Description:

VLADIMIR LENIN
(1870 – 1924) Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. Lenin served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia and the Soviet Union became a one-party socialist state governed by the Communist Party. Lenin is viewed by his supporters as a champion of socialism, communism, anti-imperialism and the working class, while his critics accuse him of establishing a totalitarian dictatorship that oversaw mass killings and political repression of dissidents. LENIN ORDERS FUNDING FOR THE CHEKA - RUSSIA'S FIRST SECRET POLICE ORGANIZATION. Excessively rare, historic content D.S. 'V. Ulyanov (Lenin)' as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars on crudely printed official letterhead, 1p. 8vo., 'Kremlin', Moscow, Oct. 30, 1919. In full: 'The Council of People's Commissars, at a meeting on October 30, 1919, decided: Allow the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs an additional ten million rubles /10,000,000/ in the estimate for the 2nd half of 1919 for the maintenance of the personnel of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Ex-officio Crimes' [abbreviated in Russian as 'VCheKa', commonly called the 'Cheka']. Co-signed by People's Commissar of Finance NIKOLAY KESTINSKY (1883-1938), who had previously led the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg and would later become Responsible Secretary of the Russian Communist Party. He would be executed by Stalin following the 1938 Trial of the Twenty-One. Also signed by a secretary, 'A. Afanasyeva'. Fine condition. The Cheka was the first Soviet secret police organization. It was established on Dec. 20, 1917 by the Council of People's Commissars and was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky. By the end of the Russian Civil War in 1921, the Cheka had at least 200,000 personnel. Ostensibly created to protect the October Revolution from 'class enemies' such as the bourgeoisie and members of the clergy, the Cheka soon became a tool of repression wielded against all political opponents of the Bolshevik regime. The organization had responsibility for counterintelligence, oversight of the loyalty of the Red Army, and protection of the country's borders, as well as the collection of human and technical intelligence. At Lenin's direction, the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, torture, and executions without trial in what came to be known as the 'Red Terror'. It policed the Gulag system of labor camps, conducted requisitions of food, and put down rebellions by workers and peasants. The Cheka was responsible for executing at least 50,000 to as many as 200,000 people, though estimates vary widely. An extraordinary letter of significant importance.

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August 16, 2024 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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