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National Volunteers (France)
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
During the upheaval of 1791, the young Constitutional Kingdom of France began a process of mobilisation, which would become known as a Levée en masse (Mass Levy) in a call for volunteers to defend the borders of France. With monarchist emigration growing and the King and his court preparing to flee, Article 14 of the law of 15 June 1791 passed making the mass levy official. The new law called for at least one unit be raised in each department and in each district for the national defence of the territory.
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National Volunteers | |
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![]() Guillaume Guillon Lethière (1799) Enlisting the volunteers | |
Active | 1791–1796 |
Country | ![]() ![]() |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() ![]() |
Nickname(s) | 'Les Volontaires Nationaux' |
Motto(s) | Honneur et Patrie |
Colors | ![]() |
Engagements | French Revolutionary Wars |
With the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition on 6 July 1792, the first one-hundred units were raised immediately sent into the Paris region where they became known as the 'National Volunteers' or Volontaires Nationaux. However, this name was more-or-less an information designation, as the older term of National Guard or Garde Nationale was preferred and typically used in official documents.