Features of VChK and GPU secret-service offices formation

The system of law enforcement agencies of the Soviet state, even in their extreme form, could not be formed without taking into account the experience gained by the predecessors. The question of the degree of awareness of law enforcement bodies remained topical. When creating a new system a lot of attention was paid to the design and development of methods and means of investigative activities. Used experience allowed security officers to professionally approach to the construction of the agent system: there were informants recruited from among the opponents (non-staff agents), secret agents, and surveillance service (standard agents). The bodies of the ChK and GPU paid close attention to the quality of their non-staff and standard agents (like in pre-revolutionary Russia), but they had a deficit of secret agents. KGB borrowed the system of organization of agent surveillance from their pre-revolutionary colleagues, although in a fundamentally different manner. The number of ideological employees who worked not only for the financial reward grew. Auxiliary agents virtually disappeared. The accounting system of secret agents was ordered: files were made for people under observation with the nicknames of supervising agents. However, the proof of the remuneration for the work of agents refers only to the pre-revolutionary period. The membership of agents also had differences. Before the Revolution, as a rule, one organization had two agents, in Soviet times - there were from two to four agents for a member of anti-Soviet groups. Many of the anti-Soviet structures were uncovered as a result of information received from non-party people. Larger organizations were investigated for a very long time with the help of agents who were either members of such structures themselves, deceived and intimidated by their heads, or planted agents. Unlike their pre-revolutionary colleagues, KGB employees were mobile enough to respond to the changes in the political situation. There was cooperation in this sphere with various structures. The experience of the pre-revolutionary school of investigation was actively and extensively studied and borrowed. The ways of acquiring agents did not change: personal, financial, or ideological interest, persuasion and coercion (the latter was possible if there was information compromising the candidate recruit). There was a direct offer or gradual involvement. Originally, surveillance was used spontaneously; there was no classification of employees by the type of agent activities. Like in pre-revolutionary times perusal of correspondence was common. Thus, no brand new elements in this area were introduced.

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