The Tsarist secret police is the common name for the structural organs of the police department of the Ministry of the Interior operating on the territory of the Russian Empire. Full name - Department for the Protection of Public Security and Order. The structure was engaged in private investigation, in the system of government in the late XIX - early XX centuries played a crucial role. It was created in 1866, and dissolved in March 1917. In this article we will tell about the history of this unit, its agents and provocateurs.
History of creation
The Tsarist secret police was created at the St. Petersburg mayor in 1866. The formal reason was the attempt on Alexander II, organized by a terrorist and revolutionary Dmitry Karakozov. He shot the emperor near the gates of the Summer Garden, but missed. He was immediately arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. A few months later he was hanged on Smolenskaya Square.
Initially, the Tsarist secret police was located on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, later it was transferred to Gorokhovaya. The security department was part of the police department of the Ministry of the Interior, directly reporting to the capital's mayor. It included an extensive office, a filing squad, a security team, a registration bureau.
The emergence of the second and third branches
The second security department was created in Moscow in 1880. The corresponding decree was signed by the Minister of the Interior Mikhail Loris-Melikov.
In some cases, the Moscow division of the tsarist secret police went outside the province in search activities, acting as the all-Russian center for political search. The direct performer was a special flying detachment of fillers, created in 1894. It was headed by Evstraty Mednikov, who is considered the creator of the national school of outdoor surveillance agents. The direct head was Sergey Zubatov, the head of the security unit . The flying detachment was abolished in 1902, it was replaced by permanent search points established under the gendarmerie provincial administrations.
The third security department since 1900 operated on the territory of Warsaw. Two years later, in connection with the growth of the revolutionary mood in society, similar units were opened in Yekaterinoslavl, Vilno, Kiev, Kazan, Saratov, Odessa, Kharkov, Tiflis. They were engaged in political investigation in the provinces, conducted external surveillance, developed a network of secret agents.
Search case
In 1902, the activities of the branches began to be regulated by new documents. The Tsarist secret police focuses their work on the search case. Police and gendarme authorities, having information that may be useful in its activities, must report them for subsequent development, arrests and searches.
The number of security departments is increasing literally every year. By the end of 1907, there were already 27 of them. In some areas, departments of the tsarist secret police began to liquidate after the suppression of the 1905 revolution. If the province has a calm opposition movement, it is considered that it is not practical to maintain a security unit in it.
Since 1913, the widespread liquidation of security departments begins on the initiative of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Dzhunkovsky. By the beginning of the February Revolution, they were preserved only in Moscow, Petrograd and Warsaw.
District security departments
Security departments report directly to the police department under the Ministry of the Interior. It was here that the general direction of search activity was given, questions of disposition of personnel were resolved.
In December 1906, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pyotr Stolypin created district security departments. They are charged with the responsibility of uniting all political investigation institutions operating in that area.
Initially, there were eight, but due to the growth of the revolutionary movement in Turkestan and Siberia in 1907, two more appeared.
Abolition
The history of the tsarist secret police ended in March 1917, almost immediately after the February Revolution. It was eliminated by decision of the Provisional Government. At the same time, part of the archive was destroyed in February.
The total number of agents of the royal secret police was about one thousand people. At the same time, at least two hundred of them worked in St. Petersburg. In most provinces, two or three security officers were in the service.
At the same time, in addition to the official staff, there was a special agent. The tsarist secret police had the so-called fillers who conducted outdoor surveillance, as well as informants who were sent to political parties.
Special agent
Special agents played an important role. Their seemingly inconspicuous work made it possible to create an effective system for the prevention of opposition movements and surveillance.
Before the First World War, there were about one thousand fillers and about 70.5 thousand informers. In both capitals, from fifty to one hundred surveillance agents were sent every day to the service.
To become an agent of the tsarist secret police, one had to go through a tough selection. The candidate was tested for sobriety, honesty, dexterity, courage, quick wit, patience, endurance, caution and perseverance. Mostly young people of inconspicuous appearance, not older than 30 years, were taken to this service. These were real bloodhounds of the royal secret police.
The informers took janitors, porters, passports, clerks. They were required to report any suspicious identities to the precinct warden to whom they were attached. Unlike fillers, informers were not considered full-time employees, so they were not entitled to a permanent salary. They were paid for useful information from one to fifteen rubles.
Censors
Special people read private correspondence. This was called censorship. This tradition has existed since the time of Benckendorff, agents became active after the assassination of Alexander II.
The so-called black cabinets existed in all major cities of the country. At the same time, the conspiracy was so thorough that the employees themselves were not aware of the existence of such units in other places.
Network of internal agents
Efficiency increased due to an extensive network of internal agents. Employees were introduced into various organizations and parties that controlled their activities.
