Training of Far Eastern Internal Affairs Agencies for Action under the Conditions of the Special Period in 1970-1972

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УДК 94(571.6)

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-475-482

Vyacheslav Z. Dorokhov

Far Eastern Law Institute of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Khabarovsk, Russian Federation

Vladimir V. Sinichenko

Vladivostok branch of the Law Institute of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladivostok, Russian Federation

Training of Far Eastern Internal Affairs Agencies for Action under the Conditions of the Special Period in 1970-1972

Abstract

Drawing on unique documents that have not yet been introduced into scientific use, the article reviews the activities of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in training its agencies for probable border war with China. A series of events was conducted by Shchelokov, Minister of the Internal Affairs of the USSR, in order to strengthen the regional internal affairs agencies. It included introduction of a list of ‘advanced alert,’ ‘special period,’ and ‘covert mobilization’ signals, accompanied by a list of mandatory positions. The article focuses on the work of internal affairs agencies in the Far East border areas and the Khabarovsk special secondary school of militia of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in particular, all of which hurried to fine-tune public order and state security maintenance, evacuation of the population and the internal affairs bodies in case of onset of the Special Period. Significantly, the Khabarovsk special secondary school of militia of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR was to become not just a base for accelerated training of officers, but also a military reserve in case of enemy assault. It also was to enforce public order in case of mass riots. The manpower strength of the school allowed to form a battalion of 3 rifle companies. The author underscores that all measures implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR were carried out in close cooperation with the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR and its regional agencies. Training for Special Period was multifaceted, it included propaganda support via mass media, control over radio-broadcasting in the territories bordering China, camouflage of installations at the expense of the forest fund, mobilization by rail and road transport, etc.

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Keywords

Source, Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Archive of the Internal Affairs Directorate, Department of Educational Institutions, Khabarovsk special secondary school of militia, mobilization, evacuation, Special Period.

For a long time the Pacific region was an arena for political and economic struggle of the greatest world powers. One of its phases dated 1959 – 1972, when previously warm and friendly relations and even alliance between the USSR and the People's Republic of China soured towards alienation and antagonism.

Many national and foreign scholars have studied the foreign policy aspect of this development. They focused on boundary revisions and activities of border troops under the conditions of opposition of two states. Most Soviet and Russian authors have studied situation prior to the conflict and also actions of frontier posts and servicemembers in the fightings on the Soviet-Chinese border.

Although scholarship devoted the Soviet-Chinese conflict is quite impressive, several aspects remain unstudied, for instance, actions of law-enforcement bodies in ideological and, later, military conflict with the People's Republic of China. Leaving aside purely historical concerns, the subject that for a long time remained unnoticed by researchers grows ever more significant and appealing, as international conflicts develop, which have been caused by Russia’s independent position on the question of Ukraine and Syria. In these historical conditions, studying of the experience of a similar problem solution at the turn of 1970s has great significance.

The 1969 conflict on the Soviet-Chinese border had cardinally changed the approach of law-enforcement bodies to mobilization and predetermined their policies for decades. Most affected were divisions that operated on the Chinese border, law-enforcement agencies of the Far East in particular, as these territories were the most endangered in case of military conflict with already unfriendly China. After his inspection trip to the Far East in August 1969, Minister of the Internal Affairs of the USSR N.A. Shchelokov noted on September board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that ‘…operating situation in the Far East and Eastern Siberia remains very tense. There are chief shortcomings in the work of law-enforcement bodies,’ and he backed up his summary with some depressing statistics. The crime rate was almost twice as high as the national average and it had increased 5 times faster than the population did. To compound the matters, population shift reached up to 20% of the overall population. With such indicators it was not surprising that Shchelokov noted that ‘… as the situation on the Soviet-Chinese border was aggravating and Beijing leaders were instigating military gambles against the Soviet state,’ the regional agencies, occupied with their daily routine, had muddled the organization of defensive work. The Minister also appointed some portion of the blame to the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which had paid little attention to ‘… and provided no practical help to republics, regions and areas …’

Understanding the political importance of regional internal affairs departments on the Chinese border, Shchelokov charged heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs agencies to take urgent measures to man the border areas with experienced and seasoned servicemen from other republics and regions and to manage additional allocation of off-road transport equipment, operational equipment, means of communication, etc. in 1970.

In summary, military and mobilization activities and civil defense events continued up to the landmark year of 1972, but their intensity was significantly reduced, as the routine work took precedence. And yet it is quite evident that the border conflict of 1969 provided a serious incentive not just to strengthen law-enforcement agencies of the Far East, but also to create a powerful organizational and material reserve of mobilization readiness to last all remaining years of the USSR existence.

References

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KISSINGER, HENRY. On China. New York, Penguin Press HC, 2011, 609 p. (Russ. ed.: KISENDZHER, GENRI. O Kitae. Per. s angl. V.I. Verchenko. Moscow, 2014. AST publ., 635 p.).

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FROLOV, A. V. Razvitie sovetsko-kitaiskikh prigranichnykh otnoshenii na Dal'nem Vostoke SSSR: 1949-1969 gg. Diss.... kand. Ist. nauk. [The development of Soviet-Chinese border relations in the Far East of the USSR: 1949-1969. Cand. hist. sci. diss. In Russ.]. Khabarovsk, 2007, 221 р.

About author

Dorohov Vyacheslav Zhorzhovich, PhD in History, associate professor, Far Eastern Law Institute of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, deputy head of the department of social and human sciences and economy, Khabarovsk, Russian Federation, +7-924-207-64-38, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sinichenko Vladimir Victorovich, PhD in History, professor, head of the department of state legal disciplines and civil law studies, Vladivostok branch of the Far Eastern Law Institute of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladivostok, Russian Federation, +7-950-126-05-73, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 29.01.2018, published:

DOROKHOV, V. Zh., SINICHENKO, V. V. Podgotovka organov vnutrennikh del Dal'nego Vostoka k deistviyam v usloviyakh «Osobogo perioda» v 1970-1972 gg. [Preparation of Far Eastern Internal Affairs Agencies for Action under the Conditions of the Special Period in 1970-1972]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2018, no. 2, pp. 475-482. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2018-2-475-482

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