Nation, Society an Military in post-revolutionary France: the Political and Social Impact of the French National Guard (1814-1852)

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The research project deals with the French National Guard between 1814 and 1852.The French National Guard arises from the civic militias in 1789, whose members were keen on protecting their properties and defending their political interests, it was institutionalised with the constitution of 1791 and dissolved only in 1872 at the beginning of the Third Republic. The National Guard was a voluntary troop which played a major role during political changes like the return of the monarchy in 1814, the Julyrevolution in 1830 and the revolution of 1848.This project aims at investigating the French National Guard between 1814 and 1852 as a mirror reflecting contemporary experiences and the the different concepts of political and social order, which were meant to be realised with the National Guard. Most importantly, the project stresses the complex relation between the instrumentalisation of the National Guard on the one hand and the institutional self-will of the latter on the other. The National Guard is hence analysed as an important part of the society whose members served for the maintenance of public order during the constitutional monarchy after 1814 and during the Second Republic from 1848 onwards. As veterans of the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, their experiences however went back to the era of the Revolution and the Empire. As a result the guardsmen adopted a critical view as for the social and political circumstances of their time after 1814, which led them to impose their own political opinions and ideas of social concepts.