The Patriotic Guards were formed under Nicolae Ceaușescu as an armed force under the direct control of the Romanian Communist Party to provide additional defence and support in the event of an invasion of Romania.

The Patriotic Guards, no longer backed by enthusiasm as they had been in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were nonetheless were the basic line of defence against projected invasions.

Many Patriotic Guard members, who like most other Romanians were fed up with Ceauşescu's failed economic policies and suffering from declining living standards, actually joined the protesters.

The most notable example occurred in Timișoara, where several thousand fighters from Olt and Dolj counties were brought by train to repress the "aggressive manifestations" at the request of the PCR.

The Patriotic Guards was an all-inclusive public security organization with its functions including normal civil policing, fire fighting, and a very large "People's Militia" force.

Relying more on ordinary citizens than on the professional military, the Patriotic Guards served as a potential counterweight to or check on the power and influence of the regular armed forces.

In 1989, the Patriotic Guards were organized into company and platoon-sized units in almost every county, municipality, town, village, and industrial or agricultural enterprise.

Under the command of the First Secretary of the local PCR apparatus, they conducted basic and refresher training in small arms handling, demolition, mortar and grenade launcher firing, and small-unit tactics.