UDK: 342.51

Yuliya V. Ryzhova - The history of the establishment and activities of the transport police in the Russian Empire

Abstract. The historical experience of railways’ functioning in the Russian Empire and their protection is of particular interest nowadays. At the same time, the experience of transport police functioning, which was established in 1867 and existed until 1917, remains little studied. The current paper has considered the stages of evolution of the transport police activities in the Russian Empire on the example of the largest formations of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, i.e. the gendarmerie police departments of railways, formed in the second half of the XIX-th century. Being formed in difficult domestic political conditions, the gendarmerie police departments of the railways played a significant role in the police system for enforcing the internal security of the Russian Empire. The establishment of specialized gendarmerie formations made it possible to provide all the necessary types of protection on the railways. The paper has focused on the fact that, being, in fact, the political police, the gendarmerie police departments of the railways also performed a number of special functions assigned to them. The general principles of the activities of these departments were as follows: strict centralization, clear organization and interaction with a number of central state institutions of the Russian Empire. The paper has considered the main activities of the gendarmerie police departments of railways related to enforcing transport security in the Russian Empire.

Keywords: internal security; transport security; gendarmerie police departments of railways; railways.

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