1917-1918 - Lenin Early Terror

• The Cheka was created in December 1917 to find and destroy any opposition.

  • This was short for "Extraordinary Commission against Counter-Revolution and Sabotage."
• Dzerzhinsky led the Cheka and it was ruthless in pursuing perceived enemies of the Bolsheviks.
• Each region in Russia soon had its own branch of the Cheka and across the country, thousands were arrested, many more tortured or killed.
• The Cheka and the Red Army crushed any protestors against the disbanding of the Constituent Assembly in January 1918.
• During the Civil War, the Cheka grew in size and influence which unleashed a period of heightened violence and repression often referred to as the "Red Terror".