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60-595: A similar concept exists in Eastern Europe in the form of internal troops , which are present in many countries of the former Soviet Union and its former allied countries. The word gendarme is a singular extracted from Old French gens d'armes ( pronounced [ʒɑ̃ d‿ aʁm] ), meaning " men-at-arms ". From the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern period, the term referred to

120-718: A heavily armoured cavalryman of noble birth , primarily serving in the French army. The word gained policing connotations only during the French Revolution , when the Maréchaussée of the Ancien Régime was renamed to 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

180-648: A civilian police force, such as the Israel Border Police or "Magav", which is the gendarmerie branch of the civilian Israel Police . A few 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 this force traditionally had some military-style functions (although separate from

240-687: A decision of the USSR's government, the NKVD of the USSR is charged with forming fifteen rifle divisions [10 regular and 5 mountain]. 1. Lieutenant General I. I. Maslennikov is entrusted with the task of forming fifteen rifle divisions of NKVD forces... 3. Begin forming and deploying the [following] divisions immediately: 243rd Rifle Division , 244th Rifle Division , 246th Rifle Division , 247th Rifle Division , 249th Rifle Division , 250th Rifle Division , 251st Rifle Division , 252nd Rifle Division , 254th Rifle Division , 256th Rifle Division ... 4. To form

300-647: A force should be defined as a gendarmerie (e.g. Mexico's Federal Police , Brazil's Military Police , or the former British South Africa Police until 1980). Some historical military units, such as South West Africa 's Koevoet , were only defined as police for political reasons. In Russia , the modern National Guard (successor of the Internal Troops of Russia ) are military units with quasi-police duties but historically, different bodies within Imperial Russia 's Special Corps of Gendarmes performed

360-804: A new organization named the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya). Differently from the old Interior Troops, the Rosgvarsyia is not subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), but under the Security Council of Russia , which in practice puts it under direct control of the President of Russia . Despite being subordinated to a civilian police authority, internal troops are a military force with centralized system of ranks , command and service. The chief commander and staff of

420-801: A reserve force in the Mongolian Armed Forces . These forces were introduced during the Soviet era, initially to provide armed, tactical responses for the militsiya – literally " militia ", but a close equivalent of the major police organizations found in other countries. Over time, internal troops also gained responsibility for waging civil war, safeguarding of highly-important facilities (like nuclear power plants ), large-scale crowd control and prison security (except in Russia). As such, these forces have been involved in major wars as well as combating insurgencies and other civil unrest, including

480-533: A result of their duties within the civilian population, gendarmeries are sometimes described as " paramilitary " rather than " military " forces (especially 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 very rarely deployed in military situations, except in humanitarian deployments abroad. A gendarmerie may come under

540-579: A similar unit or the Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft ("People's Police Alert Units") was created in 1955. These units were created for a further reason as well: to have additional ground troop capacities in the event of a war, that did not show up at armaments negotiations, because those internal troops were not part of the military and still had suitable and compatible equipment. There were also internal troops in Bulgaria. During Cold War

600-514: A town to White forces. In 1937, the Main Directorate of Border and Internal Security (GUPVO NKVD) was renamed the Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops of the NKVD of the USSR (GUPVV). On April 20, 1938, the number of NKVD troops, including military units of convoy troops, was established at 28,800 people. On February 2, 1939, 6 separate departments were created within the Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops within

660-569: A variety of functions as an armed rural constabulary, urban riot control units, frontier guards, intelligence agents and political police. Prior to the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, some policing was based on the Royal Irish Constabulary — initially an armed force located in police barracks, routinely unarmed after the 1880s when most civil unrest had subsided. Some consider this a gendarmerie, although this

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720-532: Is common to many time periods and cultures. Being a French concept, the French Gendarmerie has been the most influential model for such an organisation. Many countries that were once under French rule and influence have a gendarmerie. Italy, Belgium , Luxembourg and Austria have had gendarmeries through Napoleonic influence for instance but, while Italy still has the Italian equivalent known as

780-675: Is tendentious as the subsequent Garda Síochána of the Irish Free State were also uniformly armed but not described as a gendarmerie. In China , after numerous reorganizations and transfers of control between the PLA and the MPS , the People's Armed Police , a gendarmerie service, was created on 19 June 1982. The establishment of the PAP highlighted the efforts to increase the professionalization of

840-561: The Chernobyl disaster in 1986, internal troops personnel were among the cleanup crews ('liquidators'), engaged in security and emergency management activities; hundreds of servicemen were exposed to heavy radiation and dozens died. By 1989, with the increasing popular discontent nationwide that had begun to manifest in the USSR, the internal troops of the MVD, on orders from the Presidum of

