revolutionary or independence movements throughout Europe; in addition to an influx of idealistic revolutionaries and nationalist, France also became home to large numbers of immigrants who had removed from their countries of origin for economic or personal reasons. This influx of foreigners had become a significant burden for the newly established French government's administrative capabilities; for example during March 1831 a depot established in Langres, France to accommodate these recent immigrants had been inundated to point of overstretch. Furthermore, French military operations in Algeria, which had commenced under Charles X, had proven unpopular with portions of the French populace as the campaign, despite its initial success, had become bogged down in the occupation of that country. The formation of the Foreign Legion would help address the domestic threat of dissidents fomenting political instability while contributing to government's colonial endeavors in Algeria. As part of the Provisional Government's policy of removing potential dissidents from France, upon enlistment recruits were guaranteed anonymity as a condition of their service and information provided to the legion was accepted on face value. This was the beginning of what would become the tradition of enlisting volunteers under the anonymat. Officially enlistment of French nationals in the Legion was forbidden, so many French criminals enlisted during this time claimed that they were French-speaking Swiss or Walloons. Such enlistments were not within the proposed scope of the Foreign Legion, however the Provisional Government proved not terribly distressed by the voluntary removal of members of a troublesome social element a time when its control of the nation was less than concrete. The formation of the Foreign Legion was fraught with difficulties from the outset. The officer corps of the Foreign Legion comprised an assortment of Napoleonic-era officers, expatriate officers, and younger, more recently commissioned French officers. The Napoleonic-era officers were able to return to the French Army from semi-retired status following the July Revolution. Many Napoleonic-era veterans were forced into semi-retirement on half-pay by the Bourbon Dynasty which viewed their loyalty suspect and perceived these veterans as a threat. However, during the interim many of these officers' martial skills had deteriorated in sixteen idle years. Officers of foreign extraction were mostly of Swiss, German, and Polish origin. Some of these officers came from units such as the Hohenlohe Regiment, an expatriate formation similar to the Foreign Legion. Many newly commissioned French officers in the Foreign Legion proved less than