ABSTRACT
The comparison of the police and gendarmerie forces available for protest policing in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and in Westphalia places the measures implemented in France and Prussia in a different context. Comparing the police and gendarmerie forces available for maintenance of order in case of major conflict requires a careful consideration of three factors. Local gendarmerie units could be solicited by any public authority – mayor, assistant mayor or police authorities – however the prefect or sub-prefect could, at any moment, invalidate requisitions of gendarmes issued by local police or any municipal authority. While the Prussian and French populations were roughly the same size, the number of police and gendarmerie forces differed. The most remarkable difference between the French and the Prussian police forces was the size of the gendarmerie that policed rural areas, and functioned as a supplementary force in case of popular unrest.
