The Napoleonic Gendarmerie. The state on the periphery made real
This article examines the functions of the French gendarmerie in occupied territories during the Napoleonic wars. Focusing on the writings by two early gendarmerie commanders who were in charge of building up gendarmerie forces in the Italian peninsular and the Rhineland, the article demonstrates ho...
Gardado en:
| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Autor Principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2017
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| Acceso en liña: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | This article examines the functions of the French gendarmerie in occupied territories during the Napoleonic wars. Focusing on the writings by two early gendarmerie commanders who were in charge of building up gendarmerie forces in the Italian peninsular and the Rhineland, the article demonstrates how that the French gendarmerie was thought of by its senior commanders as both a colonial force as well as the bearer of a civilizing mission to spread French ideals and institutions. These texts also reveal the complex and multifaceted functions of the gendarmerie including crime fighting, notably against banditry, as well as pacification of local populations. In particular the relationship with local populations led to conflicts between commanders who preferred that the gendarmerie remained distant from the population they policed, and individual gendarmes who developed personal ties to the local populations, and in many cases integrated and married into local communities. The civilizing mission was applied not only in occupied territories, but also in areas of France that were seen as backwards and not sufficiently under the control of Paris. The gendarmerie thereby became an important tool in both national and imperial integration. |
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