326:, the chairman of the Supreme Executive Committee that Alexander created in the wake of the Winter Palace bombing to address the wave of revolutionary terrorism, took control of the Third Section and Gendarmerie from General Drenteln and appointed Major-General Cherevin as acting Head Controller. Soon after this change of command, an investigation of the Third Section uncovered a high level of disorganization within the section. Not only did the Third Section have a long backlog of cases to settle (nearly eleven-hundred), various offices of the Section did not even agree on what suspicious people needed to be surveilled. Rather than sort out the confusion and make the Third Section an effective and efficient secret police once again, Count Loris-Melikov ordered it abolished on August 8, 1880.
212:
had violated the censorship regulations, Third
Section agents preferred to surveil certain authors and then, once suspicious activity was spotted, reject that author's material even if it had passed the censors. In 1832, the Third Section gained the ability to reject publishers or editors of new periodicals on moral grounds, effectively putting the section in control of new periodicals, which could be established only with the Emperor's approval. In the early 1830s, the Section attempted to apply its mandate to be a moral guide to Russians by encouraging publications it deemed good for the Empire rather than just punishing the authors of damaging works. For example, when
244:(Petersburg Weekly), to publish pro-Russian articles in other European nations. However little success the Third Section's modest propaganda efforts met in foreign presses, it had even less success domestically: rather than print pro-Nicholas propaganda of its own to improve Russians’ opinions of the Emperor, the Third Section resorted to pushing even broader censorship of Russian periodicals, threatening in 1848 to punish publishers not only for running seditious articles but even if the publication's “tone and tendency” was not positive enough. During the series of
296:, on April 2, 1879, that the Tsar took concrete actions to remove power and responsibility from the Third Section, with which he was becoming quickly disillusioned. Alexander effected this removal of power by granting the responsibility for investigation of political crimes, previously the domain of the Third Section, to the Governors-General of Moscow, Kiev, Warsaw, Odessa, Kharkov, and Saint Petersburg. Two more assassination attempts on the Tsar were made after the decentralization of the Third Section. In November 1879, The
195:
domestic sedition, the Third
Section had 1,631 individuals under surveillance, 1,080 of those for political reasons; this included everything from monitoring the actions of potentially dangerous civilians to assigning Third Section agents to pose as officials inside Russian governmental agencies to surveil senior officers and statesmen. Anyone under the Emperor could be watched since the Third Section answered to Nicholas alone. At one point in the early 1850s, Third Section agents were even detailed to monitor every move of
308:; the bomb killed numerous soldiers and failed to kill Alexander only because he was late for dinner that night. Although the Third Section had had reason to suspect that there might be an attempt made on the Tsar's life at the Winter Palace (agents had discovered blueprints of the palace with strange markings during a search of a suspicious person's house in St. Petersburg weeks before the attempt) the Section had been unable to search the palace or to keep it under surveillance in large part because the
199:, Chief of Russia's Navy and Nicholas’ second son. However, since the agents of the Third Section generally surveilled only powerful nobles or bureaucrats or those suspected of treasonous acts, the Section's reports to Emperor Nicholas, which had been intended to keep the Emperor accurately informed, gave Nicholas an incomplete view of the general mood of his people.
120:, as domestic ambassadors who listened, if surreptitiously, to the political discussions of everyday Russians. As ambassadors and moral guardians, the Gendarmerie was ostensibly tasked with guiding Russians along the political path the Emperor desired; however, the Gendarmerie gradually became a counter-revolutionary force rather than a group of “moral physicians.”
