The use of terror

who implemented Bolshevik terror

the cheka

who headed he cheka

felix dzerzhinsky

what was it initially, before it developed into a body which operated outside of the law

a party committee formed in December 1917 to deal with counter revolutionaries, sabotage, and speculation

what did it also play a role in doing

dealing with enemies within the party and played a key role in establishing central control over the party apparatus

where was it based

in the Lubyanka building in Moscow

what happened there

arrests were planned and prisoners were tortured

they carried out executions of suspects without what?

official courts

when had left- wing opponents been arrested

in august 1918 after an assassination attempt of Lenin

what was the red terror?

a wave of further of arrests in 1921 and 1922

how many people are the cheka responsible for the execution of between of 1917- 1923

up to 200,000

what did the secret police grow to from 1918- 21?

40,000- 250,000

what was the cheka replaced by after the civil war in 1922?

OGPU

how could you describe terror after this point?

more bureaucratic and dicreet

what was the purge in 1918 called

Chistka

under lenin, what fraction of the party was purged

1/3

what was needed to remain discipline in the expanding party

intimidation and purges

who was intimidation targeted at?

adventurers, drunkards and hooligans

why were such methods needed for them to hold onto their power

because of the small size of their party, especially within the circumstances of the civil war

what does the fact that they chose to continue to use terror after the war demonstrate

the lack of confidence on their power

what was one victim that demonstrated this

Bim- Bom- a clown who used anti- Bolshevik jokes

what suggests that Lenin developed a personal agenda for terror towards the end of his reign?

he became more obsessed with it as he ages, he developed a particular obsession with priests