Activities of the gendarmerie police of the Russian Empire on the railways of the Grand Duchy of Finland during the First World War

Abstract

The article analyzes the historical experience of organizing official activities of the gendarmerie police department of the Finnish Railways during the First World War. The study highlights the specifics of the Grand Duchy of Finland as national outskirts which largely influenced the work of the railway police of the Russian Empire in wartime. Based on the analysis of the body of archival documents, there are determined the main measures implemented by gendarmes to ensure the stable functioning of the railways of the Grand Duchy of Finland, to prevent damage and destruction of infrastructure facilities. Particular attention is paid to the prevention of subversive and espionage activities. There are shown the features of conducting counterintelligence activities by railway gendarmes at border stations and in the hinterlands of Finland. Some of the enemy's approaches to training and sending people to the Russian Empire in order to obtain military information are revealed. The consideration of the factors of the political situation in the Grand Duchy of Finland and the variety of tasks performed by railway gendarmes in wartime made it possible to conclude that their activities on the railroads of the national outskirts were of great strategic importance.

Keywords

• gendarmerie police department
• finnish question
• russian transport police
• espionage
• sabotage
• separatism