@Penguin Is the Dutch Maréchaussée a "tribute" (or something like that) of our former Maréchaussée ? (Now Gendarmerie Nationale)
The
Corps de Maréchaussée was created by King William I to replace the French Gendarmerie on October 26,
1814. The word
gendarmerie had gained a negative connotation, so William called the new force
"marechaussée". Maréchaussée is an alternate French word for gendarmerie. At that time, the Marechaussee was a part of the army (landmacht). The Marechaussee was tasked with maintaining public order, law enforcement, and safeguarding the main roads. Although not specifically mentioned, this included police duties for the army. As such, the Marechaussee was part of the national police (rijkspolitie). The Marechaussee was the only police force in many small municipalities for a long time. In 1908 the Marechaussee received the additional task of guarding the royal palaces. After World War II, the Marechaussee was split into a
Korps Rijkspolitie (National Police Corps) as a replacement of the
rijksveldwacht and the
gemeenteveldwacht and the
Royal Marechaussee, which regained its military status. The main tasks for the Marechaussee since then have been border protection, military police and guard duties.
One should realize the context: With the armed support of revolutionary France, Dutch republicans proclaimed the Batavian Republic, modelled after the French Republic and rendering the Netherlands a
unitary state in 19 January 1795. The
stadtholder William V of Orange had fled to England. But from 1806 to 1810, Kingdom of Holland was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother Louis Bonaparte to control the Netherlands more effectively. However, King Louis Bonaparte tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's, and he was forced to abdicate on 1 July 1810. The Emperor sent in an army and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire until the autumn of 1813, when Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig. William Frederick, son of the last stadtholder, returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands. Two years later, the Congress of Vienna added the southern Netherlands to the north to create a strong country on the northern border of France.William Frederick raised this United Netherlands to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself King William I.
You mean to tell me that
@Penguin is really Dutch and that those flags in his avatar aren't false-flags !
Hmmmmn...interesting; there always the time-tested Test to see if
@Penguin really is Dutch !
Penguin, my Brother - Which Dutch Footballer who played in the 2014 World Cup is from Katwijk aan Zee ?
Mr. Duracell, The Flying Dutchman, King of Rotterdam..... in short Dirk Kuijt. It was his 100th international match. He's the seventh Dutchman to have accomplished this.
