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Encyclopedia > Gendarmerie

A gendarmerie or gendarmery (pronounced /ʒɒnˈdɑːmɜːriː/) is a military body charged with police duties among civilian populations. The members of such a body are called gendarmes. The term maréchaussée (or marshalcy) can also be used (e.g. Royal Marechaussee) but is now uncommon. This chart shows concisely the most common way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is applied to represent the English language. ... Gendarme (pronounced ) can mean: Gendarme (historical): a horseman, usually of noble birth, belonging to the cavalry of the French army in the late-Medieval to Early Modern periods of European history A military police officer belonging a gendarmerie. ... Marshal (also sometimes spelled marshall in American English, but not in British English) is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. ... The Royal Marechaussee (in Dutch Koninklijke Marechaussee, abbreviated to KMar) is one of the four military bodies of the Netherlands. ...

Contents

Etymology

The word "gendarme" comes from Old French gens d'armes, meaning men-at-arms. Historically, during the Late Medieval to the Early Modern period, the term referred to a heavily armoured cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army (see:Gendarme (historical)). The word gained policing connotations after the French Revolution when the Maréchaussée of the Ancien Regime was renamed the Gendarmerie. Before this, a gendarmerie was known as a maréchaussée (marshalcy). Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300 A.D. It was known at the time as the langue doïl to distinguish it from the langue... For the novel by Evelyn Waugh, see Sword of Honour. ... Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (1300–1500 CE). ... The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western Europe and its first colonies, between the Middle Ages and modern society. ... A gendarme was a cavalryman of noble birth, primarily serving in the French army from the Late Medieval to the Early Modern periods of European History. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Ancien R gime means Old Regime or Old Order in French; in English, the term refers primarily to the social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, and secondarily to any regime which shares the formers defining features: a feudal system under the control...


In the United Kingdom, there is a body called the Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. "Gentlemen at Arms" is in fact an almost perfect etymological equivalent to the term "gendarme". This body is, however, purely ceremonial, and is not considered a gendarmerie. Her Majestys Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. ...


Historically the spelling in English is gendarmery, but the French spelling gendarmerie is now more common. The Oxford English Dictionary still uses gendarmery[1] as the principal spelling while the Merriam-Webster uses gendarmerie[2] as the principal spelling.


Title and status

Italian Carabinieri in Florence
Italian Carabinieri in Florence

These forces are normally titled "gendarmerie", but gendarmeries may bear other titles, for instance Carabiniers in Italy and Chile, or Civil Guard in Spain. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1004x712, 383 KB) Summary Carabinieri at a manifestation in Florence, Italy Own photo - photo made on 12 October 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Carabinieri Gendarmerie Italian police Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1004x712, 383 KB) Summary Carabinieri at a manifestation in Florence, Italy Own photo - photo made on 12 October 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Carabinieri Gendarmerie Italian police Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... The Carabinieri is the shortened (and common) name for the Arma dei Carabinieri, an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions, which also serves as the Italian military police. ... A Carabinier (also sometimes spelled Carabineer) was a cavalry soldier armed with a carbine (a short rifle). ... Civil Guard logo For the Spanish Civil Guard, see Guardia Civil. ...


Some forces which are no longer considered military retain the title "gendarmerie" for reasons of tradition. For instance, the French language title of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) (i.e. Royal Gendarmerie of Canada) because it was traditionally a military force (although not part of the army) and because it retains the honorific status of a military force. The Argentine Gendarmerie is a military force (in terms of training, identity and public perception, and it was involved in combat in the Falklands War), but for legal purposes is a "security force", not an "armed force", because this is necessary under Argentine law in order to allow jurisdiction over the civilian population. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), also known as the Mounties or Gendarmerie Royale du Canada (GRC) in French, is both the federal and national police force of Canada. ... The Argentine National Gendarmerie (Spanish: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina, also abbreviated to GNA) is the gendarmerie of Argentina. ... Combatants Argentina United Kingdom Commanders President Leopoldo Galtieri Vice-Admiral Juan Lombardo Brigadier-General Ernesto Crespo Brigade-General Mario Menéndez Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse Rear-Admiral John “Sandy” Woodward Major-General Jeremy Moore Casualties 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner 75 fixed...


Since every country uses institutional terms such as "gendarmerie" as it wishes, there are cases in which the term may become confusing. For instance, the Swiss cantonal "gendarmeries" are not military, and are in fact the uniformed police of French-speaking cantons. In Chile, confusingly, the word "gendarmerie" can for historic reasons be used to refer to the prison service, while as previously mentioned the actual gendarmerie force is called the "carabineros". The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ...


