Chekism
Encyclopedia
Chekism is a term used by some historians and political scientists to emphasize the omnipotence and omnipresence of secret political police
in the Soviet Union
(USSR) and contemporary Russia. Derived from Cheka
, the name of the first Soviet secret police organization
that conducted the Red Terror
in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
(RSFSR) and the USSR, the word emphasizes the importance and political power
of Cheka and the successor Soviet and Russian secret police
services: the NKVD
, KGB
, and FSB
. Some politologists define Chekism also as an imperial ideology
that includes an aggressive anti-Americanism
. According to Peter Struve
: "It is only the omnipotence of political police that makes Russian State so exceptional. That is what sets us apart of the remaining world as a matter of our national pride."
was put forward by Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov
, who wrote:
These ideas were also shared by journalist John Barron
, retired KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin
, and researcher on KGB subjects Evgenia Albats. According to Albats, most KGB
leaders, including Lavrenty Beria, Yuri Andropov
, and Vladimir Kryuchkov
, have always struggled for the power with the Communist Party and manipulated the communist leaders.
Commenting on the Soviet regime of early 1980s Yegor Gaidar
writes: "Authority of the regime was based on the effective secret police." Along with that, "since 1968, before death of Brezhnev
no weapons were used to suppress the dissent. The regime has learn to do without extreme forms of violence". According to the data provided by Gaidar, "In 1958-1966 people convicted for anti-Soviet agitation amounted to 3448. In 1967-1975, 1583 people were convicted. In 1971-1974, KGB "took care" of 63 thousand people. Potential dissident
s must realize that their activities are known to the authorities and there's an alternative—to be jailed or to express loyalty to the authorities."
member Konstantin Borovoi, "Putin
's appointment is the culmination of the KGB's crusade for power. This is its finale. Now the KGB runs the country.". Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites, has found that up to 78% of 1,016 leading political figures in Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with KGB or FSB. She said: "If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties
, NGOs, regional governments, even culture... They started to use all political institutions."
The KGB or FSB members usually remain in the "acting reserve" even if they formally leave the organization ("acting reserve" members receive second FSB salary, follow FSB instructions, and remain "above the law" being protected by the organization, according to Kryshtanovskaya). As Vladimir Putin
said, "There is no such thing as a former KGB man". Soon after becoming prime minister of Russia, Putin also perhaps somewhat jokingly claimed that "A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission." Moreover, the FSB has formal membership, military discipline, and an extensive network of civilian informants., hardcore ideology, and support of population (60% of Russians trust FSB), which according to Yevgenia Albats
and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
makes it a perfect totalitarian political party.
Some observers note that the current Russian state security organization FSB
is even more powerful than KGB
was, because it does not operate under the control of the Communist Party
as the KGB in the past. Moreover, the FSB leadership and their partners own the most important economic assets in the country and control the Russian government and the State Duma
. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa
,
However, the number of FSB staff is a state secret
of Russian Federation., and the staff of Russian Strategic Rocket Forces
is not officially submitted to the FSB, although FSB might be interested in monitoring these structures, as they intrinsically involve state secrets and various degrees of admittance to them. The Law on Federal Security Service which defines its functions and establishes its structure doesn't involve such tasks as managing strategic branches of national industry, controlling political groups, or infiltrating the federal government.
Andrei Illarionov, a former advisor of Vladimir Putin
, describes contemporary Chekism as a new socio-political order (the Power Model), "distinct from any seen in our country before". In this model, members of the Corporation of Intelligence Service Collaborators [Russian abbreviation KSSS] took over the entire body of state power, follow an omerta
-like behavior code, and "are given instruments conferring power over others – membership “perks”, such as the right to carry and use weapons". According to Illarionov, this "Corporation has seized key government agencies – the Tax Service, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Parliament
, and the government-controlled mass media – which are now used to advance the interests of KSSS members. Through these agencies, every significant resource of the country – security/intelligence, political, economic, informational and financial – is being monopolized in the hands of Corporation members." The ideology
of "Chekists" is "Nashism
(“ours-ism”), the selective application of rights", he said.
