In 16th–18th-c Italy, a marksman in the cavalry corps; today, a corps established by Vittorio Emanuele I in 1814 and organized by Colonel Provana di Bussolino. The corps became an arm of the armed forces in 1861 and is currently assigned to civil, military, and judicial duties.
The Carabinieri is the shortened (and common) name for the Arma dei Carabinieri, an Italian military corps of the gendarmerie type with police functions, which also serves as the Italian military police.
"Carabinieri" are not only military police.
History
The corps was created by King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia, with the aim of providing Piedmont with a police corps similar to the French Gendarmerie.
After French soldiers had occupied Turin at the end of the 18th century and later abandoned it to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the corps of Carabinieri Reali was instituted under the Regie Patenti (Royal Patent) of July 13, 1814.
Both a military and a police corps, the Carabinieri have fought in every conflict in which Italy has been involved, suffering heavy losses and being awarded many decorations for gallantry.
The Carabinieri are particularly proud of the memory of Brigadier Salvo D'Acquisto, who was executed by the Nazis in Palidoro, near Rome, in World War II, having exchanged his life for the lives of innocent citizens due to be executed in retaliation for the murder of a German soldier.
The history of the Carabinieri is replete with other such actions and the corps is nicknamed La Benemerita (the Meritorious).
The Carabinieri recently became an armed force (alongside the Army, Navy and Air Force), thus ending their long standing as the first corps (Arma) of the Army (Esercito).
In recent years Carabinieri units have been dispatched all over the world in peacekeeping missions, including in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
At the Sea Islands Conference of the G8 in 2004, the Carabinieri was given the mandate to establish a Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU) to spearhead the development of training and doctrinal standards for civilian police units attached to international peacekeeping missions.
Organisation
Chain of command
The corps is headed by the Comando, consisting of the Comandante Generale (a General), the Vice-Comandante Generale (a Lieutenant General) and the Headquarters Staff, all located in Rome.
Territorial organisation
The Carabinieri are organised on a territorial basis.
Special organisations
Specialised units also exist, such as the Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Artistico (specialising in the protection of artwork and in the recovery of stolen paintings) and the Mobile Command, consisting of twelve Mobile Regiments.
The R.O.S.
The special operations unit is named Gruppo di Intervento Speciale (GIS) and is composed exclusively by former members of the elite forces.
The Corazzieri (Cuirassiers) are an elite corps and are the honour guard of the President of the Italian Republic.
The Carabinieri in Italian culture
Carabinieri made an appearance in Carlo Collodi's 1882 Pinocchio, when two officers arrest Pinocchio for a crime he has not committed.
While the Carabinieri are widely considered one of the most trusted and competent institutions by the Italian population, they are also the traditional butt of many jokes implying that they were stereotypically incompetent and unable to think beyond blind obedience.
Many films and tv series have featured the Carabinieri, including as protagonists.
In January 2005, the private television network Canale 5 introduced a Carabinieri-related drama series called R.I.S. based on the Ra.C.I.S.
Criticism
The Carabinieri have an arguably shady reputation that mainly stems from their alleged involvement in atrocities, as part of the Italian African Police, in occupied Ethiopia in the late 1930s and early 1940's.
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