State Political Directorate

State Political Directorate
(GPU pri NKVD RSFSR)
Badge commemorating 5 years of the Cheka–GPU
Agency overview
FormedFebruary 6, 1922 (1922-02-06)
Preceding agency
DissolvedNovember 15, 1923 (1923-11-15)
Superseding agency
TypeSecret police
Intelligence agency
HeadquartersLubyanka,
Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Agency executive
Parent agencyNKVD

The State Political Directorate (Russian: Государственное политическое управление, romanizedGosudarstvennoe politicheskoe upravlenie), abbreviated as GPU (ГПУ), was the secret police of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR) from February 1922 to November 1923. It was the immediate successor of the Cheka, and was replaced by the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU).