The Foreign Legion
Between Loyalty, Myth, and Contradictions
By Christian Morisot
It is curious that France tolerated the existence of a corps that placed loyalty above its allegiance to the country and whose motto, "Legio Patria Nostra," is a declaration of partial allegiance.
This state of affairs, however, allowed the Legion to attract officers and men who were more or less hostile to Republican France.
General Rollet, by developing and even creating traditions, fostered isolation and a sense of self-sufficiency within the Legion, which then glorified its myths. Thus, too attached to its moral compass, the Legion has become a prisoner of its own contradictions and can only remember that its primary role is to implement the policies decided by the government. However unpleasant its mission, it remains, as Legionnaire Flutsch (whose book was recently presented to the young officer assigned to the Legion) so aptly put it: a monastery of unbelievers.
So, would "Legio Patria Nostra" justify the 1962 Algiers uprising?
The popular image of the Legion rests on the spirit of Camerone, which, with concrete examples, emphasizes that the legionnaire always remains true to his word and, therefore, will carry out his mission to the very end, even if it means dying.
It is this maxim that gives our Legionary institution an exceptional panache, which in its time ensured its threatened existence. It is so true that if the Legion succeeded in establishing itself as French through bloodshed, its strength lies in its attachment to French prejudices and vanity through very strong ties, where the most diverse feelings are intertwined, from pride to myth, by way of admiration, anxiety, and the conviction of presenting to the world the indisputable example of the successful integration of a foreigner into the land of human rights and civic duty.
Camerone, the hand of Captain Danjou, a talismanic representation of the given word—before such a symbol, the Legion can only endure with this spirit, long since vanished from the armies of nations.
The Legion is very much alive and has style. The museum of past glories, where the articulated hand of Captain Danjou rests in the crypt, embodies an essential need of the legionnaire's soul: "that of being able to begin a new life after a shattered existence, where a form of redemption is possible through danger and suffering."
The Legion, without a doubt, will have a future as brilliant as its past. But it will never be an uncontrollable force.
This April 30th, we will be united in thought with our fellow legionnaires and former legionnaires throughout the world, and we will remember our fallen comrades with respect.
It is curious that France tolerated the existence of a corps that placed loyalty above its allegiance to the country and whose motto, "Legio Patria Nostra," is a declaration of partial allegiance.
This state of affairs, however, allowed the Legion to attract officers and men who were more or less hostile to Republican France.
General Rollet, by developing and even creating traditions, fostered isolation and a sense of self-sufficiency within the Legion, which then glorified its myths. Thus, too attached to its moral compass, the Legion has become a prisoner of its own contradictions and can only remember that its primary role is to implement the policies decided by the government. However unpleasant its mission, it remains, as Legionnaire Flutsch (whose book was recently presented to the young officer assigned to the Legion) so aptly put it: a monastery of unbelievers.
So, would "Legio Patria Nostra" justify the 1962 Algiers uprising?
The popular image of the Legion rests on the spirit of Camerone, which, with concrete examples, emphasizes that the legionnaire always remains true to his word and, therefore, will carry out his mission to the very end, even if it means dying.
It is this maxim that gives our Legionary institution an exceptional panache, which in its time ensured its threatened existence. It is so true that if the Legion succeeded in establishing itself as French through bloodshed, its strength lies in its attachment to French prejudices and vanity through very strong ties, where the most diverse feelings are intertwined, from pride to myth, by way of admiration, anxiety, and the conviction of presenting to the world the indisputable example of the successful integration of a foreigner into the land of human rights and civic duty.
Camerone, the hand of Captain Danjou, a talismanic representation of the given word—before such a symbol, the Legion can only endure with this spirit, long since vanished from the armies of nations.
The Legion is very much alive and has style. The museum of past glories, where the articulated hand of Captain Danjou rests in the crypt, embodies an essential need of the legionnaire's soul: "that of being able to begin a new life after a shattered existence, where a form of redemption is possible through danger and suffering."
The Legion, without a doubt, will have a future as brilliant as its past. But it will never be an uncontrollable force.
This April 30th, we will be united in thought with our fellow legionnaires and former legionnaires throughout the world, and we will remember our fallen comrades with respect.