A gendarmerie or gendarmery (/dʒɛnˈdɑːrməri/ or /ʒɑːnˈdɑːrməri/) is, in principle, a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as "gendarmes as a body".
Modern civilian police forces may retain the title of "gendarmerie" for historical reasons.
The word gendarme comes from the Old French gens d'armes, meaning men-at-arms. 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 only after the French Revolution when the Maréchaussée of the Ancien Régime was renamed the Gendarmerie.
Historically, the spelling in English was gendarmery, but now the French spelling gendarmerie is more common. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) uses gendarmery as the principal spelling; Merriam-Webster uses gendarmerie as the principal spelling.
The National Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie nationale [ʒɑ̃daʁməʁi nasjɔnal]) is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population in France. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component (GIGN). It had a strength of more than 98,155 personnel as of 2011.
The Gendarmerie works with the other national law enforcement agency, the Police Nationale, and from 2009, although it is a part of the armed forces establishment, it is now a part of the Ministry of the Interior as its military component and forms part of its operations and budget. It is mandated to fulfill national security duties and duties in support of its parent ministry.
The Gendarmerie is the direct descendant of the Marshalcy of the ancien regime, more commonly known by its French title, the Maréchaussée.
During the Middle Ages, there were two Grand Officers of the Kingdom of France with police responsibilities: The Marshal of France and the Constable of France. The military policing responsibilities of the Marshal of France were delegated to the Marshal's provost, whose force was known as the Marshalcy because its authority ultimately derived from the Marshal. The marshalcy dates back to the Hundred Years War, and some historians trace it back to the early twelfth century.
The Federal Gendarmerie (German: Bundesgendarmerie) was an Austrian federal law enforcement agency. It was responsible for approximately two thirds of the population on approximately 98% of Austrian national territory, alongside the Federal Safety Guard Corps (Bundessicherheitswachekorps) and Detective Corps (Kriminalbeamtenkorps). All Austrian law enforcement agencies were merged into the Federal Police (Bundespolizei) agency, with effect from 1 July 2005.
The idea to establish a Gendarmerie (from French: gens d'armes: "armed men") military force charged with police duties originated from the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. It was formed on 8 June 1849 by order of Emperor Francis Joseph as a component of the k.k. Army, modelled on the Gendarmerieregiment in the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia incorporated upon the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Up to then 1776 set up "military police corps" existed in Austria as a militarily organized corps alone in large cities like Vienna, Lemberg, Krakau, Przemyśl.
The childhood memories I treasure the most I suppose
Are the Saturday afternoons spent at the town picture show
I worked all day long in the fields but at night I would dream
Of seeing Gene Autry go ridin' across the big screen
Saturday mornings I'd walk twenty miles or more
Twelve o'clock noon found the first one in line at the door
'Cause all week I'd work but today I would fulfill my dream
And I'd see Gene Autry go ridin' across the big screen.
The man in the white cowboy hat was a hero to me
He was then, he is now, and I guess he always will be
Time takes away many things but it can't take a dream
And I can still see him go ridin' across the big screen.
When as a kid from our shack on the desert I'd roam
My daddy would whip me 'cause I'd never be around home
But mom understood me I know, cause she'd smile when I'd say,
Gene Autry and I had been rounding up outlaws all day
The man in the white cowboy hat was a hero to me
He was then, he is now, and I guess he always will be
And every so often I go back in time and I dream
And I see Gene Autry go ridin' across the big screen