Editing Cheka (section)

== History ==
{{Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies}}
In 1921, the [[Internal Troops|Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic]] (a branch of the Cheka) numbered at least 200,000.<ref name="History Learning Site: The Cheka">{{cite web|url= http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|title= The Cheka|publisher= History Learning Site|date= January 2013|access-date= 2013-12-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150516133305/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the_Cheka.htm|archive-date= 2015-05-16|url-status= dead}}</ref> These troops policed [[labor camps]], ran the [[Gulag]] system, conducted [[Prodrazvyorstka|requisitions of food]], and subjected political opponents to secret arrest, detention, [[torture]] and [[summary execution]]. They also put down rebellions and riots by workers<ref>{{cite book | title=Workers' Unrest and the Bolsheviks' Response in 1919 | publisher=Slavic Review | author=Vladimir Brovkin | year=1990 | pages=350–373}}</ref> or peasants, and mutinies in the desertion-plagued [[Red Army]].<ref name="Black">Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, [[Stéphane Courtois]], ''The [[Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1999, 858 pp., {{ISBN|0674076087}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=August 2017}}

After 1922 Cheka groups underwent the first of [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|a series of reorganizations]]; however the theme of a government [[Chekism|dominated by "the organs"]] persisted indefinitely afterward, and Soviet citizens continued to refer to members of the various organs as [[Chekism|Chekists]].<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov">{{cite web|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/soviet_union/su_glos.html#union |title= Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series/ Soviet Union / Glossary |publisher= Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date= 2011-07-27}}</ref>

=== Creation ===
[[File:Menzhinsky V 1921-2.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[presidium]] of VCheKa (left to right) [[Yakov Peters]], [[Józef Unszlicht]], [[Abram Belenky]] (standing), [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], [[Vyacheslav Menzhinsky]], 1921]]

In the first month and a half after the [[October Revolution]] (1917), the duty of "extinguishing the resistance of exploiters" was assigned to the [[Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee]] (or PVRK). It represented a temporary body working under directives of the [[Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom) and [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|RDSRP]]([[Bolshevik|b]]). The VRK created new bodies of government,{{Clarify|date=April 2011}} organized food delivery to cities and the Army, requisitioned products from [[bourgeoisie]], and sent its emissaries and agitators into provinces. One of its most important functions was the security of [[revolutionary]] order, and the fight against [[counterrevolutionary]] activity (see: [[Anti-Soviet agitation]]).

On December 1, 1917, the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK)<ref>[[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] (VTsIK or TsIK) is not to be confused with the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|RDSRP]]([[Bolshevik|b]])</ref> reviewed a proposed reorganization of the VRK, and possible replacement of it. On December 5, the [[Petrograd]] VRK published an announcement of dissolution and transferred its functions to the department of TsIK for the fight against "counterrevolutionaries".<ref name="Mozokhin">[http://mozohin.ru/article/a-4.html Mozokhin, O.B. ''out of history of activities of VChK, OGPU, NKVD, MGB'']. FSB archives.{{in lang|ru}}</ref> On December 6, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) strategized how to persuade government workers to strike across Russia. They decided that a special commission was needed to implement the "most energetically revolutionary" measures. [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] (the Iron Felix) was appointed as Director and invited the participation of the following individuals: [[Vasiliy Averin|V. K. Averin]], [[Vasily Yakovlev|V.V Yakovlev]], [[D. G. Yevseyev]], [[N. A. Zhydelev]], [[Ivan Ksenofontov|I. K. Ksenofontov]], [[Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze|G. K. Ordjonikidze]], [[Yakov Peters|Ya. Kh. Peters]], [[Karl Peterson|K. A. Peterson]], [[Valentin Trifonov|V. A. Trifonov]].

On December 7, 1917, all invited except Zhydelev and Vasilevsky gathered in the [[Smolny Institute]] to discuss the competence and structure of the commission to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. The obligations of the commission were: "to liquidate to the root all of the counterrevolutionary and sabotage activities and all attempts to them in all of Russia, to hand over counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs to the [[revolutionary tribunal (Russia)|revolutionary tribunals]], develop measures to combat them and relentlessly apply them in real-world applications. The commission should only conduct a preliminary investigation".{{clarify|date=November 2011}} The commission should also observe the press and counterrevolutionary parties, sabotaging officials and other criminals.

