1.3 Attacks on opponents of Government

Question 1

What was the role of the Cheka? (6)

Answer 1

• established by Lenin in 1917
• its task was to act against counter-revolution and sabotage
• during civil war it was given powers that allowed it to act with minimal interference
• attempted assasination of Lenin by Fanya Kaplin in 1918 resulted in a wave of arrests
• it intensified its actions against socialist revolutionaries and mensheviks during the Red Terror of 1921 and 1922 (up to 200 000 opponents were shot)
• after civil war it was replaced by GPU in 1922

Question 2

what was the significance of the changes to the secret police in the early 1920s? (3)

Answer 2

• changed from Cheka to GPU to OGPU
• the significance was the growing independance of the secret police from the interference of other state institutions
• the secret police now only took orders from the leadership of the communist party

Question 3

In what way did the power of the secret police increase further in 1934?

Answer 3

the OGPU was merged with an enlarged Interior Ministry known as the NKVD

Question 4

what other opponents were there that had to be dealt with?

Answer 4

the kulaks and other peasants who opposed collectivisation were deported to the Gulag, which was run by the secret police

Question 5

In what way did the secret police deal with opponents? (5)

Answer 5

• arrests often occured in the middle of the night to disorient opponents
• then they were taken to secret police headquarters in Moskow, where they were tortured and forced to confess
• a show trial would follow for highprofile victims, where they could admit their crimes before being sentenced to death
• it was said that a public confession would save the victims family from prison, this was not always the case
• they also had to name associates