The Secret Police

• The Third Section was in charge of state security and therefore suppressed opposition to the tsarist system.
• They censored reporting of events from Western Europe and especially those that concerned political reform.
• They censored any criticism of the social conditions in Russia.
• They checked all literature for dangerous ideas.
• They shadowed around 2,000 individuals who were suspected of having anti-Tsarist beliefs.
• They arrested opposition to the Tsar who were thought to be the most radical and potentially dangerous, often leading to imprisonment or exile.