900-522: The European Gendarmerie Force . Internal troops Internal troops , sometimes alternatively translated as interior troops or interior ministry forces , are a paramilitary and gendarmerie -like law enforcement services, which are found mostly in the post-Soviet states , primarily Russia . Internal troops are subordinated to the interior minister (and interior ministries ) of their respective countries. Perhaps

960-670: The Petropavlovskaya volost has been put down. The families of the deserters have been taken as hostages. When we started to shoot one person from each family, the Greens began to come out of the woods and surrender. Thirty-four deserters were shot as an example. Estimates suggest that during the suppression of the Tambov Rebellion of 1920–1921, around 100,000 peasant rebels and their families were imprisoned or deported and perhaps 15,000 executed. This campaign marked

1020-831: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is referred to in French as the Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC). However the RCMP is a mainly civilian organisation within Public Safety Canada . It is not part of the Canadian Department of National Defence , but does have a paramilitary wing and they have been awarded the status of a regiment of dragoons, with a military battle standard displaying their battle honours following service in World War I. Those honours include Northwest Canada, South Africa, The Great War, and

1080-658: The Russian Civil War , World War II , mass repressions of Stalinist era , and the Chechen Wars . During wartime, internal troops fall under armed forces military command and fulfill the missions of local defence and rear area security. The Russian internal troops were formed in 1919 under the Cheka (later NKVD , and were known as "NKVD Troops", formerly the "Internal Security Forces" (Russian: Voyska vnutrenney okhrany Respubliki or VOHR)), remained there with all

1140-503: The West German Bundesgrenzschutz /BGS (Federal Border Guard) was a paramilitary police with infantry units as well, for a short period there was even a mandatory service in force. After the fall of Soviet Union in 1990–91, local internal troops units were resubordinated to the respective new independent states, except for the three Baltic countries. Azerbaijan ( Internal Troops of Azerbaijan ), Kazakhstan,

1200-851: The ethnic conflicts that occurred during the Dissolution of the Soviet Union . Their activities during this period included the 1989 violent incident in Tbilisi when VV servicemen used entrenching shovels to decimate a crowd of unarmed Georgian civilians. The pattern of internal troops was copied by many countries of the Warsaw Pact . In 1945 in Poland the Internal Security Corps was established, in East Germany

1260-447: The 1980s, the several special forces units that developed within the VV, were created to deal with terrorism and hostage crises. Fields units are essentially light motorized infantry , similar to respective regular army units by their organization and weapons. Soviet prison security units ( Russian : конвойные войска, konvoinyie voyska ; criminal slang: vertuhai ) originally consisted of

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1320-625: The 42nd and 46th had disappeared). Numbers reached 44,000 in July 1943 and 151,000 in August 1945. Typically, NKVD Internal Troops were defensive in nature, although they played a particularly instrumental role during the Battle of Moscow , the Siege of Leningrad , and the Battle of Stalingrad where the 10th NKVD Rifle Division suffered almost 90% casualties during the battle. Large VV units also stayed in

1380-674: The Canadian Army), and have even been awarded battle honours and has retained its status as a regiment of dragoons . The Argentine National Gendarmerie is a military force in terms of training, identity and public perception, and was involved in combat in the Falklands War ; however, it is classified as a "security force" not an "armed force", to exercise jurisdiction over the civilian population under Argentine law. Since different countries may make different use of institutional terms such as "gendarmerie", there are cases in which

1440-601: The Carabinieri, with a second more specialized agency called Guardia di Finanza, Belgium and Austria's gendarmeries have merged with the civil police (in, respectively, 2001 and 2005). Many former French colonies, especially in Africa, also have gendarmeries. The Dutch Royal Marechaussee was created by King William I to replace the French Gendarmerie after French rule ended. The national police force of Canada,

1500-612: The Directorate of Operational Forces of the NKVD of the USSR was created. In 1941, the Directorate of Convoy Troops of the NKVD was disbanded and merged with the Directorate of Internal Troops of the NKVD. The main tasks for this department: participation in hostilities, guarding reception centers for prisoners of war, guarding trains, and escorting prisoners. In June 1941, the NKVD had two convoy forces security divisions and seven brigades totaling 38,311 personnel to carry out convoy missions. The 13th NKVD Convoy Forces Security Division

