Felix Dzerzhinsky

Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926) was a Polish and Soviet revolutionary who founded and led the Cheka, the Bolshevik government’s first political police organization.

Vladimir Lenin: Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary who led the Bolshevik seizure of power and the early Soviet government. Lenin appointed Dzerzhinsky to lead the Cheka after the Bolsheviks took power.
Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania: The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania was a Marxist party active in the Russian Empire. Dzerzhinsky became a leading organizer in this Polish-Lithuanian revolutionary party.
Cheka: The Cheka was the Bolshevik government’s political police, founded in December 1917 to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. Dzerzhinsky founded and led this organization, which made him a central figure in Soviet coercion.
KGB: The KGB was the Soviet Union’s main security agency from 1954 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The KGB stood at the end of an institutional lineage that began with Dzerzhinsky’s Cheka.
Leon Trotsky: Leon Trotsky was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet leader who organized the Red Army. Trotsky and Dzerzhinsky served as prominent Bolshevik leaders during the civil war.
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party: The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was a Marxist political party founded in 1898 in the Russian Empire. Dzerzhinsky’s party later joined this broader Russian revolutionary movement.
Red Terror: The Red Terror was the Bolshevik campaign of mass repression against perceived enemies, especially during the Russian Civil War. Under Dzerzhinsky, the Cheka became a principal instrument of the campaign.
Dzerzhinsk: Dzerzhinsk is a Russian city named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, known for its industrial history. The city’s name preserves Dzerzhinsky’s place in Soviet-era commemorative geography.
Joseph Stalin: Joseph Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and political leader who ruled the Soviet Union from the late 1920s until 1953. Stalin later presided over security agencies descended from institutions Dzerzhinsky helped establish.
Bolsheviks: The Bolsheviks were the revolutionary faction of Russian Marxism that seized power in 1917 and founded the Soviet state. Dzerzhinsky’s authority came from his place among the Bolsheviks after their seizure of power.

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