Secret Police

When was the Cheka created and who led it?

December 1917; Felix Dzerzhinsky

Who did the Cheka target?

All enemies of Bolshevism

What principle justified Cheka actions?

Revolutionary justice

Give three ways Cheka supported Bolshevik rule.

Requisitioned grain; Closed newspapers; Executed opponents; Ran gulags

Give three examples of terror under NEP.

Deportations 1922; Show trials; Surveillance; Imprisoned NEPmen

How did Yagoda increase terror?

NKVD head 1934–36; Targeted Party

What was the Great Terror also known as?

Yezhovshchina

How many were arrested in the Great Terror?

1.5 million

What shows terror from below?

Workers organised show trials

Who led NKVD from 1938?

Beria

How did terror change in WW2?

Targeted ethnic minorities; Mass deportations

Give three examples of post-war terror.

POW interrogations; Leningrad Affair; Doctors’ Plot

How did terror change under Khrushchev?

Ended mass terror; Released prisoners; Psychiatric repression

When did Andropov become head of KGB?

1967

What was KGB priority under Andropov?

Prevent dissent with minimal violence

Give three methods used by Andropov.

Increased surveillance; Directorate V; Encouraged emigration; Repressive psychiatry; Official warnings

What did Andropov begin in 1979?

Law and Order Campaign

Give two policies Andropov used after 1982.

Anti-corruption; Anti-alcohol campaign; Operation Trawl