In late 1917 the Bolsheviks had seized power after the revolution but their hold over the population was tentative and their grip on power was loose. The need to consolidate their position resulted in the creation of an organisation that became known as the Cheka.
The Creation of the Cheka in 1917
In December 1917, Russia was still reeling from the Bolshevik Revolution and still engaged in the First World War. The decision was made to create an organisation which would help augment the power the Bolsheviks had. A leading Bolshevik party member, Felix Dzerzhinsky, was nominated to create the organisation that was first known as the All Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation. In Russian the acronym was VCHEKA, with regional branches called Chekas, soon the entire organisation was simply known as the Cheka.
The Cheka During the Russian Civil War
In 1918 the Civil War between the Bolsheviks and those who opposed the revolution began. By this time Lenin had removed Russia from the First World War by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, whose terms were devastating for Russia. The Cheka were granted permission to execute, if necessary, anyone suspected of counter-revolutionary or anti-Bolshevik activities. The Cheka increased their murderous activities when on August 30th 1918 the head of the Petrograd Cheka, Moisei Uritsky, was assassinated, and an attempt was made on Lenin’s life on the same day. Lenin was shot three times but survived. The number of men in the Cheka increased significantly in this period, with some agents even being placed in the Red Army to monitor troop loyalty and quell any dissent amongst the ranks.
The Red Terror
The events of August 30th 1918 lead to a period known as the “Red Terror”. The number of people arrested and executed by the Cheka rose sharply. Workers who went on strike because conditions under the Bolsheviks were worse than under the Tsar were brutally repressed. The Cheka arrested and executed people who they regarded to be Bourgeoisie all over the Russian Empire, and undertook an attempt to eradicate the Cossacks. Even the peasants who revolted against grain requisitioning and food shortages were silenced.
After the Russian Civil War
When the Bolshevik’s had won the Civil War in 1922 the Cheka were ordered to reduce their murderous activities and focus on investigating reports on counter-revolutionaries or anti-Bolsheviks. To what extent this order was obeyed is questionable as the Cheka had instilled mass terror and fear in to the citizens of Bolshevik Russia. Soon after the Civil War the Cheka were incorporated in to the OGPU, a branch of the equally notorious NKVD.
Sources:
Richelson, J.T. A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
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