A government department or office led by a commissar, or the supplies and food management system for an army.
From Latin commissarius 'entrusted with a task' + -iat suffix. Originally referred to the office of a commissar, later used for military supply systems in European armies.
Napoleon's Grande Armée had an advanced commissariat system for managing supplies across Europe—yet its failure to properly provision troops in Russia was a major reason for his defeat in 1812.
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