, with political power
s transferred from one generation to another. According to a former FSB general,
The head of the Russian Drug Enforcement Administration Viktor Cherkesov
said that all Russian silovik
s must act as a united front:
Cherkesov emphasized the importance of Chekism as a "hook" that keeps the entire country from falling apart:
found such attitudes deplorable:
"Chekism" has also been criticized as a modern Russian ideology
that is actually very old. According to critics, its essence is very simple:
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(USSR) and contemporary Russia. Derived from Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, the name of the first Soviet secret police organization
Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
There was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka"...
that conducted the Red Terror
Red Terror
The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
(RSFSR) and the USSR, the word emphasizes the importance and political power
Political power
Political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
of Cheka and the successor Soviet and Russian secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
services: the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, and FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
. Some politologists define Chekism also as an imperial ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
that includes an aggressive anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
. According to Peter Struve
Peter Berngardovich Struve
Peter Berngardovich Struve – Пётр Бернгардович Струве was a Russian political economist, philosopher and editor. He started out as a Marxist, later became a liberal and after the Bolshevik revolution joined the White movement...
: "It is only the omnipotence of political police that makes Russian State so exceptional. That is what sets us apart of the remaining world as a matter of our national pride."
Soviet Union
The idea of the secret political police as a backbone of Soviet societySoviet democracy
Soviet democracy or sometimes council democracy is a form of democracy in which workers' councils called "soviets" , consisting of worker-elected delegates, form organs of power possessing both legislative and executive power. The soviets begin at the local level and onto a national parliament-like...
was put forward by Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov
Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov
Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov was an acclaimed Soviet historian and writer turned anti-communist. He worked primarily in the fields of Soviet history and History of the CPSU...
, who wrote:
These ideas were also shared by journalist John Barron
John Barron (journalist)
John Daniel Barron was a conservative American journalist and investigative writer. He is best remembered as the author of several books dealing with specifics of Soviet espionage.-Early years:...
, retired KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin
Oleg Kalugin
Oleg Danilovich Kalugin , is a former KGB general. He was a longtime head of KGB operations in the United States and later a critic of the agency.-Early life and the KGB career:...
, and researcher on KGB subjects Evgenia Albats. According to Albats, most KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
leaders, including Lavrenty Beria, Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
, and Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Kryuchkov
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991...
, have always struggled for the power with the Communist Party and manipulated the communist leaders.
Commenting on the Soviet regime of early 1980s Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Timurovich Gaidar was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 June 1992 to 14 December 1992....
writes: "Authority of the regime was based on the effective secret police." Along with that, "since 1968, before death of Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
no weapons were used to suppress the dissent. The regime has learn to do without extreme forms of violence". According to the data provided by Gaidar, "In 1958-1966 people convicted for anti-Soviet agitation amounted to 3448. In 1967-1975, 1583 people were convicted. In 1971-1974, KGB "took care" of 63 thousand people. Potential dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s must realize that their activities are known to the authorities and there's an alternative—to be jailed or to express loyalty to the authorities."
Contemporary Russia
According to former Russian DumaDuma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
member Konstantin Borovoi, "Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
's appointment is the culmination of the KGB's crusade for power. This is its finale. Now the KGB runs the country.". Olga Kryshtanovskaya, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of Elites, has found that up to 78% of 1,016 leading political figures in Russia have served previously in organizations affiliated with KGB or FSB. She said: "If in the Soviet period and the first post-Soviet period, the KGB and FSB people were mainly involved in security issues, now half are still involved in security but the other half are involved in business, political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
, NGOs, regional governments, even culture... They started to use all political institutions."
The KGB or FSB members usually remain in the "acting reserve" even if they formally leave the organization ("acting reserve" members receive second FSB salary, follow FSB instructions, and remain "above the law" being protected by the organization, according to Kryshtanovskaya). As Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
said, "There is no such thing as a former KGB man". Soon after becoming prime minister of Russia, Putin also perhaps somewhat jokingly claimed that "A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission." Moreover, the FSB has formal membership, military discipline, and an extensive network of civilian informants., hardcore ideology, and support of population (60% of Russians trust FSB), which according to Yevgenia Albats
Yevgenia Albats
Dr. Yevgenia Markovna Albats is a Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, writer and radio host. As of year 2011, she workes as a chief editor of The New Times magazine.-Early life and education:...
and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Catherine Ann "Cathy" Fitzpatrick , also known under her virtual worlds pseudonym "Prokofy Neva", is an American human rights activist, Russian-English translator, journalist, blogger on human rights issues, Russia and virtual worlds, anti-communist, and critic of the open source movement. She has...
makes it a perfect totalitarian political party.