116:, the first Head Controller of the Section, few specific instructions, the Emperor intended the Third Section to act as Russia's “moral and political guardian.” Just as Russia had ambassadors to other nations keeping the Emperor apprised of political conditions abroad, Nicholas saw the officers of the Third Section, the
300:, a revolutionary group, attempted to blow up the Tsar's train as he travelled from the Crimea to Moscow; however, one bomb failed to detonate and the second destroyed only a shipment of jam meant for the Tsar. The fifth and final unsuccessful assassination attempt occurred February 5, 1880 when a carpenter,
211:
of printed works. Although the
Ministry of Education created the censorship laws and did the busywork of searching for objectionable material, Ministry censors were instructed to inform the Third Section of authors who violated the regulations. However, rather than wait to surveil only authors who
194:
wanted above all to know what his people were thinking about his regime and to remain apprised of any growing conspiracies in order to stop them before they caused potential unrest. Thus, the main task of the Third
Section was surveillance. In 1836, a year with no foreign wars that might increase
239:
that presented the
Emperor's actions in a positive light to western Europeans. The Third Section also employed Russians living abroad not only to keep the Section apprised of foreign politics but also to write responses to attacks on Russia published in the foreign press. Additionally, the Third
256:
While the Third
Section served as the Tsar's deputy for 55 years, the organization had its share of failures and administrative shortcomings. For its entire history, the Third Section's surveillance had been imperfect; not only did the gendarmes often fail to surveil people who were actually
277:, the Head Controller of the Third Section, was nearly assassinated on March 13 of that same year. These failures aside, perhaps the most damaging to the Third Section's reputation was its failure to stop, or even to detect, the six attempts to assassinate Tsar Alexander II, including the
230:
One practical project that the Third
Section attempted as part of its duties as moral guardian of Russia was not only to inform the Emperor of the public's opinion but also to try to influence that opinion in the Imperial regime's favor, both in Russia and abroad. Indeed, one of
112:(r. 1825-1855) confidence in his control and led him to desire an effective tool against sedition and revolution. Created by imperial decree on June 25, 1826, Emperor Nicholas’ thirtieth birthday, the Third Section was Nicholas’ personal police force. Although Nicholas gave
268:
Although the Third
Section was dissolved on August 8, 1880, nearly seven months before Tsar Alexander's assassination on March 2, 1881, there were several assassinations and attempted assassinations which did occur under the Section's watch.
158:
Information concerning the distribution of counterfeit money, stamps, documents, etc., the investigation and further prosecution of which is to remain in the jurisdiction of the
Ministries of Finance and Internal
83:
of 1686 to 1801 and to the
Specialty Chancellery, it effectively served as the Imperial régime's secret police for much of its existence. The organization was relatively small. When founded in July 1826 by
135:
saw him as perfect head of the secret force. He also served as Chief of Gendarmes, but the office of the Executive Director of the Third Section was not formally merged with Chief of Gendarmes until 1829.
845:
825:
781:
820:
78:
835:
196:
480:
The Third Section was organized into the following departments (ekspeditsiya); although there was no strict allocation of tasks among different offices.:
830:
32:
319:
and acts of terrorism against government officials. The large network of informers and agents often supplied nothing more than rumors and slanders.
850:
530:
692:, The Russian Secret Police: Muscovite, Imperial Russian, and Soviet Political Security Operations (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970), 65.
336:
292:
There was a second attempt on Alexander II's life in Paris in 1867, but it was not until the third attempt, this time by the revolutionary
113:
235:
first actions as Head Controller had been the creation and distribution in English, French, and German translations, of an account of the
248:, the Third Section forbade any Russian periodical from printing any article of news describing a European nation facing a revolution.
840:
293:
88:
it included only sixteen investigators. Their number increased to forty in 1855. The Third Section disbanded in 1880, replaced by the
773:
759:
575:
608:
Sidney Monas, The Third Section: Police and Society in Russia under Nicholas I (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961), 63.
371:
315:
In the end, the powerful image of the Section and the Gendarmes was largely undermined when they failed to suppress the rising
563:
316:
855:
385:
364:
350:
286:
273:
assassinated the Governor of Kharkov, Prince Dmitry Kropotkin, on February 9, 1879 under the Third Section's eye. Even
89:
378:
442:
410:
357:
232:
123:
Count Alexander Benckendorff was the Head Controller of the Section from 1826. He was the person who tried to warn
117:
392:
171:
All orders and instructions with regard to foreigners living in Russia, travelling in the country, or leaving it.
289:, the head of the section, to resign out of shame for his and the Section's failure to protect Alexander II.
