Carabinieri in the context of "Italian resistance movement"

A gendarmerie (/ʒɒnˈdɑːrməri, ʒɒ̃-/) is a military or paramilitary force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term gendarme (English: /ˈʒɒndɑːrm/) is derived from the medieval French expression gens d'armes, which translates to 'men-at-arms' (lit. 'people of arms'). In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory (primarily in rural areas and small towns in the case of France), with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions (such as Lebanon, Syria, the Ivory Coast and the Republic of the Congo) adopted a gendarmerie after independence.

Similar forces exist in most European countries. The European Gendarmerie Force is a structure, aligned with the European Union, that facilitates joint operations. A similar concept to gendarmerie exists in Russia in the form of internal troops, which are present in many CIS states.

The Italian Armed Forces (Italian: Forze armate italiane, pronounced [ˈfɔrtse arˈmaːte itaˈljaːne]) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and are also involved in missions and operations abroad as a combat force. Despite not being a branch of the armed forces, the Guardia di Finanza and Polizia di Stato is organized along military lines.

These five forces comprise a total of 340,885 men and women with the official status of active military personnel, of which 167,057 are in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The President of Italy heads the armed forces as the President of the High Council of Defence established by article 87 of the Constitution of Italy. According to article 78, the Parliament has the authority to declare a state of war and vest the powers to lead the war in the Government.

The 4th Carabinieri Mounted Regiment (Italian: 4° Reggimento Carabinieri a Cavallo) is an Italian Carabinieri mounted police unit of the 1st Carabinieri Mobile Brigade. The regiment is tasked with riot control and rural patrol. It was formed on 1 April 1963 by merging smaller existing mounted units of the Carabinieri.

A Colonel commands the Regiment, which is located at the barracks "Tor di Quinto" in Rome. The Carabinieri Regiment is popular for their famous horse carousel that reaches reenacts the Carabinieri's charge at the Battle of Pastrengo.

The Polizia di Stato (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencies it is also responsible for highway patrol (autostrade), railways (ferrovie), airports (aeroporti), customs (together with the Guardia di Finanza), as well as certain waterways, and assisting the local police forces.

It was a military force until 1981 when the Italian State Law 121 was passed. This converted the State Police to a civil force, which is in contrast to the other main police forces of Italy: the Arma dei Carabinieri, which is a military police (gendarmerie) force and the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian customs and border protection police that also falls in the military corps category.