List of military legions

This list of military legions is in chronological order where possible. In modern times, most units using the name "military legions" were composed of soldiers from a specific ethnic, national, religious or ideological background, and that background is often specified in the legion's name. Since the Napoleonic Wars, many countries have used the term "legionnaire" to refer to recruits who are neither citizens nor imperial subjects of the government whose military they enter.[1] These governments often, but do not always, group these foreign recruits into specific units that bear the name "legion."

Ancient Rome

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18th century

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French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

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19th century

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20th century

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World War I

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Interwar period

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World War II

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Note: Except for the above, all World War II legions fought on the German side.

Other

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21st century

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See also

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  • National Legion, a far right Belgian paramilary and political movement in the 1920s and 1930s, headed by Paul Hoornaert
  • Légion Belge, a far right but anti-Nazi World War II Belgian Resistance movement
  • White Legion, a Georgian guerrilla group in Abkhazia after the Georgian regular army's defeat in the War in Abkhazia
  • Caribbean Legion, active in Central American politics of the 1950s

References

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  1. ^ Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F. "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers". International Security. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
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