1560-504: The French gendarmerie. In comparison to civilian police forces, gendarmeries may provide a more disciplined force whose military capabilities (e.g., armoured group in France with armoured personnel carriers ) 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

1620-482: The MVD were: Ten other convoy divisions were formed up to the 1990s; 42nd (Vilnius), 68th Division (Gorky), 75th (Alma-Ata), 86th, 101st, 102nd, 38th, 39th, 48th, 50th and 76th (77th?) Convoy Division (Petrovsky). On January 11, 1978, was established Interior Ministry forces in the Far East and Eastern Siberia. On April 23, 1979, on the basis of Headquarters 89th Convoy Division (Novosibirsk's Military Unit Number 7540)

1680-532: The NKVD of the USSR: On September 1, 1939, the law "On General Military Duty" was adopted. For the first time, the law stated that the internal troops are an integral part of the Armed Forces of the USSR. On November 20, 1939, by Order of the NKVD of the USSR, the "Regulations on the escort troops of the NKVD of the USSR" were adopted. It stipulated the tasks of escorting persons in custody and

1740-597: The NKVD. During the Russian Civil War , the internal troops of the Cheka and the Red Army practiced the terror tactics of taking and executing numerous hostages, often in connection with desertions of forcefully mobilized peasants. According to Orlando Figes , more than 1 million people deserted from the Red Army in 1918, around 2 million people deserted in 1919, and almost 4 million deserters escaped from

1800-692: The Police of Armenia and the National Security Service). Georgia detached a militarized branch from its Ministry of Internal Affairs and transferred its former internal troops under the command of the Ministry of Defence in November 2004. The Internal Troops of Kazakhstan was dissolved in April 2014 and was replaced with the National Guard of Kazakhstan . Modern internal troops can partly be compared with riot police forces all over

1860-434: The Red Army in 1921. Around 500,000 deserters were arrested in 1919 and close to 800,000 in 1920 by Cheka troops and special divisions created to combat desertions. Thousands of deserters were killed, and their families were often taken hostage. According to Lenin's instructions: After the expiration of the seven-day deadline for deserters to turn themselves in, punishment must be increased for these incorrigible traitors to

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1920-533: The Russian Federation ( Internal Troops of Russia ), Tajikistan ( Tajik Internal Troops ) and Ukraine ( Internal Troops of Ukraine ) retained the name, organization and tasks of their internal troops. Up until December 2002, Armenia maintained a Ministry of Internal Affairs, but along with the Ministry of National Security, it was reorganised as a non-ministerial institution (the two organisations became

1980-562: The Second World War. A common gendarmerie symbol is a flaming grenade , first used as insignia by the French force. 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 for internal security and in peacekeeping operations, for instance in the former Yugoslavia and in Ivory Coast , sometimes via

2040-705: The Supreme Soviet, officially became a reporting agency of the MIA after years as a part of the Ministry of Defense. On 1 October 1989, the Ground Forces' 14th Tank Division at Novocherkassk ( Rostov Oblast ) was transferred into the MVD as the 100th Motorised Division for Special Use VV MVD SSSR. Prior to the 1990s, there were 180 regiments (of varying size) of internal troops, of which 90 were mainly guards of correctional institutions, important public facilities and public order. Some of them became engaged in

2100-775: The Troops report only to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, maintaining their separate chain of command. Soviet VV units were predominantly formed up of conscripts drafted by the same system as for the Soviet Army . Modern troops in Russia and Ukraine are experiencing a slow transition to the contract personnel system. VV officers are trained in both own special academies and the Army's military academies. The main kinds of internal troops are field units, prison security units, various facility-guarding units and special forces like Rus . Since

2160-406: The authority of a ministry of defence (e.g. Algeria , Netherlands and Poland ), a ministry of the interior (e.g. Argentina , Romania , Turkey and Ukraine ) or even both ministries at once (e.g. Chile , France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain). Generally there is some coordination between ministries of defence and the interior over the use of gendarmes. In addition, some gendarmeries can be part of

2220-530: The authority of civilian police agencies. Since these are not strictly military forces, however, they are not considered gendarmerie. In France, the gendarmerie is in charge of rural areas and small towns (typically less than 10,000 inhabitants) which represent 95% of the territory and close to 50% of the population. Besides its territorial organization, it has crowd and riot control units (the Gendarmerie Mobile , along with some corresponding units in

