Also known as: Gendarmerie d'Haiti, Gendarmerie d’Haïti, Haitian Gendarmerie, Garde d'Haiti
Last updated: April 23, 2026
The Gendarmerie d'Haïti was a military police force created in 1915 under US Marine Corps command as one of the first instruments of occupation governance. It recruited Haitian officers under white American commanders and extended occupation authority into the countryside through policing, tax collection, and the enforcement of the corvée forced labor system. After US withdrawal in 1934, it was renamed the Garde d'Haïti and remained the most powerful institution in Haitian politics.
The Gendarmerie d'Haïti (later the Garde) was the military institution through which occupation-era governance operated alongside his civilian executive authority.
First commandant of the Gendarmerie d'Haïti — the American-sponsored military force that replaced the Haitian army and became the primary instrument of occupation control.
Caco Revolt 1918
Us Occupation Haiti
Corvee Forced Labor
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"Gendarmerie Dhaiti." Rasin.ai, 2026. https://rasin.ai/connections/concepts/gendarmerie-dhaiti. Accessed 2026-05-05.