As a result of their duties within the civilian population, gendarmeries are sometimes described as "para-military" rather than "military" forces (essentially in the English-speaking world where policing is rarely associated with military forces) although this description rarely corresponds to their official status and capabilities. Gendarmes are often deployed in military situations, sometimes in their own country, and often in humanitarian deployments abroad.


A gendarmerie may come under the authority of a ministry of defence (e.g. France) or a ministry of the interior (e.g. Argentina), or even both at once (e.g. Chile). Generally there is some coordination between a ministry of defence and a ministry of the interior over use of gendarmes.

Serbian gendarmerie

Gendarmeries are police services, but in many countries (e.g. France) the word "police" normally implies civilian police. Gendarmeries are military police, however the term "military police" can be misleading, since in English it carries strong implications of policing within the military ("provost" policing), which is not the basic purpose of a gendarmerie (although in many countries it is a task which gendarmes carry out). In countries where the gendarmerie and civilian police co-exist there may exist rivalries and tensions between the forces. There may also be different reputations, with the gendarmeres generally having a better reputation than civilian police. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Žandarmerija is a military body in Serbia charged with special police duties. ... The MP Command providing security coverage at the Padang in Singapore during the National Day Parade in 2000. ... Provosts are military police whose duties are policing within the Armed Forces, as opposed to Gendarmerie duties in the civilian population. ...


In some cases, a police service's military links are ambiguous and it can be unclear whether a force should be defined as a gendarmerie or not, (e.g. Mexico's Policia Federal Preventiva, Brazilian Polícia Militar, or the former South African Police until 1994). Services such as the Italian Guardia di Finanza would not normally be defined as a gendarmerie (but at times might be) since the service is both of ambiguous military status and does not have general policing duties in the civilian population. In Russia, the Interior Troops are military units with quasi-police duties. The Federal Preventative Police Logo The Federal Preventative Police Seal The Federal Preventive Police, also translated as Federal Preventative Police, known in Spanish as the Policia federal preventiva or PFP, is the uniformed federal police force of Mexico. ... A group of Polícia Militar troops from São Paulo Polícia Militar, or PM, is the name of the state police forces in Brazil. ... The South African Police Service is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Coat of Arms of the Guardia di Finanza The Italian Financial Guard, in Italian Guardia di Finanza, () is an Italian military police force under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ... Internal Troops (full name Internal Troops of the MVD), now called the Federal Guard are the 250,000 strong uniformed military mobile force of the Russian security forces (MVD) and are used to deal with major disturbances and internal security matters. ...


In comparison to civilian police forces, gendarmeries may provide a more disciplined force whose military capabilities make them more capable of dealing with armed groups and with all types of violence. On the other hand, the necessity of a more stringent selection process for military service, especially in terms of physical prowess and health, restricts the pool of potential recruits in comparison to those a civilian police force could select from.


Role in modern conflict

Gendarmes play an important role re-establishing law and order in conflict areas, a task which is suited to their purpose, training and capabilities. Gendarmeries are widely used in peacekeeping operations, for instance in the former Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ...


In Haiti, during the rebellion of 2004, brutal armed gangs took over much of the country. The capital city, Port-au-Prince, was particularly chaotic, and law and order broke down. In view of the nature of the violence, the international intervention force responding to the crisis included substantial numbers of French gendarmes, apparently on the insistence of the other countries contributing to the force. Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Caribbean geography stubs | Capitals in North America | Haiti ...


The absence of any gendarmerie in allied forces in Iraq at the time of the fall of Baghdad contributed to both widespread disorder and the creation of the violent situation which continues today. The fall of Baghdad in April 2003 saw the outbreak of disorder, including looting, violence and the settling of old sectarian and tribal grudges. The initial absence of Iraqi police services contributed to the disorder, and US Army and Marine personnel in the city were not particularly trained for the task of policing and re-establishing law and order. The immediate disorder created a momentum of violence that benefited the insurgency and facilitated its operations, and gave a great boost to the morale and recruitment of insurgent forces, as well as allowing the creation of heavily-armed criminal organisations. Subsequently, the coalition forces included Italian Carabinieri. Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ...


