National Guard (France)

National Guard
Garde nationale
Logo of the National Guard (since 2016)
Active1789–1827
1831–1872
2016–present
CountryFrance
TypeReserve
Gendarmerie
Size>77,000[1]
Part ofFrench Armed Forces
National Police
Motto(s)Honneur et Patrie
('Honour and Fatherland')
Engagements (List of wars involving France)
Websitegarde-nationale.gouv.fr (in French)
Commanders
Minister of the Armed ForcesSébastien Lecornu
Secretary General for the National GuardDivisional General François-Xavier Poisbeau
Deputy Secretary General for the National GuardBrigadier General Karine Lejeune
Notable
commanders
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette

The National Guard (French: Garde nationale) is a French military, gendarmerie, and police reserve force, active in its current form since 2016 but originally founded in 1789 during the French Revolution.

For most of its history the National Guard, particularly its officers, has been widely viewed as loyal to middle-class interests.[citation needed] It was founded as separate from the French Army and existed both for policing and as a military reserve. However, in its original stages from 1792 to 1795, the National Guard was perceived as revolutionary and the lower ranks were identified with sans-culottes. It experienced a period of official dissolution from 1827 to 1830 but was reestablished. Soon after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the National Guard in Paris again became viewed as dangerously revolutionary, which contributed to its dissolution in 1871.[2]

In 2016, France announced the reestablishment of the National Guard for the second time, in response to a series of terrorist attacks in the country.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ "La Garde nationale | garde-nationale.fr".
  2. ^ a b "France to create new National Guard 'to protect its citizens'". Local.fr. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference France24 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference militarytimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).