There was even a special instruction for the recruitment of secret agents. It advised giving preference to those who had previously been involved in political affairs, as well as offended or disappointed in the party, weak-minded revolutionaries. They received payment in the amount of five to 500 rubles per month, depending on the benefits they brought and their status. Their promotion of the career ladder in the party was strongly encouraged. Sometimes this was even helped by arresting members of the party who stood higher.
At the same time, the police were cautious of those who wanted to voluntarily engage in the protection of public order, since many random people fell into this category.
Provocateurs
The activities of agents who were recruited by the secret police were not limited to the transfer of useful information to the police and espionage. Often they were instructed to provoke actions for which members of an illegal organization could be arrested. For example, agents reported in detail about the time and place of the rally, after which it was not difficult for the police to detain the suspects.
It is known that the CIA creator Allen Dulles paid tribute to the Russian provocateurs, noting that they raised this craft to the level of art. Dulles emphasized that this was one of the main ways in which the secret police stepped on the trail of dissenters and revolutionaries. The sophistication of the Russian provocateurs delighted the American intelligence officer, he compared them with the characters of the novels of Fedor Dostoevsky.
Azef and Malinovsky
The most famous provocateur in history is Evno Azef. He led the Socialist Revolutionary Party at the same time and was a secret agent of the police. Not without reason he was considered directly involved in the organization of the murder of the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Empire Pleve and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. At the same time, at the command of Azef, many famous members of the Socialist Revolutionary organization were arrested; he was the highest paid agent of the empire, receiving about one thousand rubles a month.
A successful provocateur was also one of the Bolsheviks, who had close contact with Vladimir Lenin, Roman Malinovsky. He periodically provided assistance to the police, reporting on secret meetings and secret meetings of party members, and the whereabouts of clandestine printing houses. Until the very last moment, Lenin refused to believe in the betrayal of his comrade; he valued him so much.
As a result, with the assistance of the authorities, Malinowski even achieved election to the State Duma, moreover, from the Bolshevik faction.
Details about him and other agents who left their mark on history are described in the study of Vladimir Zhukhrai, "Secrets of the Tsarist secret police: adventurers and provocateurs." The book was first published in 1991. It describes in detail the intrigues and the behind-the-scenes struggle in the highest ranks of the gendarmerie, the ruling circles of tsarist Russia, the secret police and the police. The author of "Secrets of the Tsarist Okhrana" takes memoirs and archival documents as a basis, attempting to penetrate the history of the domestic political investigation.
Loud murder
One of the most failed cases in the history of the security units of tsarist Russia is the assassination of Prime Minister Stolypin in 1911. The official was shot dead by anarchist Dmitry Bogrov, who was also a secret informant of the secret police. He twice shot point blank at Stolypin at the opera house in Kiev.
During the investigation, the head of the security department in Kiev Nikolay Kulyabko and the head of the palace guard Alexander Spiridovich were among the suspects. But on behalf of Nicholas II, the investigation was suddenly terminated.
Many researchers believe that both Spiridovich and Kulyabko themselves were involved in the murder of Stolypin. For example, Zhukhrai in his book claims that they were not only aware that Bogrov was planning to shoot at Stolypin, but they also contributed in every way to this. That is why they believed in his legend about an unknown Social Revolutionary about to kill the prime minister, and allowed him to go to the theater with weapons to expose the alleged terrorist.
Confrontation with the Bolsheviks
After the combat organization of the Social Revolutionaries, the Bolsheviks were the main threat to the autocracy. They were riveted close attention from agents of different levels. This is described in detail in his book "History of the Bolsheviks in the documents of the Tsarist secret police" Nikolai Starikov.
Among the huge number of parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, it was the Bolshevik party that stood out with purposefulness and integrity.
In his study, the author describes in detail how the Tsarist secret police and revolutionaries interacted. As it turns out, among the Bolsheviks there were many traitors, provocateurs and double agents. Information about this has been preserved in numerous documents. The book contains reports of external observation, party pseudonyms, opened letters.
Actions Abroad
Since 1883, the secret police acted abroad. In Paris, a unit was established to monitor emigrants with revolutionary views. Among them were Peter Lavrov, Maria Polonskaya, Leo Tikhomirov, Peter Kropotkin. It is interesting that the number of agents included not only Russians, but also local Frenchmen who were civilian.
Until 1902, the head of the foreign secret police was Peter Rachkovsky. These years are considered the heyday of her activities. It was then that the food printer in Switzerland was defeated. However, then Rachkovsky himself fell into disgrace, who was suspected of working with the French government.
When the Minister of Internal Affairs Pleve became aware of the dubious ties of the head of the foreign secret police, he immediately sent General Silvestrov to Paris to check the validity of this information. Soon Sylvestrov was found dead, and the agent was found dead, who reported to Rachkovsky. He was removed from service. He succeeded in continuing his career in 1905 in the police department under the leadership of Trepov.