Summary USSR: Use of Secret Police & Terror
Comprehensive notes on the use of the secret police in the USSR to monitor the population, remove opposition and impose systematic terror. The notes are ordered chronologically and evaluate each leader's approach to terror, starting with Lenin's CHEKA then OGPU, moving on to the NKVD under Stalin and finally assessing the role of the KGB both inside the USSR and for external Cold War espionage. The notes include the use of purges, persecution of counter-revolutionaries and the details of Stalin's terror both before and after the Second World War. They assess the stability of Soviet society by analysing the different dissidence movements of the 1970s-80s. Finally, the notes explore how the role, leadership and methods of the secret police changed. The notes are dense and packed with facts and figures, making them ideal for learning about the topic and for exam revision. The notes are handwritten, colour-coded and include annotations with extra information so as to provide a deeper insight into the A-Level curriculum.
Document information
- Study Level
- A/AS Level
- Subject
- History 2015
- Uploaded on
- October 24, 2026
- Number of pages
- 4
- Written in
- 2025/2026
- Type
- Summary
