National Guard (France)

National Guard
Garde nationale
Logo of the National Guard (since 2016)
Active	1789–1827 1831–1872 2016–present
Country	France
Type	Reserve Gendarmerie
Size	>77,000[1]
Part of	French Armed Forces National Police
Motto(s)	Honneur et Patrie ('Honour and Fatherland')
Engagements	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars Greek War of Independence Conquest of Algeria Crimean War Franco-Austrian War Franco-Prussian War Paris Commune (List of wars involving France)
Website	garde-nationale.gouv.fr (in French)
Commanders
Minister of the Armed Forces	Sébastien Lecornu
Secretary General for the National Guard	General Louis-Mathieu Gaspari
Notable commanders	Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette

French Armed Forces
Components
Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace Armée de Terre Marine nationale Gendarmerie Garde nationale
Ranks
Ranks in the French Army Ranks in the French Navy Ranks in the French Air and Space Force
History
Military history of France La Grande Armée
v t e

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]