OKHRANKA

acronym from Russian Otdeleniye po Okhraneniyu Obshchestvennoy Bezopasnosti i Poryadka, English Department for Defense of Public Security and Order (18811917), prerevolutionary Russian secret-police organization that was founded to combat political terrorism and left-wing revolutionary activity. The group's principal mode of operation was through infiltration of labour unions, political parties, and, in at least two cases, newspapers: police agents were editors of the Marxist journals Nachalo (1899, The Beginning) and, in 191213, of Pravda. The Okhranka was particularly active following the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905. After the February 1917 Revolution the organization was abolished by the Provisional Government.