What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
The first secret police on record date back to 425 BCE. Crypteia was Sparta’s secret police. Also known as Krypteia, this state organization was composed of young Spartans to control the Helots and possibly the Perioeci as well.
The Praetorians were the Roman Empire’s secret police. They started as bodyguards but their power and influence grew over the centuries. Founded in 275 BCE, the Praetorian Guard was disbanded by Constantine the Great in 318 ACE.
The imperial secret police was founded by the Hongwu Emperor (pictured) in 1368, and served the emperors of the Ming dynasty in China. This secret police was initially used as the emperor's bodyguards, but over time they acquired other, more powerful, functions.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard had the power to interrogate, arrest, prosecute, and punish everyone (including nobles). They were known for eliminating political threats through assassinations and legal prosecutions.
It was not until Li Zicheng's rebel forces overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 that the Jinyiwei ceased to exist. They were in operation for 262 years.
This secret police agency was run by eunuchs and their role was to spy on anyone that could pose a threat to the emperor. They would then hand over the suspects to the Jinyiwei for interrogation and prosecution.
In 1565, Tsar Ivan the Terrible formed the Oprichnina in Russia to oppress anyone opposed to his rule. They were known for terrorizing populations and for their ruthless tortures and executions, including dismemberment, impalement, and the boiling or burning of people to death.
The Geheime Staatspolizei was the secret police of the Archduchy of Austria. It was founded in 1786, and they collected intelligence by keeping a number of members of the public as informers and through activities such as monitoring of mail.
The Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery operated as Imperial Russia’s secret police from 1826 to 1880. To protect the Tsar and the empire, the Third Section employed tactics such as surveillance, censorship, and propaganda.
In 1881, The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order was founded. The new secret police of the Russian Empire was suspected to be involved in the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905, when troops killed hundreds of unarmed protesters in a demonstration.
Famous for using arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture as part of their arsenal to obtain information, they were feared by many people. The organization dissolved in 1917.
There were a number of Soviet secret police agencies in the following years. In 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Committee to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage was set up.
Also known as Cheka, the organization was responsible for a number of atrocities. Their torture and execution methods included skinning people alive, impaling, crucifying, beheading, hanging, and burning them.
Chekists would also reportedly pour water on naked prisoners and let them freeze to death during winter. Their reign of terror came to an end in 1922.
But then the State Political Directorate, known as the GPU, was founded. Soviet Russia’s new intelligence service and secret police was active for just one year, when the creation of the USSR required for new secret police. It then became known as the OGPU.
In the following years, USSR agencies such as the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and the Ministry of State Security (MGB) took charge of secret police duties, including intelligence and counterintelligence.
In 1954, the Committee for State Security (KGB) was born. Famous for espionage, particularly during the Cold War, the KGB was active in defending Soviet Union interests until its dissolution in 1991.
The KGB had two successors: the Federal Counterintelligence Service (1991-1995) and the Federal Security Service (1995-present).
The Federal Security Service has been under the spotlight for a number of reasons, including a doping scandal that ended in a ban of Russian Olympic athletes, their involvement in the 2016 US presidential elections, and a WikiLeaks file that revealed how the state was spying on Russian cellphone users.
The Prussian Secret Police was in operation between the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was eventually renamed in 1933 as the Gestapo. One of the most infamous secret police forces in the world, the Geheime Staatspolizei, better known as the Gestapo, played a key role in the Holocaust.
When World War II ended, the Gestapo was condemned as a criminal organization in the Nuremberg trials. Many individual members were also tried and convicted, though leader Heinrich Müller was never tried, as he was never found.
The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed its secret police in 1950. It was active until 1990, when German reunification took place.
Spying and surveillance was a big part of their duties. This included keeping a huge number of informants, who were infiltrated in the most varied areas of society. They also worked closely with the KGB.
The Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism, known as OVRA, was founded in 1927 under the regime of Benito Mussolini. The OVRA pretty much did what their name indicated, by infiltrating all parts of Italian society. The organization dissolved in 1945.
The Political-Social Brigade in Spain was active from 1941 to 1978, under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. This secret police was known for its violent methods of interrogation, including torture.
The International and State Defense Police, better known as PIDE, was created during the dictatorship of Estado Novo in 1945, as a successor of the PVDE. The organization was known for the use of regular citizens as informers. PIDE had the power to investigate and arrest anyone suspicious of plotting against the government.
While not a secret police as such, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the United States is no stranger to scandals, including the surveillance of citizens and a number of covert activities.
It’s no secret that many governments had (and some still have) secret police forces that they used to control citizens and, more debatable, protect the state. Mostly established in authoritarian or totalitarian regimes, these police forces operate covertly to ensure the government is safe from any threats by the political opposition.
To achieve this, they engage in surveillance, use informers, and infiltrate different areas of society. But defending the interests of a government comes at a cost for its citizens: these secret police organizations are known for their use of repression and violence. In fact, many of these had the power to arrest, torture, and even kill.
Browse through the following gallery and get to know the dark history of secret police.
The dark history of secret police
From 425 BCE to the present day
LIFESTYLE History
It’s no secret that many governments had (and some still have) secret police forces that they used to control citizens and, more debatable, protect the state. Mostly established in authoritarian or totalitarian regimes, these police forces operate covertly to ensure the government is safe from any threats by the political opposition.
To achieve this, they engage in surveillance, use informers, and infiltrate different areas of society. But defending the interests of a government comes at a cost for its citizens: these secret police organizations are known for their use of repression and violence. In fact, many of these had the power to arrest, torture, and even kill.
Browse through the following gallery and get to know the dark history of secret police.