The Spanish Civil Guard
| Published date | 01 July 1931 |
| Date | 01 July 1931 |
| Author | Don José Sanjurjo |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3100400305 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Spanish
Civil
Guard
By
HIS
EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL
DON
JOSE
SANJURJO,
MARQUIS DEL
RIF
Translated
•Honour is the chief emblem of the Civil
Guard;
it
must therefore be kept spotless. Once lost it is never
regained.'-First article of the Manual.
PART
I.
rrHE
history of the last 86 years bears ample witness
to the value, the justification for and the conduct of the
Civil Guard in Spain. Its prestige, enhanced by high
examples of self-abnegation, has spread over the whole
country. Beyond the frontiers, various American republics
have copied the organization of the force, creating similar
bodies under the leadership of Spanish chiefs and officers.
When the civil war ended, the Government considered it
impossible to delay a day longer the establishment of public
security, which is the first of social requirements and the basis
for the development of all activities, and decided accordingly
to ensure it. On the zoth January, 1844, was published a
decree signed by Queen Isabel establishing Commissaries and
Wardens of public security, in place of the old local function-
aries. One article of the decree stated that an organization of
public security would be created.
Two months later appeared the Royal decree creating
the Civil Guard in Spain. On the 28th March, 1844, the
original authority was given which served for the foundation
of the Civil Guard.
The
Government here set out the
necessity for its existence and indicated that the Guard should
serve as a civil force in order to preclude the frequent inter-
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