Origins of the French Foreign Legion
During the Seven Years' War, France mustered 32 foreign regiments: twelve German units, ten Swiss, seven Irish, two Italian and one Scottish.
[8] After being installed as a constitutional monarch, King Louis Philippe I required a way to keep dangerous elements of his regular army busy, regardless of whether they were French or foreign nationals.
There were also concerns about certain soldiers being foreign insurrectionists or volunteer fighters who had joined the army in the hope of continuing the 1789 Revolution.
[9] The Legion came as a solution for those who would not conform to the governing agenda: a way for the French state to contend with the most restless soldiers and keep them under control.
4 – Tout Étranger qui voudra faire partie de la Légion Étrangère ne pourra y être admis qu'après avoir contracté, devant un sous-intendant militaire, un engagement volontaire.
Ils devront en outre être porteur d'un certificat d'acceptation de l'autorité militaire constatant qu'ils ont les qualités requises pour faire un bon service.
7 – En l'absence de pièces, l’Étranger sera envoyé devant l'Officier Général qui décidera si l'engagement peut être reçu.
The uniform will be blue with simple passepoil garance and pants of the same color, the buttons will be yellow and inscribed with the words Légion Étrangère.
They should be attested by and in possession of an acceptance certificate from the competent military authority, who asserts that they have the appropriate qualities for good and proper service.
Initially, the Legion attracted foreign nationals from all walks of life and succeeded in its goal of diminishing the number of potential revolutionaries.
Inevitably, inactivity while waiting for assignments and the nationalism harbored by certain Legionnaires caused internal tensions, soon exposing the lack of cohesion within the Legion.
[17] On April 7, 1832, 300 men of the 3rd battalion began to secure the area surrounding Algiers and engaged in combat at Maison Carré named including the massacre of El Ouffia.
[21] On June 28, 1843, British, Portuguese and French ambassadors to Spain signed a treaty with the Spanish government, affirming their support for Maria Christina and her daughter Queen Isabella II against the Carlist pretender, the Infante Carlos.
France was reluctant to interfere in Spanish affairs and risk compromising European peace,[22] and so did not want to send the regular French Army to aid Spain.
On January 28, 1835, under pressure from Adolphe Thiers, Minister of Interior, the Legion was ceded to Queen Isabella II.
On June 29, a royal ordinance stipulated that the entirety of the Foreign Legion (including the sick, imprisoned, and those on leave) was no longer part of the French Army.
[24] The Legion in Spain became the French Auxiliary Division and their commander, Colonel Joseph Bernelle, became Maréchal de camp of the Spanish Armies.
After several skirmishes against Carlists in Navarre and Aragon, the Legion entered Pamplona on February 5, 1836, to encircle and isolate the province.
[26] Bernelle supplemented his troops with three squadrons of lancers, a howitzer battery for support, and a medical company, marking the beginning of Foreign Legion in its modern form.
The government in Paris turned a deaf ear to soldiers' concerns; Adolphe Thiers, now Prime Minister, refused them aid, saying that the Legion had been handed in full to Spain.
King Louis Philippe I was similarly reluctant and refused to send reinforcements from France's regular army.
In 1837, the Legion saw action in a series of battles that culminated in the signing of a peace accord between France and the resistance led by Emir Abdelkader.
Despite the treaty, however, the peace was uneasy, and the Legion undertook harsh expeditions[31] in the valley of Isser to reduce rebel activity which extended as far as Boufarik.
The fall of the city and its citadel was crucial to French military objectives in the region, especially after the unsuccessful expedition of Bertrand Clauzel.
A 500-strong marching battalion was created and placed under the command of chef de bataillon (Commandant-Major) Marie Alphonse Bedeau.
Immediately, General Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, governor of Algiers, began the siege of the city.
The artillery of général Sylvain Charles Valée breached the fortress, and, on October 13, the men launched an assault.
The Legionnaires under Colonel Combes, their former chief, engaged in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, clearing the most important areas.
[35] A reform issued by the intermediary royal ordinance of December 30, 1840, doubled the Legion's size to two Foreign Regiments.
According to Blanchard, the Legion became part of colonization "in the professed name of civilization and racial superiority, at a time of rising nationalism and... rivalries between European powers.
