From the civil militia to the united state political directorate: the evolution of the ideas 9 of the organization of state security in Bolshevik Russia

The purpose of the article is to consider the process of developing ideas about the organization and appointment of security services in the Soviet state. The aims of the authors include the identification of the main stages in the formation of the Soviet state security agencies, a comparative analysis of their activities and the activities of the Police Department of pre-revolutionary Russia. The main methods of the article are comparison, analysis, deduction. The main sources of the article are the works of V.I Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, memoirs of F.E. Dzerzhinsky and M.Ya. Latsis, the employees of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, and first basic law of the USSR - the Constitution of 1924. The authors come to the following conclusions: that the state security services in Soviet Russia have evolved from a situational structure to a full-fledged state institution that actively participated in the socio-political life of the country. The new government quickly transformed their initial ideological attitude. For them it became clear that without political investigation, intelligence and counterintelligence it was not possible to effectively resist the political opposition. In December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars established the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka). This measure was considered extraordinary and temporary. However, the policy of war communism and the Civil War required further reforms of the special services. The number of employees of the Commission (chekists) increased, a centralized system of offices was established, and the authorities of employees were expanded. As a data prove the Commission had used some organizational and functional experience of the Police Department. Thus they restored political control over the administrative stuff of the railways; they reestablished institution of a foreign residence and an agent network inside the country. In some cases the former personnel were also involved in this work. In the repressive policy of the Commission such measures as a simplified procedure for judicial proceedings, revolutionary tribunals (as military courts in pre-revolutionary Russia) and political and counter-intelligence activity in the army were taken. Due to these measures, the work of the Commission was effective. The Civil War, where the soviet scouts were able to improve their skills, gave this opportunity. Besides, V. I. Lenin recognized that such structures were important and necessary for a young Soviet state. Later, the function of the United State Political Directorate, (the reorganized Commission), was officially enshrined in the Constitution of 1924. It was the final stage in the formation of state secret organization in Soviet Russia. Without any doubt, the Soviet state security services had their own special way of development; however, they occupied the same place in the society, which had been taken by the tsarist police and gendarmes before.

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