2280-611: The beginning of the Gulag , and some scholars have estimated that 70,000 were imprisoned by September 1921 (this number excludes those in several camps in regions that were in revolt, such as Tambov). Conditions in these camps led to high mortality rates, and "repeated massacres" took place. The Cheka at the Kholmogory camp adopted the practice of drowning bound prisoners in the nearby Dvina river. Occasionally, entire prisons were "emptied" of inmates via mass shootings prior to abandoning

2340-421: The cause of the people. Families and anyone found to be assisting them in any way whatsoever are to be considered as hostages and treated accordingly. In September 1918, in just twelve provinces of Russia, 48,735 deserters and 7,325 brigands were arrested: 1,826 were executed and 2,230 were deported. A typical report from a Cheka department stated: Yaroslavl Province, 23 June 1919. The uprising of deserters in

2400-588: The civilian police), counter-terrorism and hostage rescue ( GIGN , again along with some corresponding units in the civilian police), maritime surveillance, police at sea and coast guard ( Gendarmerie maritime ), control and security at airports and air traffic police ( Gendarmerie des transports aériens ), official buildings guard, honorary services and protection of the President ( Garde Républicaine ), mountain rescue ( Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne ) and security of nuclear weapons sites. The use of military organisations to police civilian populations

2460-624: The defense of Moscow , Leningrad , the Brest Fortress , Kiev , Odessa , Voronezh , Stalingrad , the North Caucasus and were heavily engaged during the Battle of Kursk ; some fought through to Berlin, although by that time, as regular Red Army divisions, they had little remaining connection to their founding NKVD cadres. Convoy forces were increased in strength throughout the war. In August 1942 there were four divisions (35th-38th) and five brigades (41st, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 47th;

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2520-756: The direct forerunners of the internal troops, included 11 regiments stationed in the western military districts, seven regiments and three battalions in the internal districts, and the F. E. Dzerzhinsky Independent Special Designation Division in Moscow (transferred from the OGPU in 1934). In October 1940, a specialised NKVD force had also been formed to assist with local air defence for important areas. By June 1941 this new Main Directorate for Local Antiaircraft Defence had three regiments, including in Moscow, and four battalions, all engineer-anti-chemical units. Another division and five brigades totalling just under 30,000 men were in

2580-511: The divisions designated above, assign 1,000 soldiers and non-commissioned officers and 500 command cadre from the NKVD's cadre to each division. Request the Red Army General Staff to provide the remainder of personnel by calling up all categories of soldiers from the reserves. 5. Complete concentrating the NKVD cadre at the formation regions by 17 July 1941... These divisions, in addition to NKVD border troops, participated in

2640-801: The face of the enemy, and 295 servicemen were awarded the " Hero of the Soviet Union " title. After the war's end, internal troops played an important role in fighting local anti-Soviet partisans in the Baltic states (such as the Forest Brothers ) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army . In 1953, the internal troops suppressed the Vorkuta labor camp uprising with gunfire, which resulted in death of at least 100 political prisoners. A series of internal troops districts supervised many divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions. Among them

2700-407: The internal forces were managed by the Main Department of Internal Troops MVD of the USSR. By an order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs number 007 of 22 February 1969 on the basis of the Internal Troops, Internal and Escort of the Interior Ministry of the Ukrainian SSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Moldavian SSR MVD Internal Troops Directorates were officially established. At the beginning of 1969 in

2760-409: The mergers and splittings of Soviet state security services and ended up under the control of the police-like MVD . The best-known of the internal troops divisions is OMSDON based near Moscow which traces its roots to the " OSNAZ " detachment of the VChK (formerly 1st Automobile Fighting Detachment of the VTsIK ). It was later reorganized into the DON (Special-Purpose Division) of the OGPU and

2820-525: The most prominent example, since the Soviet era have been the Russian Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел (ВВ) Vnutrenniye Voiska (VV) Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del, or "Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs" (MVD) (until 2016). Other countries that have had such forces include: Ukraine (until 2014), Georgia (until 2004), Kazakhstan (until 2014), Kyrgyzstan , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Bulgaria (until 1991) , Turkmenistan , and Tajikistan . Mongolian internal troops are officially

2880-412: The pool of potential recruits in comparison to those from which a civilian police force could select. The growth and expansion of gendarmerie units worldwide has been linked to an increasing reluctance by some governments to use military units typically entrusted with external defence for combating internal threats. A somewhat related phenomenon has been the formation of paramilitary units which fall under

2940-454: The principal spelling, whereas Merriam-Webster uses gendarmerie as the principal spelling. These forces are normally titled "gendarmerie", but gendarmeries may bear other titles, for instance the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza in Italy , the National Republican Guard in Portugal , the Guardia Civil in Spain , the Royal Marechaussee in the Netherlands or Internal Troops / National Guard in Ukraine and Russia . As

