The Romanovs and the Secret Police: From Oprichnina to Okhrana

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna trace the shadowy evolution of Russia's secret police, from Ivan the Terrible's oprichniki to the Okhrana's network of spies and provocateurs. They explore how Peter the Great's Preobrazhensky Prikaz, Nicholas I's Third Section, and Alexander III's Okhrana shaped the Romanov dynasty's survival and downfall. Along the way, they uncover the Paris Okhrana's infiltration of revolutionary groups, the role of double agents like Yevno Azef, and the 1909 Azef affair that shook the government. They also examine the 1917 February Revolution's secret police collapse and the Cheka's birth in its image. Featuring figures like Alexander Benckendorff, Sergei Zubatov, Pyotr Rachkovsky, and Vladimir Burtsev, this episode reveals how surveillance, censorship, and provocation sustained an empire—and ultimately failed it. #Romanovs #Okhrana #SecretPolice #Oprichnina #IvanTheTerrible #PeterTheGreat #NicholasI #ThirdSection #AlexanderIII #YevnoAzef #VladimirBurtsev #SergeiZubatov #RussiaHistory #TsaristRussia #PoliticalPolice #Revolution #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo