Life guard (military)
A life guard is a military unit charged with protecting a high-ranking individual, such as a monarch.
Germany
Since the 15th century, Leibgarde has been the designation for the military security guards who protected Fürsten – usually members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of the Holy Roman Empire and later its former territory – from danger. The Leibgarde should not be mixed up with bodyguard, which may refer also to a single private individual.France
In the Kingdom of France, the Garde du Corps was established in 1440. It was abolished after the French Revolution, re-established in 1815 after the Bourbon Restoration, and finally dissolved in 1830 after the July Revolution. In addition, Napoleon III set up the Cent-gardes for his own protection.List of life guard units
- Germany:
- *Kingdom of Bavaria: Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment – part of the Bavarian Army
- *Kingdom of Prussia: Prussian Life Guards – part of the Guards Corps of the Prussian Army
- *Nazi Germany: 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" – incorporated into the Waffen-SS during World War 2
- Kingdom of France: French Life Guards – part of the Maison Militaire du Roi de France of the French Royal Army
- Imperial Russia: Imperial Guard – regiments of life guards that evolved into many elite combat units in the Imperial Russian Army
- United Kingdom: Life Guards – part of the British Army
- Sweden: Life Guards – part of the Swedish Army
- Denmark: Royal Life Guards – part of the Danish Army
- United States: Washington's Life Guard – part of the Continental Army
- Ottoman Empire: Kapıkulu – which included the Janissarys