Cheka
The Cheka (ЧК) was the first of many Soviet secret police organizations, created on December 20, 1917 by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky.
The name
The agencies full name was Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем (In English, All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage), but was commonly abbreviated to ЧК (Checka) or ВЧК (Vechecka). In 1918 its name was changed slightly to: Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией, спекуляцией и преступлениям по должности, or All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Power Abuse.
A member of Cheka was called chekist. Despite the multitudinous namechanges over time, Soviet secret policemen were referred to as "Chekists" throughout the Soviet period and the term is still found in use in Russia today (for example, President Vladimir Putin has been referred to in the Russian media as a chekist).
Formation
After early attempts by the western powers (Britain and France) to intervene against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War, and after the assassination of Petrograd Cheka leader Moisei Uritsky on August 30, 1918 (the same day Fanya Kaplan attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin), the Soviet leadership and the Cheka became convinced that there was a wide ranging conspiracy of foreign enemies and internal counter-revolutionaries. Therefore they poured resources into the intelligence service to combat this conspiracy. The Cheka quickly succeeded in destroying any remaining counter revolutionary groups. Additionally, the Cheka played a significant role in destroying nonpolitical criminal gangs. During the Civil War, the Cheka formed their own military units, clad in black which acted as shock troops.
Renaming
At the end of the civil war, the Cheka was changed on February 6, 1922 into the State Political Directorate or GPU, a section of the NKVD of the RSFSR.
Related articles
Sources
- Andrew, C., and Mitrokhin, V. (1999). The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, London: Penguin Books.