343:
155:
Information concerning the number of various sects and heretical religious groups existing within the state.
278:
262:
590:, Nicholas I: Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978), 88.
323:
168:
Economic and supervisory administration of all places of imprisonment in which state prisoners are kept.
124:
73:
207:
In addition to monitoring actions and oral speech, the Third Section also played an important role in
309:
191:
145:
132:
109:
245:
416:
274:
270:
85:
769:
755:
571:
258:
236:
187:
105:
587:
301:
282:
36:
559:
312:
lived there and so the secret police had to pretend to ignore activities at the palace.
297:
213:
148:
described to the Director of the Special Chancellery of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
65:
752:
The Russian Secret Police: Muscovite, Imperial, and Soviet Political Security Operations
689:
814:
305:
61:
69:
240:
Section used any publications under its direct control, like the Polish newspaper
162:
Detailed information concerning all persons under police surveillance, as ordered.
515:(1842) - censorship of theatre plays (performed by the 1st department since 1828)
52:- in full: Третье отделение Собственной Его Императорского Величества канцелярии
224:
208:
128:
796:
783:
304:, detonated a bomb which he had secreted under the Tsar's dining room at the
17:
568:
KGB: The Inside Story of its intelligence operations from Lenin to Gorbachev
525:
217:
54:
Tretye otdeleniye Sobstvennoy Yego Yimperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii
535:
93:
281:
in 1881. The first failed attempt on the Tsar's life, by the nihilist
152:
All orders and announcements in all instances of the higher police.
540:
497:- counterfeiting, religious sects, murders, penitentiary, serfdom
265:(r. 1855-1881), to escape from them at a railroad station.
144:
This list enumerates the functions of the Third Section as
165:
The exile and arrest of suspicious or dangerous persons.
216:
wrote an article supporting Russia's historic right to
846:
Branches of the secret services of the Russian Empire
433:
1878-1880 Schmitt, Nikita Konradovich (Kondratievich)
421:
April — October 1861 Count Shuvalov, Pyotr Andreevich
174:
Information concerning all events, without exception.
570:(Russian language edition, Moscow, Centerpoligraph,
766:
The Unsleeping Eye: Secret Police and Their Victims
450:
April-October 1861 Count Shuvalov, Pyotr Andreevich
261:, who later led the successful plot to assassinate
177:Statistical information relating to the police.
50:III otdeleniye sobstvennoy E.I.V. kantselyarii
44:
8:
826:1880 disestablishments in the Russian Empire
491:(political crimes and enemies of the regime)
462:1874-1876 Mezentsov, Nikolai Vladimirovich
456:1864-1871 Mezentsov, Nikolai Vladimirovich
427:1864-1871 Mezentsov, Nikolai Vladimirovich
406:1831-1839 Mordvinov, Alexander Nikolaevich
220:, the Third Section offered him a reward.
46:III отделение собственной Е.И.В канцелярии
821:1826 establishments in the Russian Empire
728:Hingley, The Russian Secret Police, 64-6.
719:Hingley, The Russian Secret Police, 61-4.
257:plotting, in one case, they even allowed
768:(Encounter Books, San Francisco, 2003).
754:(Simon & Schuster, New York, 1970).
710:Hingley, The Russian Secret Police, 54.
701:Hingley, The Russian Secret Police, 61.
552:
471:1878-1880 Cherevin, Peter Alexandrovich
465:1876-1877 Nikiforaki, Anton Nikolaevich
459:1871-1874 Levashov, Nikolai Vasilievich
447:1856-1861 Timashev, Alexander Egorovich
430:1871-1878 Schulz, Alexander Frantsevich
33:His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
531:Ministry of Police of Imperial Russia
468:1878 Seliverstov, Nikolai Dmitrievich
403:1826-1831 Fock, Maxim Yakovlevich von
68:. As a successor-organisation to the
7:
836:Organizations disestablished in 1880
453:1861-1864 Potapov, Alexander Lvovich
424:1861-1864 Potapov, Alexander Lvovich
337:Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf
197:Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich
25:
831:Organizations established in 1826
680:Monas, The Third Section, 237-9.
