Definition: Created in December 1917 after the Russian Revolution, the Cheka was officially called the All Russian Extraordinary Commission for Struggle against Counter Revolution, Sabotage and Speculation. In was originally a force designed to facilitate Bolshevik control by stopping looting. It then developed into a secret police designed to prevent counter revolutionary actions and watch questionable ‘class enemies’. As the civil war raged, it could execute prisoners without trial, make mass arrests, and even took hostages against the rebel ‘White’ forces. This was government by Terror, and Lenin was proud and pleased for it to be doing so. The Cheka worked openly during the civil war – it was a quarter of a million strong in 1921 - and was replaced afterwards by the much more secretive GPU, which developed in use further. The Cheka is often compared to the Tsar’s secret police, but the Cheka was too open for that to really stand.
Examples:
They were all arrested by the Cheka.
