Seneca
Sign up

NKVD

History: Edexcel IGCSE USSR, 1924-1953, topic 3.1.2

The NKVD (Secret Police)

In 1934, the OGPU was reorganized to create a new secret police force known as the NKVD. The job of the NKVD was to continue to stamp out any opposition to communist rule.

Enemies of the people

Enemies of the people

  • A common crime pursued by the NKVD was being an ‘enemy of the people’.
  • Such crimes were tried by 3-person troikas of NKVD officers, often on the basis of minimal evidence.
  • People were tried for contact with foreigners, not cutting pictures of Trotsky from textbooks.
Techniques

Techniques

  • The NKVD used extreme techniques, including mass arrests, forced confessions, and informants. Many political prisoners were executed.
  • From 1935, the NKVD had quotas for how many arrests it needed to make.
  • This meant that citizens were often arrested for no crime at all.
The GULAGS

The GULAGS

  • A system of camps, known as ‘GULAGS’ were set up. They housed 8 million prisoners by 1941.
  • Many were political prisoners, but there were also peasants, workers convicted of wrecking (disrupting factory work) and those who had been arrested just to meet quotas.
  • The GULAGS provided huge amounts of slave labour for industry and the railroads. They were particularly prevalent in the east, particularly in Siberia.

Test yourself on NKVD

  • What was the name of the secret police in Russia after 1934?

  • Which of the following about the NKVD are correct?

  • What was 'wrecking'?

Practise this topic for free