[[File:Sankt Petersburg-Regierungssitz Smolny.jpg|thumb|left|[[Smolny Institute|Smolny]], the seat of the Soviet government, 1917]]

Three sections were created: informational, organizational, and a unit to combat counter-revolution and sabotage. Upon the end of the meeting, Dzerzhinsky reported to the [[Sovnarkom]] with the requested information. The commission was allowed to apply such measures of repression as 'confiscation, deprivation of ration cards, publication of lists of enemies of the people etc.'".<ref name="Mozokhin" /> That day, Sovnarkom officially confirmed the creation of VCheKa. The commission was created not under the VTsIK as was previously anticipated, but rather under the Council of the People's Commissars.<ref name="People's Commissars">{{cite web |url=http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |title=Partial protocol of the 21st session of the Council of the People's Commissars |publisher=Memory.irk.ru |date=1998-12-26 |access-date=2011-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804181732/http://memory.irk.ru/zp1.htm |archive-date=2017-08-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On December 8, 1917, some of the original members of the VCheka were replaced. Averin, Ordzhonikidze, and Trifonov were replaced by V. V. Fomin, S. E. Shchukin, Ilyin, and Chernov.<ref name="People's Commissars" /> On the meeting of December 8, the presidium of VChK was elected of five members, and chaired by Dzerzhinsky. The issues of "[[speculation]]" or profiteering, such as by black market grain sellers<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Oliver |date=2007-12-03 |title=How much did the Bolsheviks need the Cheka and how well did they make use of it? |url=https://www.e-ir.info/2007/12/02/76/ |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=E-International Relations }}</ref> and "[[corruption]]" was raised at the same meeting,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carr |first=E. H. |date=1958 |title=The Origin and Status of the Cheka |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/149095 |journal=Soviet Studies |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1080/09668135808410134 |jstor=149095 |issn=0038-5859|url-access=subscription }}</ref> which was assigned to Peters to address and report with results to one of the next meetings of the commission. A circular, published on {{OldStyleDate|December 28|1917|December 15}}, gave the address of VCheka's first headquarters as "Petrograd, Gorokhovaya 2, 4th floor".<ref name="People's Commissars" /> On December 11, Fomin was ordered to organize a section to suppress "speculation." And in the same day, VCheKa offered Shchukin to conduct arrests of counterfeiters.

In January 1918, a subsection of the anti-counterrevolutionary effort was created to police bank officials. The structure of VCheKa was changing repeatedly. By March 1918, when the organization came to Moscow, it contained the following sections: against counterrevolution, speculation, non-residents, and information gathering. By the end of 1918–1919, some new units were created: secretly operative, investigatory, of transportation, military (special), operative, and instructional. By 1921, it changed once again, forming the following sections: directory of affairs, administrative-organizational, secretly operative, economical, and foreign affairs.

=== First months ===
In the first months of its existence, VCheKa consisted of only 40 officials. It commanded a team of soldiers, the Sveaborgesky regiment, as well as a group of Red Guardsmen. On January 14, 1918, Sovnarkom ordered Dzerzhinsky to organize teams of "energetic and ideological" sailors to combat speculation. By the spring of 1918, the commission had several teams: in addition to the Sveaborge team, it had an intelligence team, a team of sailors, and a strike team. Through the winter of 1917–1918, all activities of VCheKa were centralized mainly in the city of Petrograd. It was one of several other commissions in the country which fought against counterrevolution, speculation, banditry, and other activities perceived as crimes. Other organizations included: the Bureau of Military Commissars, and an Army-Navy investigatory commission to attack the counterrevolutionary element in the [[Red Army]], plus the Central Requisite and Unloading Commission to fight speculation. The investigation of counterrevolutionary or major criminal offenses was conducted by the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal. The functions of VCheKa were closely intertwined with the Commission of [[Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich|V. D. Bonch-Bruyevich]], which beside the fight against wine [[pogrom]]s was engaged in the investigation of most major political offenses (see: [[Bonch-Bruyevich Commission]]).

