Garde Civique

The Garde Civique or Burgerwacht (English: Civic Guard) was a Belgian paramilitary militia created in October 1830 shortly after the Belgian Revolution. The Garde was founded through the amalgamation of various militia groups created by the middle classes during the anarchy following the revolution. It acted as a quasi-military "gendarmerie", with the primary role of maintaining social order within Belgium, until its disestablishment in 1920.

Organisation

The Garde was organized at a local level, originally in all communes with more than 30,000 inhabitants. It was composed of citizens aged between 21 and 50 who did not already have military obligations as serving soldiers or reservists. Those aged between 21 and 32 were required to undertake training ten times annually, while the second class (aged 33–50) were obliged only to register their addresses at regular intervals. A third class was composed of older volunteers, who were not equipped, uniformed or armed and were expected only to provide support functions in their local regions. The Garde Civique was, in peacetime, the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior rather than the Ministry of War. It was distinct from the Belgian Gendarmerie (Rijkswacht) which formed part of the military.