- Special Corps of Gendarmes
The Special Corps of Gendarmes (Отдельный корпус жандармов) was the uniformed
security police of theRussian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement andstate security .The responsibilities of the Gendarmes also included execution of court orders, chasing fugitives,
riot control , and detainment of "unusual" criminals. Gendarmes could also be assigned to assist local police and officials.The precursors of the Corps were the Army
Gendarmerie regiment, created in 1815 and based on the Borisoglebsk DragoonRegiment , and Gendarmerie units of the Special Corps of theInternal Guards . Following the 1825 revolt, the newtsar , Nicholas I, created the office of the Chief of Gendarmes in July 1826 and appointed General Count Alexander Benkendorf to it; all of the Gendarmes were subordinate to the Chief. Benkendorf was also appointed Executive Director of the newly-created Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery, although the office of the Head of the Third Section was not formally merged with Chief of Gendarmes until 1839.In 1836, the Gendarmerie of the Internal Guards was transformed into the Special Corps of Gendarmes, under the Chief of Gendarmes. The Commander of the Corps and Chief of Staff of the Corps were also Directors of the Third Section under the Executive Director. The Corps was divided into seven territorial Districts, six of them located in
Russia and one in the Kingdom of Poland, each having a Directorate. The Main Directorate, along with additional Gubernial Directorates, was also created. The Army's Gendarmerie regiment joined the Corps in 1842.The Gendarmes used Cavalry ranks of the
Russian military ranks system introduced in 1826.As of 1867 statute, the Corps consisted of:
* Main Directorate
*Surveillance staff
*Caucasus ,Warsaw andSiberia Districts
* Gubernial Directorates (56)
*Uyezd Directorates (50)
* Railroad Directorates
* St. Petersburg,Moscow and Warsaw divisions
* Mounted units (13)In 1871, the Gendarmes acquired the right to investigate both political and criminal cases, as the judicial investigators were dismissed.
Only the most competent of the Army's officers in noble ranks could join the Corps of Gendarmes. Although the Corps maintained a powerful image, its large network of
informer s and agents often supplied nothing more than rumors and slanders; the Gendarmes were obviously incapable of infiltrating realrevolutionary organizations. In August 1880, both the Third Section and the Special Corps of Gendarmes were transferred to the authority of the Minister of Internal Affairs by proposal ofCount Loris-Melikov . The office Chief of Gendarmes was inherited by the Minister, and the Commander of the Corps became his Deputy. Many Gendarme officers were transferred to then-created Department of Police.Following the 1902 assassination of MVD Minister Sipyagin, the state security power of Gendarmerie Directorates was transmitted to the
Okhrana andcounter-intelligence units of the General Staff and the Department of Police.References
"Political police and political terrorism in Russia (second half of XIX - beginning of XX)". Collection of documents. Compiled by V.I. Kochanov, N.N. Parfyonova, M.V. Sidorova, Ye. I. Sherbakova. Moscow, AIRO-XX (2000). ISBN 5-88735-079-2. (In Russian). [http://www.auditorium.ru/books/472/index.htm]
External links
* Official history of the
MVD of Russia: [http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=363 1825-1856] [http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=364 1857-1879] [http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=365 1880-1904] [http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=366 1905-1916]ee also
*
Ministry of Police of Imperial Russia
*OMON
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