National Guards

The militia organizations of several States of the United States and of some foreign countries are so called. In the United States they are authorized by State laws, and may be called into the service of the general government. After the destruction of the Bastile, a similar organization, called the garde nation ale , was formed in Paris from the bourgeois cla in 1789, under Lafayette as colonel-general. Napoleon subsequently defeated and dispersed it, but it was again organized by him in 1814. The national guard was adopted as an institution under the Restoration, and the Comte d’Artois appointed colonel-general. By decree of 1852 the government reserved the right of organizing or suppre ing the national guard in communes , and also of nominating all the officers, who up to this time had been elected. The French national guard fought in the war of 1870-71, and also participated in the Communist struggles.