Editing Cheka (section)

{{Short description|Soviet secret police (1917–1922)}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = All-Russian Extraordinary Commission
| nativename      = {{native name|ru|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия|italics=no|nolink=yes}}
| nativename_a    = 
| nativename_r    = 
| logo            = GPU 5th anniversary emblem.png
| logo_width      = 150px
| logo_caption    = Badge commemorating 5 years of the Cheka–GPU, issued in 1922
| seal            = 
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| formed          = {{Start date and age|1917|12|20}}
| preceding1      = 
| preceding2      =
| dissolved       = {{End date and age|1922|02|6}}
| superseding     = [[State Political Directorate|GPU]]
| jurisdiction    = 
| headquarters    = *2 [[Gorokhovaya Street]], Petrograd
*[[Lubyanka (KGB)|Lubyanka Square]], Moscow
| latd            = 
| longd           = 
| region_code     = 
| employees       = 
| budget          = 
| minister1_name  = 
| minister1_pfo   = 
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]]
| chief1_position = 
| chief2_name     = 
| chief2_position = 
| agency_type     = [[Secret police]]
| parent_agency   = [[Council of People's Commissars]]
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| keydocument1    = 
| website         = 
| footnotes       = 
| chief3_name     = 
| chief3_position = 
| chief4_name     = 
| chief4_position = 
| chief5_name     = 
| chief5_position = 
| chief6_name     = 
| chief6_position = 
| chief7_name     = 
| chief7_position = 
| chief8_name     = 
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| chief9_name     = 
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| parent_department = 
}}

The '''All-Russian Extraordinary Commission''' ({{lang-rus|Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия|r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya|p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə|links=yes}}), abbreviated as '''VChK''' ({{lang-rus|ВЧК|p=vɛ tɕe ˈka}}), and commonly known as the '''Cheka''' ({{lang-rus|ЧК|p=tɕɪˈka}}), was the first Soviet [[secret police]] organization. It was established on {{OldStyleDate|20 December|1917|7 December}} by the [[Council of People's Commissars]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]],<ref>{{Cite book|title= Voices of Revolution, 1917|last= Steinberg|first= Mark D.|publisher= Yale University Press|year= 2001|isbn= 978-0-300-09016-1|location= London and New Haven|pages= 265–266}}</ref> and was led by [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]].<ref name=Stalinsleadership>{{cite book | title= The Impact of Stalin's Leadership in the USSR, 1924–1941 | year= 2008 | publisher= Nelson Thornes | isbn= 978-0-7487-8267-3 | page= 3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/russianrevolutio0000moor/page/260|title= The Russian Revolution|last= Moorehead|first= Alan|publisher= Harper & Brothers|year= 1958|isbn= 978-0881843316|location= New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/russianrevolutio0000moor/page/260 260]}}</ref> By the end of the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1921, the Cheka had at least 200,000 personnel.

Ostensibly created to protect the [[October Revolution]] from "class enemies" such as the [[bourgeoisie]] and members of the [[clergy]], the Cheka soon became a tool of repression wielded against all political opponents of the [[Bolshevik]] regime. The organization had responsibility for [[counterintelligence]], oversight of the loyalty of the [[Red Army]], and protection of the country's borders, as well as the collection of [[Human intelligence (intelligence gathering)|human]] and [[technical intelligence]]. At the direction of [[Vladimir Lenin]], the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions without trial in what came to be known as the "[[Red Terror]]". It policed the [[Gulag]] system of [[labor camps]], conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and put down rebellions by workers and peasants. The Cheka was responsible for executing at least 50,000 to as many as 200,000 people, though estimates vary widely.

The Cheka, the first in a long [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|succession of Soviet secret police agencies]], established the security service as a major player in Soviet politics. It was dissolved in February 1922, and succeeded by the [[State Political Directorate]] (GPU). Throughout the Soviet era, members of the secret police were referred to as "[[Chekism|Chekists]]".