Some observers note that the current Russian state security organization FSB
FSB (Russia)
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security . Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and...
is even more powerful than KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
was, because it does not operate under the control of the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
as the KGB in the past. Moreover, the FSB leadership and their partners own the most important economic assets in the country and control the Russian government and the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa
Ion Mihai Pacepa
Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc. He is now a United States citizen, a writer, and a columnist....
,
However, the number of FSB staff is a state secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
of Russian Federation., and the staff of Russian Strategic Rocket Forces
Strategic Rocket Forces
The Strategic Missile Troops or Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or RVSN RF , transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii, literally Missile Troops of Strategic Designation of the Russian Federation) are a military branch of the Russian...
is not officially submitted to the FSB, although FSB might be interested in monitoring these structures, as they intrinsically involve state secrets and various degrees of admittance to them. The Law on Federal Security Service which defines its functions and establishes its structure doesn't involve such tasks as managing strategic branches of national industry, controlling political groups, or infiltrating the federal government.
Andrei Illarionov, a former advisor of Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, describes contemporary Chekism as a new socio-political order (the Power Model), "distinct from any seen in our country before". In this model, members of the Corporation of Intelligence Service Collaborators [Russian abbreviation KSSS] took over the entire body of state power, follow an omerta
Omertà
Omertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
-like behavior code, and "are given instruments conferring power over others – membership “perks”, such as the right to carry and use weapons". According to Illarionov, this "Corporation has seized key government agencies – the Tax Service, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Parliament
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
, and the government-controlled mass media – which are now used to advance the interests of KSSS members. Through these agencies, every significant resource of the country – security/intelligence, political, economic, informational and financial – is being monopolized in the hands of Corporation members." The ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
of "Chekists" is "Nashism
Nashism
Nashism and Nashists are post-Soviet Russian political neologisms derived from the word "наши" . The word is used to refer to various forms of worldview based on the primacy of "ours" over the "outsiders". Various Russian journalists, politicians and politologists put different meanings into this...
(“ours-ism”), the selective application of rights", he said.
Support
Chekists perceive themselves as a ruling classRuling class
The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
, with political power
Political power
Political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
s transferred from one generation to another. According to a former FSB general,
The head of the Russian Drug Enforcement Administration Viktor Cherkesov
Viktor Cherkesov
Viktor Vasilyevich Cherkesov is a Russian security services official.He graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1973...
said that all Russian silovik
Silovik
Silovik is a Russian word for politicians from the security or military services, often the officers of the former KGB, the FSB, the Federal Narcotics Control Service and military or other security services who came into power...
s must act as a united front:
Cherkesov emphasized the importance of Chekism as a "hook" that keeps the entire country from falling apart:
Criticism
Political scientist Yevgenia AlbatsYevgenia Albats
Dr. Yevgenia Markovna Albats is a Russian investigative journalist, political scientist, writer and radio host. As of year 2011, she workes as a chief editor of The New Times magazine.-Early life and education:...
found such attitudes deplorable:
"Chekism" has also been criticized as a modern Russian ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
that is actually very old. According to critics, its essence is very simple:
Further reading
- Russia: Death and resurrection of the KGB By J. Michael Waller, Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization
- A Rogue Intelligence State? Why Europe and America Cannot Ignore Russia By Reuel Marc Gerecht
- Putin's RussiaPutin's RussiaPutin's Russia is a non-fiction book by the late Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya about life in modern Russia.Politkovskaya argues that Russia still has aspects of a police state or mafia state, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. In a review, Angus Macqueen wrote: Politkovskaya describes...
, by Anna PolitkovskayaAnna PolitkovskayaAnna Stepanovna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist, author, and human rights activist known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and then-President of Russia Vladimir Putin...
See also
- Chronology of Soviet secret police agenciesChronology of Soviet secret police agenciesThere was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka"...
- Mitrokhin ArchiveMitrokhin ArchiveThe Mitrokhin Archive is a collection of notes made secretly by KGB Major Vasili Mitrokhin during his thirty years as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Directorate...
(smuggled records of the KGB) - FSB (the post-Soviet successor organization to the KGB)
- Agents provocateurs
- Agent of influenceAgent of influenceAn agent of influence is a person whose political actions and arguments are alleged to serve the interests of a foreign power, and to be directed or manipulated by the intelligence agency of that power...