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Chekism () was the form of counterintelligence state widely present in the Soviet Union by which secret police, counterintelligence and internal security services (originally the Cheka, hence the name, but most famously the KGB) strongly controlled all spheres of society. Similar circumstances exist in some post-Soviet, particularly Russia. The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State, Anderson, Julie (2006), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 19:2, 237–288. The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State Anderson, Julie (2007), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 20:2, 258–316 The term encompasses both the ideological underpinnings justifying often arbitrary repression as well as the political situation where security service members occupy high-level political offices and a lack of civilian control over their activities (in extreme cases, the opposite). The term is sometimes also applied to other Eastern Bloc security services (long-serving East German security chief Erich Mielke was fond of calling himself a Chekist), and, presently, to the federal government of Russia under Vladimir Putin (himself a former KGB officer).
The name is derived from Cheka, the colloquial name of the first in the succession of Soviet secret police agencies. Officers of the succession of security agencies (Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, GUGB, NKGB, MGB, MVD, and, longest-lasting, the KGB), as well as their Russian successors, the Federal Security Service, are often referred to, both by themselves and by the broader public, as "Chekists".
The term was first defined in a 1950 Russian émigré journal by Soviet defector and Kremlinologist Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov, who described the Soviet secret police (which he called the NKVD. though in 1950 the security service was the MGB) as the key structure behind Stalinism:
The last KGB Chairman Vadim Bakatin, who was appointed to dismantle the KGB in late 1991 after the failed August Coup, also frequently used the term. In his book "Getting rid of the KGB", published in 1992, he described the origin and meaning of Chekism as follows:
The KGB or FSB members usually remain in the "acting reserve" even if they formally leave the organization ("acting reserve" members receive a second FSB salary, follow FSB instructions, and remain "above the law" being protected by the organization, according to Kryshtanovskaya Interview with Olga Kryshtanovskaya (Russian) " in power: fears or reality?" by Evgenia Albats, Echo of Moscow, 4 February 2006). As Putin said, "There is no such thing as a former KGB man". A Chill in the Moscow Air, by Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova, Newsweek, 6 February 2006 Soon after becoming prime minister of Russia, Putin also perhaps somewhat jokingly claimed that "A group of FSB colleagues dispatched to work undercover in the government has successfully completed its first mission." Moreover, the FSB has formal membership, military discipline, and an extensive network of civilian informants, Slaves of KGB. 20th Century. The religion of betrayal (Рабы ГБ. XX век. Религия предательства) , by Yuri Shchekochikhin Moscow, 1999. hardcore ideology, and support of population (60% of Russians trust the FSB Archives explosion by Maksim Artemiev, grani.ru, 22 December 2006), which according to Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick makes it a perfect totalitarian political party.Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia—Past, Present, and Future. 1994. .
Some observers note that the current Russian state security organization the FSB is even more powerful than the KGB was, because it does not operate under the control of the Communist Party as the KGB in the past. Moreover, the FSB leadership and their partners own the most important economic assets in the country and control the Russian government and the State Duma. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa,
However, the number of FSB staff is a state secret in Russia, FSB will get new members, the capital will get new land, by Igor Plugataryov and Viktor Myasnikov, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 2006, (in Russian) and the staff of Russian Strategic Rocket Forces is not officially subordinate to the FSB, Russian Armed Forces , official site (in English) although the FSB is likely interested in monitoring these structures, as they inherently involve state secrets and various degrees of access to them. The Law on State Secrets, 1997 (in Russian) The Law on the Federal Security Service, The Law on the Federal Security Service, 2003 (in Russian) which defines the FSB's functions and establishes its structure, does not mention these activities, but it is widely understood that the organization engages in these activities vigorously regardless.
A political scientist, Stanislav Belkovsky, also defines Chekism to be an "imperial ideology" that includes aggressive anti-Americanism.According to Stanislav Belkovsky, "Chekism is a neo-Soviet imperial ideology and not just a line in a resume." Faking Left, by Stanislav Belkobsky, The St. Petersburg Times
Andrei Illarionov, a former advisor of Putin, describes contemporary Chekism as a new corporatism system, "distinct from any seen in our country before". In this model, members of the Corporation of Intelligence Service Collaborators Russian took over the entire body of state power, follow an omerta-like behavior code, and "are given instruments conferring power over others – membership “perks”, such as the right to carry and use weapons". According to Illarionov, this "Corporation has seized key government agencies – the Tax Service, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Parliament, and the government-controlled mass media – which are now used to advance the interests of KSSS members. Through these agencies, every significant resource of the country – security/intelligence, political, economic, informational and financial – is being monopolized in the hands of Corporation members." The ideology of "Chekists" is "Nashism (“ours-ism”), the selective application of rights", he said. Andrei Illarionov: Approaching Zimbabwe (Russian) Partial English translation
The head of the Russian Drug Enforcement Administration Viktor Cherkesov said that all Russian siloviks must act as a united front: "We Chekists must stay together. We did not rush to power, we did not wish to appropriate the role of the ruling class. But the history commanded so that the weight of sustaining the Russian statehood fell to the large extent on our shoulders... There were no alternatives". Viktor Cherkesov: KGB is in Fashion? , Komsomolskaya Pravda, 28 December 2004 (in Russian) Cherkesov also emphasized the importance of Chekism as a "hook" that keeps the entire country from falling apart: "Falling into the abyss the post-Soviet society caught the Chekist hook. And hanged on it.” Cherkesov, Viktor. One can't admit the warriors to become traders Kommersant'' No. 184 (3760), 9 October 2007. (in Russian) English translation and Comments by Grigory Pasko
Political scientist Yevgenia Albats found such attitudes deplorable: "Throughout the country, without investigation or trial, the Chekists of raged. They tortured old men and raped schoolgirls and killed parents before the eyes of their children. They impaled people, beat them with an iron glove, put Mankurt, buried them alive, locked them in cells where the floor was covered with corpses. Amazing, isn't it that today's agents do not blanch to call themselves Chekists, and proudly claim Dzerzhinsky's legacy?"Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia – Past, Present, and Future. 1994. , page 95.
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