UDC

[94(47).084.3+355.134]:351.74

DOI

https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V139

Authors

Dmitriy V. Shunyakov
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin; ul. Mira 19, Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-4179 e-mail: konigsberg039@mail.ru

Abstract

This article analyses the practice of awarding law enforcement bodies during the Civil War in Russia. The abolition of awards of the Russian Empire in 1917 resulted in the need to establish a new award system simultaneously with the creation of law enforcement structures in the Soviet republics. The study is based on historical method, objectivity and systematic approach. To process quantitative data, the author used statistical analysis for calculating the results obtained by means of continuous sampling. On the basis of archive materials, published sources and memoirs, it is concluded that the award systems established in the Soviet republics were similar in many respects. With the RSFSR serving as a model, the other republics developed their own awards by analogy. During the Civil War, a significant award arsenal was created, which had both individual and collective status. Law enforcement officers were presented with republican awards as well as departmental decorations. The former were given by the republic’s highest authorities, while the latter by the command authorities of the Cheka–Internal Service–State Political Directorate. The analysis of the award practice indicates that the highest republican awards – orders – were used very rarely to distinguish law enforcement officers. The most common types of employee rewards were valuable gifts, certificates of acknowledgement, as well as material bonuses. The units of the Cheka–Internal Service–State Political Directorate were awarded with revolutionary banners, certificates of acknowledgement, and honorary names. The author concludes that the award system of law enforcement bodies was similar to that of the Armed Forces. The provisions of the established awards did not cover the service of Chekists and policemen. In order to stimulate the work of law enforcement bodies, special awards were introduced. However, their use began only after the formation of the USSR.

For citation: Shunyakov D.V. Awarding Law Enforcement Officers of Soviet Republics During the Civil War in Russia (1917–1922). Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki,
2021, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 24–34. DOI: 10.37482/2687-1505-V139

Keywords

award system of the Soviet republics, Civil war in Russia, Cheka, NKVD, GPU, order, valuable gift

