国家存亡危急

《祖国在危急中》（法语：La patrie en danger）是法国国民立法议会在1792年7月11日发布的一篇宣言。这篇宣言是对普鲁士与奥地利联手反对法国的回复。次年，法国开始了全民动员。全民动员是法国大革命时期发展出来的“人民战争”概念的一部分，目的是“不仅要调集人力来充当常备军，也要鼓舞普通人为自己战斗”。

La Patrie en danger (in English: "The country (motherland) in danger") was the start of a declaration by the French Assembly on 11 July 1792 in response to Prussia joining Austria in its war against France. Along with the levée en masse declared the next year, it was part of the growing idea of "people's war" which developed during the French Revolution, where ideology "not only conscripted manpower for the regular armies but also inspired ordinary people to fight on their own account."

The text of the declaration reads:

Citizens, the Fatherland is in danger. May those who will obtain the honor of marching first to defend what is most dear to them always remember that they are French and free; may their fellow citizens maintain the security of people and property in their homes; may the magistrates of the people watch attentively; may all, in calm courage, the attribute of true strength, wait for the signal of the law to act, and the fatherland will be saved.

Effects

According to Albert Soboul, the announcement of the fatherland in danger led to the unification of citizens at a time when their interests were jeopardized and intensified their participation both in political life and in military events. The text of the declaration was read on the streets of French cities and villages. In Paris alone, 15 thousand volunteers enrolled in the army, or about 2.5% of the population.

Along with the mass levy announced in 1793, this declaration became a stage in the development of the ideas of a "people's war" and an "armed nation" developed during the French Revolution. The ideology of the people's war was "not only to mobilize human resources for regular armies, but also to inspire ordinary people to fight at their own expense".

At the same time, the success of the declaration of 1792 was closely linked with the then prevailing revolutionary moods in French society. In 1799, an attempt to adopt a similar declaration in the face of military defeats in the War of the Second Coalition did not end there. As F. Wartell observes, seven years later, "the spirit of 1792 was already dead".

It was used in the Proclamation of the French Republic (September 4, 1870)

Frenchmen!

The People have outpaced the Chamber, which hesitated. To save the endangered Fatherland, they have demanded the Republic.

They have placed their representatives not in power but in peril.

The Republic defeated the invasion in 1792, and the Republic was proclaimed.

The Revolution is carried out in the name of law and public safety.

Citizens, watch over the City entrusted to you; tomorrow, you will be, along with the army, the avengers of the Fatherland!

City Hall of Paris, September 4, 1870.

Signed: Emmanuel Arago, Crémieux, Dorian, Jules Favre, Jules Ferry, Guyot-Montpayroux, Léon Gambetta, Garnier-Pagès, Magnin, Ordinaire, Tachard, Pelletan, E. Picard, Jules Simon.