Started a decade ago, the history of the gendarmerie is very active today. A work in the form of a review reminds us that this institution, a weapon in the service of “ order and law ”, has evolved in times of crisis as in times of peace, gradually opening up to civil society.
After the publication of Gendarmerie, State and Society XIXe century and of Research guidethe publication of Soldiers of the law represents a new milestone in the history of the gendarmerie. If we had to talk about a project around fifteen years ago, when the University of Paris IV Sorbonne and the Historical Service of the National Gendarmerie (SHGN) together launched a research program on the subject, today we can say that the historians of the gendarmerie have a real laboratory at their disposal.
Soldiers of the law, well documented and based on largely unpublished sources, proves to be a valuable element of this laboratory. These 534 pages do not just retrace a century of gendarmerie. It is also a methodological reflection which is taking shape, the objective being ultimately of “ publicize the results of recent historical research » (p. 48). If the table of contents suggests a fairly traditional work, composed of texts accompanied by around a hundred pages of appendices, the actual reading offers a completely different impression.
A book within the book
Jean-Noël Luc’s introduction constitutes a book within the book. Essential is the reading of these fifty pages which combine the spirit of synthesis and critical thinking. The director of the work wishes to show the “ faces » of the gendarmerie since the French Revolution, whether it is its “ long story », its structural dimensions, its identity, its missions or even its servants, one-man orchestras of a versatile force. Without limiting ourselves to a presentation of the “ gendarme constellation » (p. 26) or simply recalling the historical context, the author puts forward a substantial statistical corpus to better understand the institution in its time, striving to define “ the gendarme temporality of XXe century “.
When does the century begin for the police? ? Logically, in 1903. The fourth organic text of the gendarmerie since its creation, signed on May 20, 1903, offers a “ convenient marker » because of its longevity (p. 31). But, according to the author, other more emblematic dates could be suitable to symbolize the entry of the gendarmerie into the XXe century. Conversely, when this “ century of the gendarmerie » he ends ? Before the letter-writing revolt of the gendarmes in the summer of 1989 – a real institutional earthquake – or before the institution’s attachment to the Ministry of the Interior, on 1er January 2009 ? It all depends on the angle of approach and the scale chosen.
From the study of the classic rural brigade to the soldiers of the law in OPEXdepartmental gendarmes at GIGN through the air police, from microhistory to the history of representations via prosopography, it is indeed a social and diachronic history that is privileged here. Moreover, the heart of the introduction highlights the moment when “ the historian meets the police » (p. 26-30): Jean-Noël Luc describes the progress of the construction site. It measures the progress made ; above all, it explains which paths were taken, why and how ; he points out that some trails are still not marked.
Men, women, an institution
Major trends emerge from the work. The reader discovers the rise in power of the gendarmerie over the century. On a structural level, on a cultural level and on a personnel level, it appears that periods of peace and times of crisis, far from being compartmentalized, are intimately linked in the evolution of the body to XXe century. The modernization of the gendarmerie constitutes a remarkable case in this regard.
The study of the role of the gendarmerie in times of war provides interesting conclusions, because the position of its men changes throughout the conflicts. Provosts in 14-18, they watched the rear, tracking down deserters, troublemakers and spies — for a depreciated memory. Subordinated to the occupier in 1940-1944, they monitored and controlled the rural populations, arrested the Jews, repressed the resistance fighters, or on the contrary they helped them and resisted alongside them – for a bruised memory.
While the “ dark years » have long been taboo, surrounded by an awkward silence, the part devoted to them in the book presents the interest of considering together the role of the body during the Occupation and its purification at the Liberation ; purification is no longer a secondary subject. This allows us to set the scene for professional practices: the profession of gendarme is part of an institution that is required to collaborate, of a culture that leaves real ambiguities surrounding the individual choices that can lead to Resistance. In a way, whatever the intentions and final actions of the actors, the Occupation forces them to take sides, in a dilemma where moral conscience plays a central role. Because to obey is to betray ; and to disobey is also to betray.
