Cheka

The Cheka was the first of many Soviet Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , more commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a Communist state [i] ...

secret police organizations, created by decree on December 20, 1917 by Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Vladimir Lenin , was the founder of Russian ...

and led by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky

Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Polish [i] Communist [i] revolutionary, famous as the ...

.

Discussions

Discussion Features

Ask a question about 'Cheka'

Start a new discussion about 'Cheka'

Answer questions about 'Cheka'

'Cheka' discussion forum

Timeline

1918 July 17 — By order of the Bolshevik Party Bolshevik

Bolsheviks were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Marxist [i] Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party [i] ...

and carried out by Cheka, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II of Russia

Nicholas II of Russia was the last Emperor of Russia [i], King of Poland [i], and Grand Duke of Finland [i] ...

, his immediate family, and retainers were murdered at the Ipatiev House Ipatiev House

Ipatiev House [i] was a merchant's house in Yekaterinburg [i] where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia [i] ...

in Ekaterinburg, Russia Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of the Russian Federation [i], the administrative cen ...

.

1918 August 30 — Fanya Kaplan Fanny Kaplan

Faina Yefimovna Kaplan, also known as Fanny Kaplan and as Dora Kaplan), was a political revo...

tries to shoot Lenin Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Vladimir Lenin , was the founder of Russian ...

. Petrograd head of Cheka is assassinated the same day.

1922 Cheka becomes GPU State Political Directorate

State Political Directorate was the secret police [i] of the RSFSR [i] and USSR [i] until 1934 [i]. ...

, a section of NKVD NKVD

The NKVD or People's Commisariat [i] for Internal Affairs was a government department [i] ...

Encyclopedia

The Cheka was the first of many Soviet Soviet Union

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Vladimir Lenin , was the founder of Russian ...

and led by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky

Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Polish [i] Communist [i] revolutionary, famous as the ...

.

The name

The agency's full name was ????????????? ???????????? ???????? ?? ?????? ? ??????????????? ? ????????? , but was commonly abbreviated to ?? or ??? . In 1918 its name was changed slightly to: ????????????? ???????????? ???????? ?? ?????? ? ???????????????, ??????????? ? ????????????? ?? ?????????, or All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Official Corruption Political corruption

In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers ...

.

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 Russia

Russia , also the Russian Federation , is a country [i] that stretches over a vast expanse of Eurasia [i] ...

today .

History

The Cheka was created immediately after the October Revolution, during the first days of Bolshevik government. It replaced the Tsarist Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was declared a republic in August 1917.
...

Okhranka. 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 State Political Directorate

State Political Directorate was the secret police [i] of the RSFSR [i] and USSR [i] until 1934 [i]. ...

or GPU, a section of the NKVD NKVD

The NKVD or People's Commisariat [i] for Internal Affairs was a government department [i] ...

of the Russian SFSR.

Sources

Andrew, C., and Mitrokhin, V. . The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, London: Penguin Books.