Post by Artyom Borislav on Oct 13, 2014 22:41:33 GMT 1
Created by Alexander I on 28 March 1802 in the process of government reforms to replace the aging collegia of Peter the Great, the MVD was one of the most powerful governmental bodies of the Empire, responsible for the Internal Guards and the supervision of the administrations. Its initial responsibilities also included penitentiaries, firefighting, natural resources, and nobility.
Having won the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks disbanded the tsarist police forces and formed all-proletarian Workers' and Peasants' Militsiya under NKVD of the Russian SFSR.
In March 1946, all of the People's Commissariats were recreated as Ministries. The NKVD was renamed the MVD of the USSR, the NKGB which became the MGB of the USSR. The NKVDs of Union Republics also became Ministries of Internal Affairs subordinate to MVD of the USSR.
Within a year Beria's downfall caused the MVD to be split up again; after that, the MVD retained its "internal security" functions, while the new KGB took on "state security".
Leonid Brezhnev recreated the All-Union Ministry in July 1966 and later assigned Nikolai Shchelokov as Minister; the RSFSR Ministry was disbanded. The MVD regained its original title in 1968.
Another role of the reformed MVD was to combat economic crimes, that is to suppress private business which was largely prohibited by socialist law. This fight was never successful due to the pervasive nature of the black market.
The Russian MVD was recreated as the MVD of the Russian SFSR in 1990 and remained when Russia gained independence. It currently controls the politsiya, the Main Directorate for Road Traffic Safety, and the Internal Troops.
The long-time additional duties of the Imperial MVD and NKVD, such as the Firefighting Service and Prisons Service, were recently moved to the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Justice respectively. The last reorganization abolished Main Directorates inherited from the NKVD in favour of Departments.