3000-513: The procedure for external security of individual prisons. The same Regulations set the wartime tasks of the internal troops to escort and protect prisoners of war. In the pre-war years, the internal troops guarded 135 government facilities. They also escorted to 156 judicial institutions and served on 176 railway routes. The number of personnel of the Convoy Troops on January 1, 1940, reached 34,295 people (one division, 9 brigades, 2 separate regiments and 2 junior command schools). On March 4, 1941,

3060-473: The process of formation. During World War II , most units of the NKVD Internal Troops were engaged alongside Red Army forces against Axis troops. On the first day of Operation Barbarossa , the 132nd Independent Battalion of the Convoy Troops of the NKVD joined the defence of Brest Fortress , losing its standard in the process . Raising of new NKVD forces for the front began in the Moscow Military District with an order of June 26: In accordance with

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3120-624: The rear to maintain order, fight enemy infiltrators and to guard key installations (such as the armament manufacturing complex at Tula , protected by the 156th NKVD regiment in 1941) and the railway installations guarded by the 14th Railway Facilities Protection Division NKVD . Altogether, more than 53 internal troops divisions and 20 internal troops brigades were on active duty during the war. Of those, 18 units were awarded battle honors ( military decorations or honorary titles ). A total of 977,000 servicemen were killed in action. More than 100,000 soldiers and officers received awards for gallantry in

3180-400: The security apparatus, as well as the absorption of numerous PLA demobilized personnel, in the wake of growing unrest. In 2014, the Mexican Federal Police , a heavily armed force which has many attributes of a gendarmerie, created a new seventh branch of service called the National Gendarmerie Division. The new force would initially number 5,000 personnel and was created with the assistance of

3240-451: The term may become confusing. For instance, in the French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland the "gendarmeries" are the uniformed civil police (see: Gendarmerie (Switzerland) ). In Chile, the word "gendarmerie" refers for historic reasons to the prison service (the " Chilean Gendarmerie "), while the actual gendarmerie force is called the "carabineros". In some cases, a police service's military links are ambiguous and it can be unclear whether

3300-459: The uniformed branch of the cantonal police of the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland . The first bodies of Swiss gendarmes have their origins in the foot gendarmes that served Napoleon Bonaparte during his stay in Switzerland under French control. Currently, police authority is exercised by individual cantons , which are like sovereign states. The cantonal police force is generally subdivided in two bodies: However, in certain cantons,

3360-472: The units that guard the perimeters of the prisons, and the prisoner transport teams (actually konvoi , literally " convoy "). In post-Soviet countries, some or all of the prison-related tasks were transferred to other agencies. The Guard is a Soviet 1990 drama film, based on the real story of VV soldier who killed his entire prisoner transport unit as a result of dedovschina (brutal hazing system). Gendarmerie (Switzerland) The gendarmerie are

3420-473: The world. In 2014 the Ukrainian internal troops were disbanded due the negative reputation gained during the Euromaidan and as part of a general military and governmental reform. They were reorganized into the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU), which still serves in similar role to the internal troops. In 2016, the Russian internal troops , as well other units under the Russian Ministry of Interior —mainly SOBR and OMON —were transferred and merged under

3480-404: Was created the Directorate of Internal Troops (UVV) MIA Western Siberia (with the inclusion of the 90th and 102nd convoy divisions). On the basis of the 44th Convoy Division the UVV MIA North-West and the Baltic States was created. With the beginning of the Khrushchev era and de-Stalinisation , the internal troops became significantly reduced in size, but retained their pre-war functions. After

3540-502: Was in the west of the Ukrainian SSR , the 14th Convoy Forces Security Division was in the Moscow region, plus six separate convoy brigades, including the 41st in the northwest, the 42nd covering the western axis, and the 43rd the southwest. In July 1941, formations of the NKVD were providing security for government installations, railway lines, and industrial centres. Railway security forces totalled 62,100, comprising nine divisions and five brigades securing 1,700 sites. Operational forces,

3600-433: Was the headquarters for internal troops in the Baltic area, which became Directorate Internal Troops NKVD-MVD-MGB Baltic Military District (Управление ВВ НКВД-МВД-МГБ Прибалтийского округа). This headquarters supervised several internal troops divisions, including the 14th Railway Facilities Protection Division from 1944 to 1951. Other divisions in the Baltic MD included the 4th, 5th, and 63rd Rifle Divisions NKVD. In 1969,

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