 Armed and trained for this purpose, the Guardia de Asalto was intended to provide a more effective force for internal security duties than the ordinary police or the conscription-based army.Since its creation in 1844 the 25,000 strong Guardia Civil had been available to be ordered into the larger cities in the event of unrest, but this efficient rural force —its officers drawn from the regular army and with an oppressive image— was not seen as being in sympathy with the new Republic or particularly suited for urban operations.The "Ministro de la Gobernación" Miguel Maura accordingly reorganized elements of the existing police into a more heavily armed republican security force for service in the cities, leaving the countryside to the Guardia Civil.