653:Monas, The Third Section, 151-2.
476:Departments of the Third Section
662:Monas The Third Section, 231-4.
617:Monas, The Third Section, 62-3.
379:Nikolai Dmitrievich Seliverstov
372:Nikolay Vladimirovich Mezentsev
851:National security institutions
671:Monas, The Third Section, 152.
437:Gendarme Corps Chief of Staff
349:General of the Cavalry Prince
1:
737:Monas, The Third Section, 64.
626:Lincoln, Nicholas I, 89, 173.
417:Alexander Yegorovich Timashev
386:Alexander Romanovich Drenteln
356:General of the Cavalry Count
351:Vasily Andreyevich Dolgorukov
342:General of the Cavalry Count
335:General of the Cavalry Count
393:Pyotr Alexandrovich Cherevin
246:European revolutions of 1848
114:Count Alexander Benckendorff
108:of December 14, 1825 shook
872:
509:- incidents, staff matters
443:Dubelt, Leonty Vasilievich
411:Dubelt, Leonty Vasilievich
358:Pyotr Andreyevich Shuvalov
330:Heads of the Third Section
140:Tasks and responsibilities
56:, sometimes translated as
841:Law enforcement in Russia
644:Lincoln, Nicholas I, 177.
599:Lincoln, Nicholas I, 200.
365:Alexander Lvovich Potapov
45:
40:
635:Lincoln, Nicholas I, 89.
384:General of the Infantry
344:Alexey Fyodorovich Orlov
252:Failures and dissolution
72:of 1654 to 1676, to the
363:General of the Cavalry
317:revolutionary movement
285:on April 4, 1866, led
242:Tygodnik Peterburgski
64:department set up in
856:Nicholas I of Russia
233:Count Benckendorff's
110:Emperor Nicholas I's
100:Creation and purpose
797:59.9366°N 30.3431°E
793: /
324:Count Loris-Melikov
186:In the wake of the
564:Christopher Andrew
322:On March 3, 1880,
294:Alexander Solovyov
279:successful attempt
271:Gregory Goldenberg
146:Emperor Nicholas I
86:Emperor Nicholas I
41:Tretiye Otdeleniye
370:Adjutant general
302:Stephen Khalturin
287:Prince Dolgorukov
263:Tsar Alexander II
237:Decembrist Revolt
188:Decembrist Revolt
106:Decembrist Revolt
90:Police Department
74:Privy Chancellery
16:(Redirected from
863:
808:
807:
805:
804:
803:
802:59.9366; 30.3431
798:
794:
791:
790:
789:
786:
750:Ronald Hingley,
738:
735:
729:
726:
720:
717:
711:
708:
702:
699:
693:
687:
681:
678:
672:
669:
663:
660:
654:
651:
645:
642:
636:
633:
627:
624:
618:
615:
609:
606:
600:
597:
591:
588:W. Bruce Lincoln
585:
579:
557:
283:Dmitry Karakozov
275:General Drenteln
192:Emperor Nicholas
82:
58:Third Department
48:
47:
42:
21:
871:
870:
866:
865:
864:
862:
861:
860:
811:
810:
801:
799:
795:
792:
787:
784:
782:
780:
779:
747:
745:Further reading
742:
741:
736:
732:
727:
723:
718:
714:
709:
705:
700:
696:
688:
684:
679:
675:
670:
666:
661:
657:
652:
648:
643:
639:
634:
630:
625:
621:
616:
612:
607:
603:
598:
594:
586:
582:
560:Oleg Gordievsky
558:
554:
549:
522:
478:
332:
310:Tsar's mistress
259:Sophia Perovsky
254:
228:
214:Mikhail Pogodin
205:
184:
142:
102:
76:
66:Imperial Russia
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
869:
867:
859:
858:
853:
848:
843:
838:
833:
828:
