National and military policing in times of War: French gendarmerie in a comparative perspective (1918-1950)

the Second World War seems to be as a turning point in policing Western Democracy. Indeed, the conflict brings new conditions of order and security on the one side, and specific political conditions, redefining links between police and politics on the other side. Consequently, the police institutions lived major transformations, as in organization, hierarchical links, recruitment and profiles of members, but also in terms of functions exercised, identity values or place in the State apparatus. Both the permanence than the real origins of these transformations must be discussed in middle-terms perspectives: from the end of World War One on the one side, to the end of State reconstruction after World War II on the other. Is really the Second World War a breakdown in policing Western Europe? More precisely, we asked us if we must define the conflict as a revolution, an exception or continuity in exercising the repression of crimes and the maintaining of order in the service of the Nation-State? This question is a national one, concerning each country involved in the war, with his specific local context, but is also by definition, a transnational problem because of the common importance of police functions in the regulation of European societies. The gendarmerie is a national military force, charged with judicial, administrative and military police missions. Present in many European countries, the gendarmerie knew a growth in the first XXth century in Western Europe. Because of his functions (protection of public order, crime repression and embodiment of the state sovereignty) the gendarmerie is a powerful tool for ensuring the control of territories and populations and for strengthening of central authority. Consequently, the gendarmerie represents a perfect focus to highlight the policing transformation in an exceptional security context around the war. In this contribution, I’ll compare the French case with two neighbouring situations, the Belgian one and the Dutch one. I’ll use archives of each gendarmeries and of their national authorities. By crossing socio-political but also military contexts of these three countries, I want to replace gendarmerie’s war experiences (mobilization, defeat, occupation, liberation, restauration of the State) and transformations (structures, men, values, materials) in a comparative perspective, to understand both national, transnational and professional consequences of WWII on policing Western Europe