Description
Book SynopsisWhy did the imperial Russian government fail to prevent revolution in 1917? Were its security policies flawed? This broadly researched study of Russia''s security police investigates the government''s efforts to maintain order as it struggled against political opposition and threats of violence during the last decade before the Revolution. Historian Jonathan Daly brings to life the men who, often with reformist intentions, took on the task of defending Russia against political dissent and revolution from within.
The Watchful State reveals how the security police matched wits with revolutionary activists under Russia''s first constitutional government, from 1906 until the collapse of order in 1917. The secret police kept a watchful eye on a large number of the radical political activists who threatened the state order. Such constant scrutiny enabled the secret police frequently to disrupt plots against the government, to set snares to trap conspirators, and to hold the w
Trade Review
Based on impressive archival research, an informed reading of memoirs and published documents and an intelligent use of the many recent publications, particularly from Russia, on the subject.
* AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *
A splendid work by a mature scholar in command of his field, The Watchful State is a significant contribution to the study of the Russian secret police and to the broader field of Russian institutional history.
-- Richard Robbins, University of New Mexico
Well written... painstakingly accurate about administrative details [and] full of the drama of its time. A pleasure to read.
* Journal of Modern History *
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Introduction
1. Policing the Constitutional Order in 1906
2. Revolution's End
3. Watershed: The Azef Affair
4. The Apogee of the Watchful State
5. A Moralist Running the Police Apparatus
6. The Security Police in the First World War
7. Collapse of the Watchful State
Epilogue
Notes
Works Cited
Index
