Russian and Soviet Intelligence until 1939

Abstract

Tsardom of Russia has had a documented intelligence services since the 18^th century.
The system, which had been dismantled due to the events of 1917, was replaced by the Cheka, which played a key role in the operating of Soviet state defence. Its successor organisations (GPU, OGPU) continued the Cheka’s principle of activity. The Holodomor, the purge in the army and the Great Terror led by Yezhov on Stalin’s orders, were all carried out with the effective collaboration of the Soviet state security organisations.