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[[File: Légion Étrangère 1852 (1).png|250px|thumbnail|left|A French Foreign Legionnaire c1850]]
[[File: Bonifacio Légion JPG1.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Monument to fallen Legionnaires]]
Admin moved page Why was the French Foreign Legion Created? to Why was the French Foreign Legion Created
====History of the French Foreign Legion====
King Louis Philippe created the French Foreign Legion in 1831 from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France. The first recruits came from a variety of countries, and it originally consisted of one regiment. The Royal Ordinance for the establishment of the new regiment stated that the regiment was to be composed only of foreigners and they should only serve outside of the Kingdom of France. This was only a temporary measure, but the French elite soon recognized the advantages of having a force of mercenaries in their army.<ref> Geraghty, Tony. March or Die: A New History of the French Foreign Legion (London, Putnam Press, 1987), p. 6</ref>
====The Foreign Regiments and the birth of the Legion====
Since the Middle Ages, the French monarchs had mercenaries from all over Europe to serve in their army. There were regiments of Swiss, Spanish, Irish, and Scots. These regiments or ‘foreign formations’ were a feature of the French army from 1300 until the French Revolution. Napoleon was wary of these regiments, and he disbanded the Irish regiments which had served in the French army since the seventeenth century.
