Cheka
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The Cheka (ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия) was the first of many Soviet secret police organizations, created by decree on December 20, 1917 by Vladimir Lenin and led by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky.
The name
The agency's full name was Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage), but was commonly abbreviated to ЧК (Cheka) or ВЧК (Vecheka). 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 for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Official Corruption.A member of Cheka was called chekist. Chekists of the post-October Revolution years wore leather jackets, and they are pictured in many movies with this apparel. Despite the name changes 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).
History
The Cheka was created immediately after the October Revolution, during the first days of Bolshevik government. The agency, established in December of 1917 with the ostensible purpose of investigating counter-revolution and sabotage, soon began mass arrests, imprisonments, and executions of "enemies of the people", targeting "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie, members of the clergy, and political opponents of the new regime. Cheka played a role in the suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion in 1921, and orchestrated the campaign of repression that came to be known as "Red Terror".In 1922, the Cheka was transformed to the State Political Administration or GPU, a section of the NKVD of the Russian SFSR.
See also
- Russian Revolution of 1917
- Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria
- Mensheviks
- Bolsheviks
Sources
- Andrew, C., and Mitrokhin, V. (1999). The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, London: Penguin Books.
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