Royal Marechaussee

The Royal Marechaussee, called the Koninklijke Marechaussee in Dutch and also translated as the Royal Military Constabulary, is the national gendarmerie force of the Netherlands. It performs both military and civilian police duties and is one of the four branches of the Netherlands Armed Forces, alongside being one of the country's two national police forces. King William I created the Corps de Marechaussee on 26 October 1814 to replace the French Gendarmerie. Its modern tasks include guarding the borders, royal palaces and the Prime Minister's house, fighting illegal immigration and international crime, security at civilian airports such as Schiphol, close protection of the royal family and officials, and military police work for the Dutch armed forces. During the German occupation it was merged with other forces and lost its military status in 1940, and it regained both after the war.