Początki żandarmerii wojskowej na ziemiach polskich

Abstract

The article presents the beginnings of military police in the Polish territory, which are closely related to the Napoleonic era. It was then that French solutions in terms of internal security formations were adopted. The creation of military police formation, first in the liberated from Russian rule Lithuania, was closely connected with the events of the War of 1812. The failure of the plans to fight a decisive battle at the borders of Russia and the slackness of the Great Army, caused by weather breakdown and inadequate provisions, soon resulted in the disintegration of discipline, an unprecedented number of marauders, and ordinary banditry spreading at an alarming rate. The areas through which Napoleonic troops had marched were completely devastated. In this situation Napoleon, seeking a solution to the problems with ensuring peace at the rear, in his order of July 1st, 1812 appointing the authorities of the liberated Lithuania also commanded the formation of Lithuanian military police. The article discusses the organization of this formation and its participation in the campaign as well as attempts to create similar military police formation in the lands of the Duchy of Warsaw at the turn of 1812 and 1813, when they were threatened by the offensive of the victorious Russian army. It has been emphasized that successive gendarmerie and military police formations created in the Polish territory referred to the traditions of these units.