French influence

French Gendarmerie on parade: Republican Guard cavalry
French Gendarmerie on parade: Republican Guard cavalry

The use of military organisations to police civilian populations is common to many time periods and cultures. Although it cannot be considered a French concept, the French gendarmerie has been the most influential model of such an organisation. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2216x1788, 709 KB) fr: Cavalerie de la Garde Républicaine (France), célébrations du 8 mai 2005 en: Republican Guard, cavalry (France), May 8, 2005 celebrations. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2216x1788, 709 KB) fr: Cavalerie de la Garde Républicaine (France), célébrations du 8 mai 2005 en: Republican Guard, cavalry (France), May 8, 2005 celebrations. ...


Many countries that were once under French influence have a gendarmerie. For instance, both Belgium and Austria had gendarmeries through Napoleonic influence, but both these gendarmeries, have merged with the civil police, in 2001 and 2005 respectively. Many former French colonies, especially in Africa, also have gendarmeries. Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...


A common gendarmerie symbol is a flaming grenade, which was first used as a gendarmerie symbol by the French. Grenade may refer to: The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ...


List of Gendarmeries

     Countries with a gendarmerie      Countries that formerly had a gendarmerie
     Countries with a gendarmerie      Countries that formerly had a gendarmerie

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 54 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 54 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...

List of modern gendarmeries

The coat of arms of the Italian Carabinieri, a classic example of a gendarmerie force.

Image File history File linksMetadata CarabinieriCoA.jpg‎ I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata CarabinieriCoA.jpg‎ I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ... The Carabinieri is the shortened (and common) name for the Arma dei Carabinieri, an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions, which also serves as the Italian military police. ... The Argentine National Gendarmerie (Spanish: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina, also abbreviated to GNA) is the gendarmerie of Argentina. ... A group of Polícia Militar troops from São Paulo Polícia Militar, or PM, is the name of the state police forces in Brazil. ... BULGARIAN GENDARMERIE Symbol of Bulgarian Gendarmeire forse The Gendarmerie (Жандармерия - Zhandaramerya) is a part of the bulgarian Ministry of internal affayrs or MIA. In bulgarian: Министерство на вътрешните работи or МВР it is being pronounced In Bulgaria МВР is allways been the other word for Police, comparable with the American “FBI”. Bulgarian “MBP is divided in to... The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), also known as the Mounties or Gendarmerie Royale du Canada (GRC) in French, is both the federal and national police force of Canada. ... The Carabiniers of Chile, in Spanish Carabineros de Chile, are the uniformed Chilean national police force and gendarmery, created on April 27, 1927. ... Colombian National Police The Colombian National Police (spanish: Policia Nacional de Colombia) is the national police of the Republic of Colombia. ... The European Gendarmerie Force or EGF was launched by an agreement between five members of the European Union (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands) and its purpose was the creation of a European intervention force which would have military police (gendarmerie) functions, and be specialized in crisis management. ... French Gendarmes, in the traditional kepi, guarding the Paris Hall of Justice See gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Components Indian Army Indian Air Force Indian Navy Indian Coast Guard Indian Paramilitary Forces Strategic Nuclear Command History Military history of India British Indian Army Indian National Army Ranks Air Force ranks and insignia of India Army ranks and insignia of India Naval ranks and insignia of India Related Info... Assam Rifles is an Indian paramilitary unit. ... The Border Security Force (BSF), established on December 1, 1965, is responsible for guarding Indias land borders during peacetime and preventing trans-border crimes. ... The Central Industrial Security Force (established in its present form: June 15, 1983) is a security force in India. ... The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a paramilitary security agency functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA), Government of India. ... The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised wing of the Indian CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). ... The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is a police force conceived on October 24, 1962 for the security along the Indo-Tibetan Border covering 2115 km. ... The Rashtriya Rifles is a counterinsurgency force in India. ... June 2006 photo of an Iraqi policeman guarding the governors house in Samawah. ... The Israel Border Police (Hebrew: משמר הגבול, Mishmar HaGvul) is the combat branch of the Israeli Police. ... The Carabinieri is the shortened (and common) name for the Arma dei Carabinieri, an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions, which also serves as the Italian military police. ... Côte dIvoire (often called Ivory Coast in English; see below about the name) is a country in West Africa. ... The Federal Preventative Police Logo The Federal Preventative Police Seal The Federal Preventive Police, also translated as Federal Preventative Police, known in Spanish as the Policia federal preventiva or PFP, is the uniformed federal police force of Mexico. ... Heroic Naval Military Academy cadets Mexicos armed forces number about 300,000. ... Trupele de Carabinieri (Carabinier Troops) is the Gendarmerie-type force of the Republic of Moldova. ... The was founded in 1957 by His Majesty late Mohammed V. The structure of its functions has been determined by the two major different but complementary traditions. ... The Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar) (Royal Constabulary in English) is one of the four military bodies of the Netherlands. ... The Republican National Guard (GNR - Guarda Nacional Republicana) is a Portuguese military organization, whose soldiers, unlike the officers of the Public Safety Police (PSP), are subject to military law and organization. ... Jandarmeria Română is the military branch of the Romanian police force. ... Anthem Serbia() on the European continent() Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian 1 Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn 2 Albanian 3 Government Semi-presidential republic  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Establishment  -  Formation 812   -  Kingdom established 1217   -  Empire established 1346   -  Independence lost to... Žandarmerija is a military body in Serbia charged with special police duties. ... Patrol boat, Nervion river, Bilbao. ... Seal of the Turkish Gendarmerie The Gendarmerie of The Republic of Turkey is a branch of Turkish Armed Forces, which is responsible for the maintenance of Safety and public order as well as carrying out other duties assigned by laws and regulation, is an armed security and law enforcement force... The Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano is the Police of Vatican City. ...

