ABSTRACT
Between 1848 and 1853 moderado leaders in Mexico attempted to transform the national guard into a military force manned by the well-to-do that was capable of safeguarding political stability, social harmony, and the material interests of their class. Achieving this goal in a politically and socially divided nation, however, proved all but impossible, and by mid-1853 the moderado vision of the national guard was no longer operational. Subsequent developments, particularly the 1854 Ayutla Revolution, insured that the national guard that re-emerged during the mid-nineteenth-century Reforma became a bastion of popular liberalism and represented popular elements. Nevertheless, the moderado efforts to revitalize the national guard during the so-called años olvidados sheds much light on how central this institution was to their goal of forging a coherent nation-state.
