Cheka

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Image:KGB Symbol.png 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.

1 The name
2 History
3 See also
4 Sources

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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, Speculation and Power Abuse.

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 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).

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History

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 followed Fanya Kaplan's attempt 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.

At the end of the Civil War, the Cheka was changed on February 6, 1922 into the State Political Administration or GPU, a section of the NKVD of the Russian SFSR.

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