Patriotic Guards (Romania)

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Patriotic Guards Gărzile Patriotice
Flag of Patriotic Guards
Active	1968–1989
Country	Socialist Republic of Romania
Allegiance	Romanian Communist Party
Type	Paramilitary
Size	700,000 (1989)

Part of a series on the
Socialist Republic of Romania
Organizations Communist Party Securitate Army Union of Communist Youth Great National Assembly State Council Patriotic Guards National Council of Women Pioneers Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy Romanian Orthodox Church Scînteia People's Democratic Front Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy Comturist
Leaders Constantin Ion Parhon Petru Groza Ana Pauker Ion Gheorghe Maurer Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Apostol Chivu Stoica Nicolae Ceaușescu Manea Mănescu Ilie Verdeț Elena Ceaușescu
Ideology Dacianism July Theses Neo-Stalinism National communism Ceaușescu's cult of personality
Policies Collectivization Nationalization Literacy campaigns Five-Year Plans De-Stalinization Decree 770 Systematization (Rural) 1980s austerity
Culture Daciad Cîntarea României Cenaclul Flacăra Obsessive decade Socialist realism Emblem Flag
Repression Censorship Danube–Black Sea Canal Re-education Bărăgan deportations Tămădău Affair Pitești prison Sighet prison
Protests and resistance 1940s–1950s resistance Bucharest student movement of 1956 Dissent under Nicolae Ceaușescu Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 SLOMR Brașov Rebellion Letter of the Six Romanian Revolution Trial and execution of the Ceaușescus
Relationship with the USSR Soviet occupation (1944–1958) SovRom De-satellization
Relations with other states China Italy North Korea Soviet Union Yugoslavia
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The Patriotic Guards (Romanian: Gărzile Patriotice) were paramilitary formations in the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1968 to 1989.

The Patriotic Guards were formed under Nicolae Ceaușescu as an armed force under the direct control of the Romanian Communist Party to provide additional defence and support in the event of an invasion of Romania. Membership included both men and women and adolescents as young as middle school age, with a peak of approximately 700,000 members across Romania in 1989.