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List of Soviet secret police agencies, the Soviet secret police agencies and their different names are as follows chronologically.
Note. For most items listed there the secret policy operations were only a part of their functions.
The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky on December 20 1917, was called "Cheka" (ЧК). Officers were referred to as chekists, a name that is still applied to people under the FSB of Russia, the KGBs successor.
- Cheka (Also called Vecheka) - "All-Russian Extraordinary Committee to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage"
February 8 1922 Cheka becomes GPU, a section of NKVD.
In 1923 GPU changed to OGPU but remained under the auspices of the NKVD.
Both GUGB and NKVD are headed by the same person.
- NKVD + OGPU - "Joint State Political Directorate" or "All-Union State Political Board"
July 1934 (O)GPU renamed to GUGB.
- NKVD + GUGB - "Main Directorate for State Security"
The GUGB of NKVD is separated into the NKGB.
- NKGB - "People's Commissariat for State Security"
NKGB folded back into NKVD
In 1946 all People's Commissariates are renamed to Ministries
- MGB - "Ministry for State Security"
MVD (Formerly NKVD, sans secret policing) and MGB (The formerly independent secret police) in March 5 1953 are merged into the MVD by Lavrenty Beria.
- MVD - "Ministry of Internal Affairs"
Beria is purged and the MVD divests itself again of the functions of secret policing. The again (As of March 13 1954) newly independent force becomes the KGB. Now after renames and tulmults, the KGB remains stable untill 1991.
- KGB - Committee for State Security
After the State Emergency Committee fails to overthrow Gorbachev and Yeltsin takes over, General Vadim Bakatin is given instructions to dissolve the KGB.
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