Cheka
Lenin's secret police
The Cheka was the first Soviet secret police organization, established in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution to suppress counter-revolutionary activity.
Its name is a Russian acronym for "All-Russian Extraordinary Commission." The Cheka became notorious for its brutal methods, including summary executions and torture, during the Russian Civil War period known as the Red Terror.
It was reorganized and renamed several times, eventually becoming the KGB.
Eliminate unwanted elements
- gulagForced labor prison system
- exileBanishment from homeland
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
execution · show trials · political prisoners · counter-revolutionaries · enemies of the state · denunciation · arrest · deportation
Lenin's revolutionary party
- LeninSoviet state founder
- NKVDStalin-era secret police
- KGBUSSR intelligence service
- GPUVisual processing hardware
October Revolution · Civil War · proletariat · commissar · revolutionary · Marxism-Leninism · Trotsky · Stalin
Those who act for others
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
- counterintelligenceDefense against enemy espionage
- operativesThose who execute missions
infiltration · surveillance · clandestine · covert operations · enforcers · headquarters · dossiers · networks
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
menace · horror · trauma · knock at the door · denunciation · distrust · suspicion · silence
purge
Eliminate unwanted elements
- gulagForced labor prison system
- exileBanishment from homeland
- liquidationSelling assets for cash
persecution · execution · show trials · political prisoners · counter-revolutionaries · enemies of the state · denunciation · arrest · deportation · confession
Bolsheviks
Lenin's revolutionary party
GPU · October Revolution · Civil War · proletariat · commissar · revolutionary · Marxism-Leninism · Trotsky · Stalin · party
agents
Those who act for others
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
- counterintelligenceDefense against enemy espionage
operatives · infiltration · surveillance · clandestine · covert operations · enforcers · headquarters · dossiers · networks · cells
terror
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
intimidation · menace · horror · trauma · knock at the door · denunciation · distrust · suspicion · silence · watchfulness
Rights watchdog organization
ombudsman · ACLU · Amnesty International · free press · habeas corpus
ChekaWhite Army
Anti-communist Russian forces
Okhrana · counter-revolutionaries · White Russians · Mensheviks · émigrés