There were a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the October Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin's decree on December 20, 1917, was called "Cheka" (ЧК). Officers were referred to as "chekists", a name that is still informally applied to people under the Federal Security Service of Russia, the KGB's successor in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. For most agencies listed here secret policing operations were only part of their function; for instance, the KGB was both the secret police and the intelligence agency. History of the Soviet state security organs Detailed chronology Cheka (abbreviation of Vecheka, itself an acronym for "All-Russian Extraordinary Committee to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage" of the Russian SFSR) Felix Dzerzhinsky (December 20, 1917 – July 7, 1918) Yakov Peters (July 7, 1918 – August 22, 1918) Felix Dzerzhinsky (August 22, 1918 – February 6, 1922) February 6, 1922: Cheka transforms into GPU, a department of the NKVD of the Russian SFSR. NKVD – "People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs" GPU – State Political Directorate Dzerzhinsky (February 6, 1922 – November 15, 1923) November 15, 1923: GPU leaves the NKVD and becomes all-union OGPU under direct control of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. OGPU – "Joint State Political Directorate" or "All-Union State Political Board" Dzerzhinsky (November 15, 1923 – July 20, 1926) Vyacheslav Menzhinsky (July 30, 1926 – May 10, 1934) July 10, 1934: NKVD of the Russian SFSR ceases to exist and transforms into the all-union NKVD of the USSR; OGPU becomes GUGB ("Main Directorate for State Security") in the all-union NKVD. NKVD – "People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs" GUGB – "Main Directorate for State Security" Genrikh Yagoda (July 10, 1934 – September 26, 1936) Nikolai Yezhov (September 26, 1936 – November 25, 1938) Lavrentiy Beria (November 1938 – February 3, 1941) February 3, 1941: The GUGB of the NKVD was briefly separated out into the NKGB, then merged back in, and then on April 14, 1943, separated out again. NKGB – "People's Commissariat for State Security" Vsevolod Merkulov (February 3, 1941 – July 20, 1941) (NKGB folded back into NKVD) NKVD – "People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs" GUGB – "Main Directorate for State Security" Lavrentiy Beria (July 20, 1941 – April 14, 1943) NKGB – "People's Commissariat for State Security" Vsevolod Merkulov (April 14, 1943 – March 18, 1946) (NKGB reseparated from NKVD)