Soviet State Security Services 1917-46

The Cheka, the secret police of the new Soviet state, was established by the Bolsheviks in 1917 to eliminate political dissent during the Russian Civil War. It played a central role in the Great Terror and the Great Patriotic War and was broken up into multiple organizations in 1946. This book assesses the history and organization of these feared organizations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 64 pages
Publication date: 17 February 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The Bolsheviks' seizure of power in Russia in late 1917 was swiftly followed by the establishment of the Cheka, the secret police of the new Soviet state. The Cheka played a central role in the Bolsheviks' elimination of political dissent during the Russian Civil War (1917-22). In 1922, the Soviet state-security organs became the GPU and then the OGPU (1923-34) before coalescing into the NKVD. After it played a central role in the Great Terror (1936-38), which saw the widespread repression of many different groups and the imprisonment and execution of prominent figures, the NKVD had its heyday during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). During the conflict, the organization deployed full military divisions, frontier troop units, and internal security forces and ran the hated GULAG forced-labour camp system. By 1946, the power of the NKVD was so great that even Stalin saw it as a threat and it was broken up into multiple organizations, notably the MVD and the MGB, the forerunners of the KGB.

In this book, the history and organization of these feared organizations are assessed, accompanied by photographs and color artwork depicting their evolving appearance.

Weight: 216g
Dimension: 184 x 247 x 6 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472844088