List of former gendarmeries

The Belgian Gendarmerie (Dutch: ) was the national police force of Belgium until January 1, 2001. ... The Cretan Gendarmerie (Greek Κρητική Χωροφυλακή) was a gendarmerie force created soon after Crete gained its autonomy from Ottoman rule in the late 19th century. ... Bundesgrenzschutz or BGS for short, is the Federal Border Service or Guard of Germany. ... National police are the primary source of law enforcement activities in some countries, such as Italy, France and Japan, and are organised on a national basis. ... Italian Somaliland was an Italian colony that lasted, apart from a brief interlude of British rule, from the late 19th century until 1960 in the territory of the modern-day East African nation of Somalia. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Kempeitai (憲兵隊, Corps of Law Soldiers) was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. ... A detachment of Mexican Rurales in field uniform during the Diaz era Rurales (Spanish for Rurals) was the name commonly used to designate the Mexican Guardia Rural (Rural Guard), a force of mounted police or gendarmerie. ... Flag The approximate borders of the British Mandate circa 1922. ... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ... The Special Corps of Gendarmes (Отдельный корпус жандармов) was the secret military police of the Russian Empire in the 1800s and early 1900s. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The United States Constabulary was the United States Armys paramilitary gendarmerie type occupation and security force in the U.S. Occupation Zone of West Germany immediately after World War II, from 1946 to 1952. ...

See also

Look up Gendarmerie in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... Military aid to the civil power (MACP) is assistance by the armed forces to the police in maintaining law and order. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... The MP Command providing security coverage at the Padang in Singapore during the National Day Parade in 2000. ... The United States National Guard is a reserve forces component of the United States Army (the Army National Guard) and the United States Air Force (the Air National Guard). ... Constabulary may have several definitions. ... The Peoples Armed Police Force (Abbreviation: PAP; Simplified Chinese: 人民武装警察部队; pinyin: Renmin wuzhuang jingcha budui) is a paramilitary police force primarily responsible for law enforcement within the Peoples Republic of China. ... Internal Troops (full name Internal Troops of the MVD), now called the Federal Guard are the 250,000 strong uniformed military mobile force of the Russian security forces (MVD) and are used to deal with major disturbances and internal security matters. ... FIEP (standing for France-Italia-España-Portugal, the first four members) is an Euro-Mediterranean association of national gendarmeries or affiliate corps. ...

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary [1]
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster [2]

  Results from FactBites:
 
Gendarmerie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1061 words)
The Argentine Gendarmerie is a de facto military force (in terms of training, identity and public perception, and it was involved in combat in the Falklands War), but for legal purposes is a "civilian armed force" because this is necessary under Argentine law in order to allow jurisdiction over the civilian population.
Gendarmeries are military police, however the term "military police" can be misleading, since in English it carries strong implications of policing within the military ("provost" policing), which is not the basic purpose of a gendarmerie (although in many countries it is a task which gendarmes carry out).
Gendarmeries are widely used in peacekeeping operations, for instance in the former Yugoslavia.
Gendarmerie Nationale (France) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (992 words)
Gendarmerie motorcyclists police the roads and autoroutes of rural France.
As an example, the Paris research section of the Gendarmerie was in charge of the enquiries into the vote-rigging allegations in the 5th district of Paris (see corruption scandals in the Paris region).
the parachutist squadron of the Gendarmerie Nationale (EPIGN),
  More results at FactBites »


 

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