Guardians of the People's Total Happiness: The Origins and Impact of the Cult of the Cheka

The founders of the Soviet security police celebrated the central role of popular participation in their work and elevated this mystical connection with the people to the status of a cult – a cult that persisted throughout the Soviet era and has survived the collapse of Communism. This raises questions about continuity in Russian history, particularly because aspects of the cult seem to have been rooted, in spite of Soviet claims to the contrary, in tsarist mythology of benevolent despotism. This piece asks three questions: Where did the cult of the Cheka come from? Why has it proved so durable? And what immediate impact did it have during its formative years on the activities of the Soviet security police in the 1920s and 1930s?