mass
conscript armies, the dismantling of the French colonial empire and, finally, the French loss of the legion's birthplace,
Algeria.
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