GARDE NATIONALE, the celebrated burgher defenders of order in Paris and certain other French towns, was for the iiitt time introduced into Paris during the revolution of 1789. It bad existed for a long time previous in sonic of the French towns, having been at first employed to defend the rights and privileges of the city, and subsequently to guard the persons and property of the citizens. When, in July, 1789, the entire lower orders of the capital rose and demanded arms, the leaders of the revolution, sitting at the Hotel de Ville, seized the opportunity to decree, without consulting the govern ment, the formation of a national guard for Paris of 48,000 citizens, which, in the first instance, they named the Parisian militia. Each electoral district was to enroll a bat talion of 800 men, divided into 4 companies of 200 men each,,15 of these companies forming a legion. The officers of the battalions were to be elected by the privates; but tile higher officers were named by the committee. The device chosen as the badge of the service was of blue and red, the colors of the city, to which white, the color of the army, was added, to denote the :intimate ,union which should subsist between the defenders of national liberty and the.military. Thus arose the-celebrated tricolor, after wards adopted as the national badge, and now borne in honor wherever the French name extends. On the king consenting to the removal of the regular troops from Paris, Lafayette (q.v.) was named commandant of the national guard.of the city. Ere many more days had elapsed, the friends of.municipal freedom had organized themselves into burgher troops in every important town, and the national guard bad become a recog nized institution of the whole kingdom, the entire7 number raised being not under 800,000. The. force soon acquired an' extraordinary degree of discipline and efficiency—in a great degree from the number of old 'soldiers who, laving deserted the crown, were elected to commissions by the municipal troops.
Throughout 1789, the national guard looked on supinely at the excesses of the democratic party in the provinces, and joined the mob in Paris during the atrocities of Oct. 5; but, under better counsels prevailed, and the national army restored order, rescuing the royal family on Oct. 11. For some months after this time, the national guard firmly withstood the more violent insurrectionists, who would havi4 deluged the capital with blood; but irresolution and indecision marked their actions in Aug., 1792, and they stood .tamely by during the appalling massacres in the prisons. As the revolution held its sanguinary course; the national guard receded more and more from the moderate views which it had at first supported, until, in 1794, we find it the most devoted adherents of Robespierre and his bloody triumvirate, ever ready tolend its aid to the execution of their merciless decrees. Later in the year, how ever, when the reign of terror stood balanced between power and death, the national guard proved, under the command of Barras, faithful to the convention, which bad deposed Robespierre and his terrible colleagues. In 1795, the national guard aided in the disarmament of the populace; the reign of the multitude ceased, and the force itself was thoroughly reorganized, all elements of • internal turbulence being carefully excluded from its ranks. Under this constitution, none were eligible to serve as national guards but citizens of substance, laborers and the lowest classes being deemed dangerous. Not many months after, so great was the reaction, that the corps had become quite royalist in its feelings, carrying their sympathies at length to open rebel lion against the convention; but they sustained an utter defeat from a small body of troops of the regular army, who, under Darras and Napoleon Bonaparte, defended the convention. After this reverse, the national guard ceased practically to exist. It is
worthy of remark, however, that in 1794 the latter general had been offered the com mand of the national guard by' Robespierre, and had declined it: had he accepted, how different might have been the fate .0 f Europe.' In 1805, on the eve of the great continental campaign, which lie expected would denude France of its regular troops, Napoleon reinstituted the G. N., taking care, however, that no elective or democratic principles should pervade the body. By a decree of Sept. 23, in which the whole empire was included, every man in good health was required to serve, between the ages of 21 and 00: the officers were to he named by the emperor. The companies were localized among the villages and townships; ten companies formed a cohort, and several cohorts, according to the district, formed a legion. This force was maintained in succeeding years in discipline and efficiency; and in 1812, before the great Russian campaign, the emperor placed a large portion of the national guard on permanent duty. lie reaped the advantages of this step when, in 1813. after the disastrous issue of that year's warfare, he found 100,000 well-drilled steady troops ready to replace his lost veterans, and fill some of the vacancies in the ranks. In 1814—when advancing to meet the allies, he parted from his empress and his son, the little king of Rome, for the last time—Napoleon solemnly committed them to the protection of the national guard of Paris. After the Bourbon restoration, the national guard continued an iniportaut in the state.tintil 1n7, when, its attitude becoming insubordinate, Charles X. dissolved it, but neglected to disarm the members. Enraged at this slight, these men were among his most formidable opponents at the revolution of 1830. Under Louis Philippe, in that year, the G. N. was re-established throughout France, Lafayette being appointed to the command-in-chief, a post, how ever, from which he was removed shortly afterwards, as his power became dangerously great. In 1831, the national guard of Lyon was implicated in the insurrection there; and in the following year, a considerable portion of the urban legions of Paris took part in the sanguinary disturbances of the Quartier St. Merl, in which, however, they were overcome by the firmness and fidelity of the suburban legions of the banlieu. Feeling its power over the citizen king of its own creation, the national guard verged more and more towards republican principles, until, in the critical moments of the reform insur rection of 184S, the guard of the capital deserted from Louis Philippe to the revolution ists, and so put an end to the Orleans dynasty. In the troubles of the spring and summer of 1843, the G. N.—a few, legions, subsequently dissolved, excepted—stead fastly supported order, and opposed the socialists. On the election of Louis Napoleon to the presidency, he found it necessary to dissolve the guards in 153 communes; and he reorganized the remainder on a footing to insure the absence of socialistic views.
By an ordinance of June, 1851, the G. N. was placed nearly on the footing of Louis Philippe's reign; but by a decree of 1852, which held till Sept. 4, 1S70, the entire force was dissolved, and reformed on a more military basis, in certain departments only. During the Franco-Prussian war, the G. N. was divided into sedentary and active battalions. After the defeat of the commune, in 1871, the French national assembly decreed to dissolve the G. N., leaving the prefects of departments to choose the time of executing the decree. At present this body may be considered abolished, as its exist ence is incompatible with a new law of recruiting.