823:
813:
812:
777:
776:
762:
746:
743:
740:
739:
730:
721:
712:
703:
694:
690:Ronald Hingley
682:
673:
664:
655:
646:
637:
628:
619:
610:
601:
592:
580:
551:
550:
548:
545:
544:
543:
538:
533:
528:
521:
518:
517:
516:
510:
504:
498:
492:
489:supreme police
477:
474:
473:
472:
469:
466:
463:
460:
457:
454:
451:
448:
445:
435:
434:
431:
428:
425:
422:
419:
413:
407:
404:
397:
396:
391:Major general
389:
382:
377:Major general
375:
368:
361:
354:
347:
340:
331:
328:
253:
250:
227:
222:
204:
201:
183:
180:
179:
178:
175:
172:
169:
166:
163:
160:
156:
153:
141:
138:
101:
98:
24:
14:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
868:
857:
854:
852:
849:
847:
844:
842:
839:
837:
834:
832:
829:
827:
824:
822:
819:
818:
816:
809:
806:
775:
774:1-893554-66-X
771:
767:
764:R. J. Stove,
763:
761:
760:0-671-20886-1
757:
753:
749:
748:
744:
734:
731:
725:
722:
716:
713:
707:
704:
698:
695:
691:
686:
683:
677:
674:
668:
665:
659:
656:
650:
647:
641:
638:
632:
629:
623:
620:
614:
611:
605:
602:
596:
593:
589:
584:
581:
577:
576:5-227-00437-4
573:
569:
565:
561:
556:
553:
546:
542:
539:
537:
534:
532:
529:
527:
524:
523:
519:
514:
511:
508:
505:
502:
499:
496:
493:
490:
486:
483:
482:
481:
475:
470:
467:
464:
461:
458:
455:
452:
449:
446:
444:
440:
439:
438:
432:
429:
426:
423:
420:
418:
414:
412:
408:
405:
402:
401:
400:
394:
390:
387:
383:
380:
376:
373:
369:
366:
362:
359:
355:
352:
348:
345:
341:
338:
334:
333:
329:
327:
325:
320:
318:
313:
311:
307:
306:Winter Palace
303:
299:
298:People's Will
295:
290:
288:
284:
280:
276:
272:
266:
264:
260:
251:
249:
247:
243:
238:
234:
226:
223:
221:
219:
215:
210:
202:
200:
198:
193:
189:
181:
176:
173:
170:
167:
164:
161:
157:
154:
151:
150:
149:
147:
139:
137:
134:
130:
126:
121:
119:
115:
111:
107:
99:
97:
95:
91:
87:
80:
75:
71:
67:
63:
62:secret-police
59:
55:
51:
38:
34:
30:
29:Third Section
19:
18:Third Section
778:
765:
751:
733:
724:
715:
706:
697:
685:
676:
667:
658:
649:
640:
631:
622:
613:
604:
595:
583:
567:
555:
512:
506:
500:
494:
488:
484:
479:
436:
398:
321:
314:
291:
267:
255:
241:
229:
206:
185:
182:Surveillance
143:
122:
103:
70:Tayny Prikaz
57:
53:
49:
28:
26:
800: /
578:, page 21).
388:(1878–1880)
374:(1876–1878)
367:(1874–1876)
360:(1866–1874)
353:(1856–1866)
346:(1844–1856)
339:(1826–1844)
131:plot; thus
125:Alexander I
92:and by the
77: [
815:Categories
788:30°20′35″E
785:59°56′12″N
547:References
441:1835-1856
415:1856-1861
409:1839-1856
225:Propaganda
209:censorship
203:Censorship
133:Nicholas I
129:Decembrist
526:Oprichnik
399:Managers
218:Lithuania
118:Gendarmes
566:(1999).
520:See also
503:- aliens
159:Affairs.
60:) was a
536:Okhrana
127:of the
94:Okhrana
37:Russian
772:
758:
574:
395:(1880)
381:(1878)
541:Cheka
81:]
43:, or
770:ISBN
756:ISBN
572:ISBN
562:and
104:The
27:The
501:III
31:of
817::
507:IV
495:II
487:-
485:I
190:,
96:.
79:ru
39::
513:V
35:(
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.