State Expansion and the Criminal Investigation Militia during the R ussian C ivil W ar

Bibliographic Data

ID9877545
AuthorsMurray Frame (0000-0003-1572-8064, University of Dundee, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume98
Issue331
Pages406-427
Publication date2013-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-2648 • E-ISSN: 1468-229X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-229x.12015
OpenAlexW1910667195
LanguageEN
References cited27

This article examines the militia – the Soviet regular police force – and its criminal investigation branch in the context of the state's dramatic expansion during the R ussian civil war, 1917–21. It argues that, although the B olsheviks harboured ideological doubts about centralized police forces, they quickly came to regard the militia as a key fulcrum of the revolutionary state, evidenced not least by the re‐establishment of a unitary force under central state supervision, by its rapid growth during the civil war, and by efforts to ensure its political reliability. Despite the importance attached to the militia, however, it remained a dysfunctional organization during the 1917–21 period. Its criminal investigation branch, in particular, was afflicted by a range of operational problems that undermined its ability to function as an effective arm of the state. This suggests a counter‐narrative to the assumption that statization in itself conferred extensive coercive influence upon the B olshevik regime. Despite the dramatic growth of the state during the civil war, its traction at the grassroots of society remained uneven and unpredictable

Context (archaeology · Criminology · Demobilization · Grassroots · Ideology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · State (computer science · Computer Science · European history and politics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law · Soviet and Russian History

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