Légion des Volontaires Français Contra le Bolchevisme

Founded in 1941

The Légion des Volontaires Français Contra le Bolchevisme, led by Jacques Doriot, Eugène Deloncle and Marcel Déat, was set up as collaborationist groups in mid-1941. Initially, about 10,000 volunteered to fight in Nazi uniforms against the Soviet Union. About 3,600 did actually fight, though poorly because of insufficient training, in 1942 on the eastern front. A reorganized LVF unit served in operations against partisans in eastern Europe. Because of its fear that Doriot and the LVF would become to powerful, Vichy took it over in 1942-07, renaming it the Légion Tricolore. The military successes of the Allied landings in North Africa led to the Légion Tricolore being reconverted from an official to a political body, again being named LVF.