Carabinieri

Arm of Carabineers Arma dei Carabinieri
Heraldic symbol of the Carabinieri
Active	13 July 1814
Country	Kingdom of Sardinia Kingdom of Italy Italian Social Republic  Italy
Type	Gendarmerie (carabiniers)
Role	Military police and general expertise in permanent service of public security
Size	109,499 sworn members
Part of	Ministry of Defence
Garrison/HQ	Rome, Italy
Motto(s)	Nei Secoli Fedele (Faithful throughout the centuries)
March	La Fedelissima (The Ever Faithful) by Luigi Cirenei
Anniversaries	June 14, Carabinieri Day
Website	Carabinieri.it
Commanders
Minister of Defence	Roberta Pinotti
Commanding General	Tullio Del Sette
Insignia
Symbol

The Carabinieri (formally Arma dei Carabinieri, "Arm of Carabineers" or previously Corpo dei Carabinieri, "Corps of Carabiniers";Italian pronunciation: [karabiˈnjɛːri]) is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations. It originally was founded as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia. During the process of Italian unification, it was appointed the "First Force" of the new national military organization. Although the Carabinieri assisted in the suppression of opposition during the rule of Benito Mussolini, they were also responsible for his downfall and many units were disbanded by Nazi Germany, which resulted in large numbers of Carabinieri joining the Italian resistance movement. Since 2001, it has been one of the four Italian Armed Forces.

Inspired by the French Gendarmerie, the corps was created by King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy with the aim of providing the Kingdom of Sardinia with a police corps. Previously, police duties were managed by the Dragoni di Sardegna corps, created in 1726 and composed of volunteers. After French soldiers had occupied Turin at the end of the 18th century and later abandoned it to the Kingdom of Piedmont, the corps of Royal Carabinieri was instituted under the Royal Patents of 13 July 1814.

The new force was divided into divisions on the scale of one division for each province. The divisions were further divided into companies and subdivided into lieutenancies, which commanded and coordinated the local police stations and were distributed throughout the national territory in direct contact with the public.