Warriors of the French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion is a unique elite unit within the French Army established in 1831. It was created as a unit for foreign volunteers, because foreigners were forbidden to enlist in the French Army after the July Revolution in 1830.

It was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the 19th century, but has also taken part in all of its wars with other European powers such as the Franco-Prussian War and both World Wars. (...)

The French Foreign Legion has long been the stuff of adventure and romance. The March or Die heroism of Beau Geste's comrades against the Arabs in North Africa or being the foreign soldiers sent to do the dirtiest and hardest work for France.

Joining recruits leave behind their pasts - ordinary or shady - and begin anew as legionnaires, the toughest of French soldiers. In Warriors of the French Foreign Legion the Discovery Channel takes cameras into the modern Legion and while weapons and enemies have changed, the outcome hasn't as one in 10 legionnaires will die during their five-year tenure.