french foreign legion

The French Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère) is a military corps in the French Army that allows foreign nationals to serve in the French Army. Created by King Louis Philippe of France on 10 March 1831, the Corps was created as part of France's Army of Africa during it's colonial conquest of Africa including Algeria which the Legion is famous for serving at.

Foreigners who join the legion are given a five year contract where they not only serve the French Military but also learn the French language and given a new, French identity. If they serve their contract with good conduct, Legion soldiers may get honorable discharged or if they wish to continue, may apply for French Citizenship. Because many people who join the legion in the past were former criminals or soldiers seeking a new life, the legion was romanticize by the public and writers as a place where people with trouble pasts could start a new life. However, wanting to wash their infamous reputation as an army of criminals and undesirables (especially when former Wehrmacht soldiers join the Legion after World War II and fought in the First Indochina War), the Legion now do background checks on new recruits to ensure those with serious criminal records are not allowed in the Legion.