Special Corps of Gendarmes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Special Corps of Gendarmes" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (January 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Russian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Отдельный корпус жандармов]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ru|Отдельный корпус жандармов}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The Separate Corps of Gendarmes (Russian: Отдельный корпус жандармов) was the uniformed security police of the Imperial Russian Army in the Russian Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilities were law enforcement and state security.

The responsibilities of the Gendarmes also included the execution of court orders, pursuit of 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 Imperial Army Gendarmerie regiment (formed in 1815 and based on the Borisoglebsk Dragoon Regiment) and Gendarmerie units of the Separate Corps of the Internal Guards (raised 1811). Following the 1825 Decembrist revolt, the new Russian Emperor, Nicholas I, established 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 formed Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery although the office of the Head of the Third Section did not formally merge with that of the Chief of Gendarmes until 1839.

In 1836, the Gendarmerie of the Internal Guards was transformed into the Separate 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.

As of 1867 statute, the Corps consisted of:

• Main Directorate
• Surveillance staff
• Caucasus, Warsaw and Siberia 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 army officers holding noble ranks could be appointed to the Corps of Gendarmes. In August 1880, both the Third Section and the Separate Corps of Gendarmes came under the authority of the Minister of Internal Affairs, as proposed by Count Loris-Melikov. The Minister of Internal Affairs took up the office of Chief of Gendarmes, and the Commander of the Corps became his Deputy. Many Gendarme officers were transferred to the new Department of Police.

Following the 1902 assassination of MVD Minister Dmitry Sergeyevich Sipyagin, the state security authorities of the Gendarmerie Directorates was transferred to the Okhrana and counterintelligence units of the General Staff and the Department of Police.

During the February 1917 Russian Revolution, Gendarmes stationed at Kronstadt remained loyal to the tsarist regime, fired on demonstrators and were later imprisoned for trial.^[1] On 17 March [O.S. 4 March] 1917 the Corps of Gendarmes was formally abolished by the order of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, along with the regular tsarist police.^[2]

• Alexander von Benckendorff (1826–1844, its founder and first chief)
• Vasily Andreyevich Dolgorukov (?–?)
• Aleksandr Potapov (1861–1864)
• Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov (1866–?)
• Alexander Drenteln (1878–1880)
• Pyotr Dmitrievich Sviatopolk-Mirskii (1900–1905)

The Gendarmes used cavalry ranks of the Russian military ranks system introduced in 1826. Most branches of the Separate Corps wore light blue uniforms in contrast to the dark green of the regular army and police. Gendarmes of the Railroad Directorates were, however, distinguished by dark blue tunics. Khaki-grey service uniforms were worn for ordinary duties after 1909.

The 1909–1914 dress uniforms shown opposite are derived from the detailed set of Russian Army coloured plates prepared by Colonel V.K. Shenk and published by the Imperial War Ministry in 1911.^[3]

Commissioned officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
					Генерала-от-кавалерии Generala-ot-kavalerii		Генера́л-лейтена́нт Generál-leytenánt		Генера́л-майо́р Generál-mayór		Полко́вник Polkóvnik		Подполко́вник Podpolkóvnik		Майо́р Majór		Ротмистр Rotmistr		Штабс-ротмистр Shtabs-rotmistr		Поручик Poruchik		Корнет Kornet

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
									Вахмистр Vakhmistr		Ста́рший унтер-офицер Stárshiy unter-ofitser						Мла́дший унтер-офицер Mládshiy unter-ofitser						Ефре́йтор Efréĭtor				жандарм Zhandarm

• Jailbirds of Kerensky
• Ministry of Police of Imperial Russia
• National Guard of Russia
• Police Department of Russia
• Internal Troops

• 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)

• Official history of the MVD of Russia: 1825–1856 1857–1879 1880–1904 1905–1916 (in Russian)