The Paris Commune. Monday, March 13, 1871. We are taking advantage of this fairly quiet day to talk about the National Guard of Paris, which was a unit of the French National Guard stationed in the capital and would play a major role in the events of the spring of 1871. The Paris unit was established in July 1789 and was the first unit of the National Guard. It was a citizen militia responsible for maintaining order and military defense. It was involved in all the events that marked the political life of France from the Revolution of 1789 up to the Paris Commune of 1871, which led to its dissolution.
