Garde Civique

The Garde Civique or Burgerwacht (French and Dutch; "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.

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.

Most of the Garde units were infantry but there were some artillery and mounted detachments. On the eve of World War I the Garde Civique included 33 companies of chasseurs-à-pied (light infantry), 17 batteries of artillery, 4 squadrons of chasseurs-à-cheval (light horse) and 3 companies of sapeurs-pompiers (armed firemen). About half of these special corps were concentrated in the urban areas of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Liège, reflecting the historic role of the Garde as a force to maintain civil order.

The stated purpose of the Garde was to maintain order and preserve the independence and integrity of Belgium.

Each regional unit of the Garde had its own dark blue or green uniform, generally following the pattern of those worn by the regular army but with a number of variations. Infantry wore a wide brimmed hat with plume, cavalry a fur busby and artillery a shako. The 40,700 civil guardsmen serving in the active portion ("1st Ban") of the force were required to provide their own uniforms.

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