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The history of the secret police of Russia from the days of the czars to the present is quite convoluted, which is, perhaps, to be expected. The organization has gone through many names and many leaders.

Under the czars, the Okhrana, or the Guard, was created to protect the royal family and its staff from assassination attempts. After the Revolution, at the end of 1917, the Okhrana inspired the Cheka, or Extraordinary Commission, under Felix Dzerzhinsky, who reported directly to Lenin. After Lenin's death in 1922, the Cheka was reorganized and became the GPU, or State Political Administration.

The following year, the name was changed to the OGPU, or United State Political Administration. Eleven years later, in 1934, Stalin murdered the ranking officers of the OGPU and formed theNKVD, or People's Commisariat of International Affairs. In 1941, Stalin renamed the organization NKGB, or People's Commisariat of State Security. Five years later it was renamed once more, this time the MGB, or Ministry of State Security. It wasn't until 1954, however, that the name KGB, or Committee of State Security, was adopted. Who knows when the next change will come.

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