Service d'ordre légionnaire

Pierre Laval himself (supported by Marshal Philippe Pétain) passed the law which accorded the SOL its independence and transformed it into the Milice, which participated in battles alongside the Nazis against the Resistance and committed numerous war crimes against civilians.

Joseph Darnand, who had taken part in the Cagoule fascist group's conspiracy before the Invasion of Poland, had been one of the first to rally himself to the "National Revolution" – which was the name given to the new Vichy regime issued from the 1940 defeat during the Battle of France and from the 10 July 1940 vote according extraordinary powers to Marshal Pétain.

Joseph Darnand took the head of the Légion française des combattants (LFC) in the Alpes Maritimes region, and then created the SOL, which attracted not only the most enthusiast proponents of collaborationism with Nazi Germany, but also criminals from the Nice mafia.

Others, commonly called pétainistes, advocated collaboration on ideological grounds: they supported Vichy's anti-Semitic laws which the regime had put in place on its own, without waiting for German orders.

Thus, on 5 January 1943, the SOL was granted autonomy and transformed into the Milice française (French Militia), created by a law issued by Pierre Laval under agreements with Pétain.