[[File:Petrovskiy Grigoriy.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|Grigory Petrovsky]]

All results of its activities, VCheKa had either to transfer to the Investigatory Commission of Revtribunal, or to dismiss. The control of the commission's activity was provided by the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|People's Commissariat for Justice]] (Narkomjust, at that time headed by [[Isaac Steinberg]]) and Internal Affairs (NKVD, at that time headed by [[Grigory Petrovsky]]). Although the VCheKa was officially an independent organization from the [[NKVD]], its chief members such as Dzerzhinsky, [[Martin Latsis|Latsis]], [[Józef Unszlicht|Unszlicht]], and [[Moisei Uritsky|Uritsky]] (all main chekists), since November 1917 composed the collegiate of NKVD headed by Petrovsky. In November 1918, Petrovsky was appointed as head of the All-Ukrainian Central [[Military Revolutionary Committee]] during VCheKa's expansion to provinces and front-lines. At the time of political competition between Bolsheviks and SRs (January 1918), [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] attempted to curb the rights of VCheKa and establish through the [[Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)|Narkomiust]] their control over its work. Having failed in attempts to subordinate the VCheKa to Narkomiust, the Left SRs tried to gain control of the Extraordinary Commission in a different way: they requested that the Central Committee of the party be granted the right to directly enter their representatives into the VCheKa. [[Sovnarkom]] recognized the desirability of including five representatives of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction of VTsIK. Left SRs were granted the post of a companion (deputy) chairman of VCheKa. However, Sovnarkom, in which the majority belonged to the representatives of RSDLP(b) retained the right to approve members of the collegium of the VCheKa.

Originally, members of the Cheka were exclusively [[Bolshevik]]; however, in January 1918, [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries|Left SRs]] also joined the organization.<ref>Schapiro (1984).</ref> The Left SRs were expelled or arrested later in 1918, following the attempted assassination of [[Lenin]] by an SR, [[Fanni Kaplan]].

=== Consolidation of VCheKa and National Establishment ===
By the end of January 1918, the Investigatory Commission of [[Petrograd Soviet]] (probably same as of Revtribunal) petitioned [[Sovnarkom]] to delineate the role of detection and judicial-investigatory organs. It offered to leave, for the VCheKa and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich, only the functions of detection and suppression, while investigative functions entirely transferred to it. The Investigatory Commission prevailed. On January 31, 1918, Sovnarkom ordered to relieve VCheKa of the investigative functions, leaving for the commission only the functions of detection, suppression, and prevention of anti revolutionary crimes. At the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on January 31, 1918, a merger of VCheKa and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich was proposed. The existence of both commissions, VCheKa of Sovnarkom and the Commission of Bonch-Bruyevich of VTsIK, with almost the same functions and equal rights, became impractical. A decision followed two weeks later.<ref>''[[Izvestiya]]''. February 28, 1918.</ref>

On February 23, 1918, VCheKa sent a radio telegram to all Soviets with a petition to immediately organize emergency commissions to combat counter-revolution, sabotage and speculation, if such commissions had not been yet organized. February 1918 saw the creation of local Extraordinary Commissions. One of the first founded was the Moscow Cheka. Sections and commissariats to combat counterrevolution were established in other cities. The Extraordinary Commissions arose, usually in the areas during the moments of the greatest aggravation of political situation. On February 25, 1918, as the counterrevolutionary organization ''Union of Front-liners'' was making advances, the executive committee of the [[Saratov]] Soviet formed a counter-revolutionary section. On March 7, 1918, because of the move from [[Petrograd]] to Moscow, the Petrograd Cheka was created. On March 9, a section for combating counterrevolution was created under the [[Omsk]] Soviet. Extraordinary commissions were also created in [[Penza]], [[Perm, Russia|Perm]], [[Novgorod]], [[Cherepovets]], [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]], [[Taganrog]]. On March 18, VCheKa adopted a resolution, ''The Work of VCheKa on the All-Russian Scale'', foreseeing the formation everywhere of Extraordinary Commissions after the same model, and sent a letter that called for the widespread establishment of the Cheka in combating counterrevolution, speculation, and sabotage. Establishment of provincial Extraordinary Commissions was largely completed by August 1918. In the Soviet Republic, there were 38 [[guberniya|gubernatorial]] Chekas (Gubcheks) by this time.

