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Osprey Elite #243
Soviet State Security Services 1917–46
Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this study breaks new ground in covering all the uniformed Soviet security organizations from the Russian Revolution through to World War II.
The Bolsheviks' seizure of power in Russia in late 1917 was swiftly followed by the establishment of the Cheka, the secret police of the new Soviet state. The Cheka was central to the Bolsheviks' elimination of political dissent during the Russian Civil War (1917–22). In 1922 the Soviet state-security organs became the GPU and then the OGPU (1923–34) before coalescing into the NKVD. After it played a central role in the Great Terror (1936–38), which saw the widespread repression of many different groups and the imprisonment and execution of prominent figures, the NKVD had its heyday during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). During the conflict the organization deployed full military divisions, frontier troop units and internal security forces and ran the hated Gulag forced-labor camp system. By 1946, the power of the NKVD was so great that even Stalin saw it as a threat and it was broken up into multiple organizations, notably the MVD and the MGB – the forerunners of the KGB. In this book, the history and organization of these feared organizations are assessed, accompanied by photographs and color artwork depicting their evolving appearance.
The Bolsheviks' seizure of power in Russia in late 1917 was swiftly followed by the establishment of the Cheka, the secret police of the new Soviet state. The Cheka was central to the Bolsheviks' elimination of political dissent during the Russian Civil War (1917–22). In 1922 the Soviet state-security organs became the GPU and then the OGPU (1923–34) before coalescing into the NKVD. After it played a central role in the Great Terror (1936–38), which saw the widespread repression of many different groups and the imprisonment and execution of prominent figures, the NKVD had its heyday during the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). During the conflict the organization deployed full military divisions, frontier troop units and internal security forces and ran the hated Gulag forced-labor camp system. By 1946, the power of the NKVD was so great that even Stalin saw it as a threat and it was broken up into multiple organizations, notably the MVD and the MGB – the forerunners of the KGB. In this book, the history and organization of these feared organizations are assessed, accompanied by photographs and color artwork depicting their evolving appearance.
64 pages, Paperback
Published February 22, 2022
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July 7, 2022
Almost as soon as Lenin and his Bolsheviks took over the Russian Empire in 1917, they created a security apparatus to defend their achievement. After all, hadn't the Tsar's secret police , the Okhrana, almost destroyed their party several times in the years before? And so the Cheka was born. To become the NKVD of the Stalin era- and the KGB of the Cold War. If you see the roots of Putin's FSB/GRU here- you're not wrong- Vlad was a KGB man in the day. Authors Douglas A. Drabik and Douglas H Israel, both scholars of the Soviet Era, tell us the history and practices of the Cheka and NKVD, while Illustrator Johnny Shumate shows us the costume and uniforms of the period. With loads of Colour plates, colour and b/w pics and maps and diagrams, the reader gets a very good idea of how the Worker's Paradise was protected from anti revolutionaries, foreign spies and domestic economic sabotage. These were the wonderful folks who gave us Collectivisation, The Ukrainian Famine, Stalinist Terror, and of course the Gulag.
But of course to anyone in the Soviet Union not buying into the Soviet propaganda, National movements all over the empire, and those outside the Iron Curtain- this was projected as gangsterism and a Police State. The Soviets, unlike the Nazis, kept criminal prosecution the province of the local Militia/Police- so the Cheka/NKVD were ONLY responsible for Political enforcement . Drabik and Israel show us how easy it is to see the moral bankruptcy of the soviet system-there's only 64 pages to this book and it jumps off the page- reminding me of a 600+(?) book on the Gulag that almost created a depressive episode for me a few years ago. This book is full of murderers, torturers, liars, and toadies to Stalin. But that was the nature of the job- few of them knew they might as easily be shot in the back of the head in the Lubyanka as spend their dotage in that Dascha in the suburbs of Moscow... It's a fascinating if fraught topic.
This book is all about adult themes, as well as murder and torture, so this is a book best read by the Junior Reader over about 15/16 Years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast its a good resource. The Gamer gets great information for RPG games of the Bolshevik/Stalinist era- but also good information on the myriad of NKVD combat/combat support formations that did actually sometimes fight the Germans directly. The Modeler gets a lot of information for build/diorama development- as well as Uniform guidance the gamer will use too. The Military Enthusiast will get a much better insight into a huge factor in the Great Patriotic War, one that was downplayed for the whole Soviet era- and is finally getting the exploration it deserves. It's a good package and a useful book to many reading constituencies wanting to understand Soviet life.
But of course to anyone in the Soviet Union not buying into the Soviet propaganda, National movements all over the empire, and those outside the Iron Curtain- this was projected as gangsterism and a Police State. The Soviets, unlike the Nazis, kept criminal prosecution the province of the local Militia/Police- so the Cheka/NKVD were ONLY responsible for Political enforcement . Drabik and Israel show us how easy it is to see the moral bankruptcy of the soviet system-there's only 64 pages to this book and it jumps off the page- reminding me of a 600+(?) book on the Gulag that almost created a depressive episode for me a few years ago. This book is full of murderers, torturers, liars, and toadies to Stalin. But that was the nature of the job- few of them knew they might as easily be shot in the back of the head in the Lubyanka as spend their dotage in that Dascha in the suburbs of Moscow... It's a fascinating if fraught topic.
This book is all about adult themes, as well as murder and torture, so this is a book best read by the Junior Reader over about 15/16 Years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast its a good resource. The Gamer gets great information for RPG games of the Bolshevik/Stalinist era- but also good information on the myriad of NKVD combat/combat support formations that did actually sometimes fight the Germans directly. The Modeler gets a lot of information for build/diorama development- as well as Uniform guidance the gamer will use too. The Military Enthusiast will get a much better insight into a huge factor in the Great Patriotic War, one that was downplayed for the whole Soviet era- and is finally getting the exploration it deserves. It's a good package and a useful book to many reading constituencies wanting to understand Soviet life.
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