References

1. Akhmanaev P.V. Sovetskaya nagradnaya sistema [Soviet Award System]. Moscow, 2014. 560 p.
2. Antonov V.S., Velichko V.N. Nagrady vneshney razvedki. Simvoly professionalizma [Foreign Intelligence Awards. Symbols of Professionalism]. Moscow, 2010. 176 p.
3. Durov V.A., Strekalov N.N. Orden Krasnogo Znameni [Order of the Red Banner]. Moscow, 2005. 224 p.
4. Kutsenko A.N., Smirnov Yu.D. Ordena Sovetskikh respublik [Orders of the Soviet Republics]. Donetsk, 1996. 400 p.
5. Smyslov O.S. Nagrady Velikoy Pobedy [Awards of the Great Patriotic War]. Moscow, 2010. 352 p.
6. Kolesnikov G.A., Rozhkov A.M. Ordena i medali SSSR [Soviet Orders and Medals]. Moscow, 1983. 302 p.
7. Kalashnikova A.V. Sovetskie respublikanskie ordena v kontekste kul’tury: nauchnoe opisanie, katalogizatsiya, muzeynaya prezentatsiya [Orders of the Soviet Republics in the Context of Culture: Scientific Description, Cataloguing, Museum Presentation: Diss.]. Moscow, 2015. 231 p.
8. Dekrety Sovetskoy vlasti [Decrees of the Soviet Authorities]. Vol. 1. 25 October 1917 – 16 March 1918. Moscow, 1957. 626 p.
9. Dekrety Sovetskoy vlasti [Decrees of the Soviet Authorities]. Vol. 3. 11 July – 9 November 1918. Moscow, 1964. 676 р.
10. Sobranie uzakoneniy i rasporyazheniy Pravitel’stva za 1921 g. [Collection of Government’s Regulations and Directions for 1921]. Moscow, 1944. 1198 p.
11. Sobranie uzakoneniy i rasporyazheniy Pravitel’stva za 1922 g. [Collection of Government’s Regulations and Directions for 1922]. Moscow, 1950. 1932 p.
12. Kuznetsov D.V. (comp.). Sovetskie konstitutsii. Ch. 2. SSSR, 1922–1936 gg. [Soviet Constitutions. Pt. 2. USSR, 1922–1936]. Blagoveshchensk, 2015. 334 p.
13. Kokurin A.I., Petrov N.V. Lubyanka: Bodies of VChK–OGPU–NKVD–NKGB–MGB-MVD–KGB. 1917–1991. Moscow, 2003. 768 p. (in Russ.).
14. Zolotov V.V. (ed.). Ot vnutrenney strazhi Rossiyskoy imperii k voyskam natsional’noy gvardii Rossiyskoy Federatsii [From the Internal Guard of the Russian Empire to the National Guard Forces Command of the Russian Federation]. Moscow, 2019. 160 p.
15. Plekhanov A.A., Plekhanov A.M. Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya SNK (7(20) dekabrya 1917 – 6 fevralya 1922) [The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission Under the Council of People’s Commissars (7(20) December 1917 – 6 February 1922)]. Moscow, 2011. 528 p.
16. Sbornik lits, nagrazhdennykh ordenom Krasnogo Znameni i pochetnym revolyutsionnym oruzhiem [Collection of Persons Awarded the Order of the Red Banner and Honorary Revolutionary Weapon]. Moscow, 1926. 303 p.
17. Mozokhin O.B. Repressii v tsifrakh i dokumentakh. Deyatel’nost’ organov VChK- OGPU–NKVD–MGB (1918– 1953 gg.) [Repression as Reflected in Figures and Documents. The Work of VChK–OGPU–NKVD–MGB (1918–1953)]. Moscow, 2018. 480 p.
18. Polovetskiy S.D., Chentsov A.S. Deyatel’nost’ organov i voysk VChK – OGPU – NKVD SSSR po bor’be s banditizmom na Severnom Kavkaze (1920 – iyun’ 1941 g.) [The Work of VChK–OGPU–NKVD Bodies and Forces Against Banditry in North Caucasus (1920 – June 1941)]. St. Petersburg, 2020. 148 p.
19. Shabel’nikova N.A. Deyatel’nost’ pravookhranitel’nykh organov po bor’be s prestupnost’yu na Dal’nem Vostoke Rossii v 1920-e gody [The Work of Law Enforcement Bodies Against Crime in the Russian Far East in the 1920s]. Moscow, 2016. 144 p.
20. Dzerzhinskiy F.E. Izbrannye proizvedeniya [Selected Works]. Vol. 1. 1897–1923. Moscow, 1977. 494 p.
21. Latsis M.I. Chrezvychaynye komissii po bor’be s kontrrevolyutsiey [Extraordinary Commissions Against Counter- Revolution]. Moscow, 1921. 62 p.
22. Demidova O.R. (comp.). “Preterpevshiy do kontsa spasen budet”: zhenskie ispovedal’nye teksty o revolyutsii i grazhdanskoy voyne v Rossii [“He That Shall Endure unto the End, the Same Shall Be Saved”: Women’s Confessional Texts About the Revolution and Civil War in Russia]. St. Petersburg, 2013. 262 p.
23. Shreyder M.P. NKVD iznutri. Zapiski chekista [NKVD from the Inside. A Chekist’s Notes]. Moscow, 1995. 256 p.
24. Zapariy V.V., Shunyakov D.V. Nagrady i nagradnaya sistema: opredeleniya i kharakteristiki [Awards and Award System: Definitions and Characteristics]. Ural industrial’nyy. Bakuninskie chteniya. Industrial’naya modernizatsiya Rossii v XVIII–XXI vv. [The Industrial Urals. Bakunin Readings. Industrial Modernization of the Urals in the 18th – 21st Centuries]. Yekaterinburg, 2018. Vol. 1, pp. 333–345.
25. Aribzhanov R., Artyukhov E., Shtutman S. Diviziya imeni Dzerzhinskogo [Dzerzhinsky Division]. Moscow, 2007. 476 p.
26. Sheparev R.M. Raritetnoe oruzhie Grazhdanskoy voyny 1918–1920-kh gg. v kollektsii GTsMSIR [Rare Weapons of the Civil War of 1918–1920s in the Collection of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia]. Istoriya Grazhdanskoy voyny v Rossii 1917–1922 gg. [History of the Civil War in Russia, 1917–1922]. Moscow, 2016, pp. 182–188.
27. Excerpt from Order No. 304 Dated 4 October 1919 of the Republic’s Internal Security Troops “On Awarding Servicemen of the 12th Moscow Rifle Regiment of the Cheka in Battles Near Barvenkovo Station in June 1919”. Russian State Military Archives (RSMA). Coll. 42. Inv. 1. Fol. 1286. Ff. 245–245 back (in Russ.).
28. Excerpt from Order No. 304 Dated 8 December 1920 to the Republic’s Internal Service Troops “On Awarding Mounted Scouts of the 139 Separate Infantry Battalion for Skilful Military Actions”. RSMA. Coll. 42. Inv. 1. Fol. 1427. Ff. 226–226 back (in Russ.).
29. Order for the Cheka Troops Under the Council of People’s Commissars No. 92 Dated 13 June 1919 “On Issuing a Commendation to the 12th Moscow Rifle Regiment of the Cheka Troops and Its Commander Kikodze”. RSMA. Coll. 16011. Inv. 1. Fol. 12. F. 87 (in Russ.).
30. Order for the Cheka Troops No. 107 Dated 26 February 1921 “On the Arrest of Bandit Gusev by the Cheka Railway Militia of the Northern Railways of the RSFSR”. RSMA. Coll. 16011. Inv. 1. Fol. 24. F. 31a (in Russ.).
31. Order No. 133 of the Political Directorate of the Republic’s Internal Security Troops Dated 27 February 1920 “With Greetings to the Red Army Soldiers of the N– Battalion Who Have Liberated the Town of Sarapul”. RSMA. Coll. 42. Inv. 1. Fol. 13. F. 219 (in Russ.).
32. Order for the Cheka Troops No. 146/31 Dated 7 December 1918 “On Immortalizing the Heroes of the Cheka Troops and Introducing a New Spelling”. RSMA. Coll. 16011. Inv. 1. Fol. 4. Ff. 158–158 back (in Russ.).
33. Sandalov I.A. Stanovlenie i razvitie boevogo znameni vnutrennikh voysk Rossii v sovetskiy period [Foundation and Development of the Battle Banner of the Russian Interior Forces in the Soviet Period]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Ser.: Istoriya i politicheskie nauki, 2011, no. 2, pp. 203–208.