On June 12, 1918, the All-Russian Conference of Cheka adopted the ''Basic Provisions on the Organization of Extraordinary Commissions''. They set out to form Extraordinary Commissions not only at [[Oblast]] and [[Guberniya]] levels, but also at the large [[Uyezd]] Soviets. In August 1918, in the Soviet Republic had accounted for some 75 Uyezd-level Extraordinary Commissions. By the end of the year, 365 Uyezd-level Chekas were established.
[[File:Dzerzhinsky 4-16291.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Felix Dzerzhinsky in a meeting among other members of the Presidium of the Cheka, 1919]]
In 1918, the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission and the Soviets managed to establish a local Cheka apparatus. It included Oblast, Guberniya, [[Raion]], [[Uyezd]], and [[Volost]] Chekas, with Raion and Volost Extraordinary Commissioners. In addition, border security Chekas were included in the system of local Cheka bodies.

In the autumn of 1918, as consolidation of the political situation of the republic continued, a move toward elimination of Uyezd-, Raion-, and Volost-level Chekas, as well as the institution of Extraordinary Commissions was considered. On January 20, 1919, VTsIK adopted a resolution prepared by VCheKa, ''On the abolition of Uyezd Extraordinary Commissions''. On January 16 the presidium of VCheKa approved the draft on the establishment of the Politburo at Uyezd [[militsiya]]. This decision was approved by the Conference of the Extraordinary Commission IV, held in early February 1920.

=== Other types of Cheka ===
[[File:1988 CPA 6011.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Martin Latsis]] on a Soviet [[postage stamp]].]]

On August 3, a VCheKa section for combating counterrevolution, speculation and sabotage on railways was created. On August 7, 1918, [[Sovnarkom]] adopted a decree on the organization of the railway section at VCheKa. Combating counterrevolution, speculation, and [[crimes]] on railroads was passed under the jurisdiction of the railway section of VCheKa and local Cheka. In August 1918, railway sections were formed under the Gubcheks. Formally, they were part of the non-resident sections, but in fact constituted a separate division, largely autonomous in their activities. The gubernatorial and oblast-type Chekas retained in relation to the transportation sections only control and investigative functions.

The beginning of a systematic work of organs of VCheKa in [[RKKA]] refers to July 1918, the period of extreme tension of the [[Russian Civil War|civil war]] and class struggle in the country. On July 16, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars formed the Extraordinary Commission for combating counterrevolution at the Czechoslovak (Eastern) Front, led by [[Martin Latsis|M. I. Latsis]]. In the fall of 1918, Extraordinary Commissions to combat counterrevolution on the Southern (Ukraine) Front were formed. In late November, the Second All-Russian Conference of the Extraordinary Commissions accepted a decision after a report from [[I. N. Polukarov]] to establish at all frontlines, and army sections of the Cheka and granted them the right to appoint their commissioners in military units. On December 9, 1918, the collegiate (or presidium) of VCheKa had decided to form a military section, headed by [[Mikhail Sergeevich Kedrov|M. S. Kedrov]], to combat counterrevolution in the Army. In early 1919, the military control and the military section of VCheKa were merged into one body, the [[Special Section of the Republic]], with Kedrov as head. On January 1, he issued an order to establish the Special Section. The order instructed agencies everywhere to unite the Military control and the military sections of Chekas and to form special sections of frontlines, armies, military districts, and [[guberniya]]s.

In November 1920 the [[Council of Labor and Defense|Soviet of Labor and Defense]] created a Special Section of VCheKa for the security of the state border. On February 6, 1922, after the Ninth All-Russian Soviet Congress, the Cheka was dissolved by VTsIK, "with expressions of gratitude for heroic work." It was replaced by the [[State Political Administration]] or GPU, a section of the [[NKVD]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR). Dzerzhinsky remained as chief of the new organization.
{{Clear}}