Faced with post-war insurrectional crises, the gendarmes adapted to the management of violence. The image of the gendarmerie is an important trend that emerges from the study: the image that the gendarmerie has of itself – an essential thing -, the image that the gendarmerie shows of itself in the press , in the media, in public opinion, etc. This gives a glimpse of how the gendarmerie approached the XXIe century, by directing as best as possible what we call today the “ communication “. The strong trend that emerges throughout the pages is a simple idea: the gendarmerie in XXe century, they are men, women and an institution, nestled at the heart of French society.
Order and law
Beyond easy mockery, the gendarmerie object therefore offers important perspectives: a mirror of the police, a specimen of the forces of order, a weapon of defense and the law. The choice of cutting “ politico-military » fits well with a chrono-thematic explanation ; structures, missions and representations of the gendarmerie thus emerge from one part to another. Both a link with the XIXe century ending and a brief glance at the Great War, the first part quickly gives way to the mutations of the interwar period, to the study of the gendarmerie of the dark years, to the colonial experience and to the the test of decolonization. From then on, two more thematic parts refer to two key issues of the work: the versatility of the gendarmerie (fifth part) and the challenges of modernization (sixth part). François Dieu, professor of sociology specializing in this body, concludes by opening the reflection on the gendarmerie of XXIe century.
The question of the balance of the parties sometimes remains unanswered. We can wonder about the hasty first part or about the difficulty, for the reader, of finding one’s way in the distribution of chapters between the last two parts. Likewise, the reader will be surprised to discover excessively specialized subjects such as the study of “ Provost Marshal of the Army of the Orient during the First World War » (rather than the army provost) or frankly isolated as “ the Mayotte brigade in XXe century “.
These apparent oddities respond to the issues raised in the introduction: for example, the case of the Mayotte brigade offers a microhistorical view of the “ century of the gendarmerie “. This fragmentation meets the objective of the book: to make the results of the research known. Among the thirty authors, master’s students, doctoral students, doctors, university professors and several gendarme-researchers rub shoulders ! Such a team demonstrates great openness and great richness, but in return it presents chapters of uneven quality. The best clearly stand out, such as those of Arnaud-Dominique Houte, Aurélien Lignereux, Laurent Lopez, Marc Bergère or François Dieu in conclusion.
Certainly, “ this work is dependent on the state of historical research » (p. 48), but one can have the impression that Jean-Noël Luc has, in his introduction, as if in reverse, blocked some “ holes » left by certain contributions. Why backwards ? This is because the majority of the chapters of this book published in 2010 come from a conference held at the Sorbonne in 2003 On the other hand, the work is not all as recent as announced ; Missing are researchers who have become essential on the subject in the meantime, such as Jonas Campion on the Second World War, and analyzes which have been expanded since. On the other hand, the past seven years have made certain authors specialists in the gendarmerie: Louis Panel on the First World War, Laurent Lopez on the interwar period, Jean-François Nativité on the Occupation, Benoît Haberbusch on the North Africa, etc. Here are a few dozen small laboratories, and as many interesting introductions on specific themes. Advantage or disadvantage, it’s a question of appreciation. Note that this period of time made it possible to flesh out the annexes.
L'” gendarme horizon »
Soldiers of the law is a book whose appendices are not only illustrative: they are an integral part of the explanation. They begin with six pages of organization charts annotated by Lieutenant Haberbusch, which offer a structural view of the corps at successive periods. Jean-Noël Luc then presents three types of annexes.
Statistics first: a basic tool necessarily useful to researchers and newbies alike. There is data drawn from the irreplaceable Research guide published in 2005 and enhanced with numerous new statistics. A rich chronology of 822 entries allows us to mark out a century of history by providing landmark dates. The appendices end with a bibliography compiled and commented by one of the best specialists in the history of the gendarmerie in France. However, we may regret the absence of an index, or even a corpus of maps and perhaps a glossary, in order to discern the nuances between several key words: “ militarism “, “ gendarmitude “, “ gendarme “, etc.
Despite the view of a sociologist, in conclusion, would the work have benefited from being more transdisciplinary? ? Perhaps, but, in use, the work proves essential for any researcher working on the institution: it offers a synthesis of the history of the gendarmerie in XXe century, while publicizing advances in research. As Jean-Noël Luc writes, “ the history of the gendarmerie belongs neither to an institution nor to a school » (p. 48). He proves it with Soldiers of the law, which results from an open approach bringing together researchers from all backgrounds.