Search circulars of the railway police as a source of studying espionage on the territory of Russia in the late 19th – early 20th century

Aim. To reconstruct historical experience of organizing the activities of full–time employees and agents of foreign intelligence services in the Russian Empire based on the information contained in the orders on the search for spies received by the gendarmerie railway police in the late XIX- early XX century.

Methodology. The article analyzes previously unpublished office documents of the Moscow, Moscow-Kamyshinsky, Petrograd and Finnish gendarmerie police departments of railways, deposited in the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (SARF). Chronological, systemic and problem-analytical methods were used in the study.

Results. New factual data on the organization of surveillance of persons suspected of espionage have been introduced into scientific circulation. The approaches of foreign intelligence services to the disinformation of the Russian authorities regarding the purposes of the agents’ stay on the territory of the empire are analyzed. The significant role of diplomats of the countries of the Triple Alliance in the organization of espionage in Russia during the First World War is substantiated. Research implications. Based on the search circulars of the gendarmerie railway police, the features of the secret collection of information by special services of foreign states have been revealed. The problems of countering espionage in the context of a large-scale armed conflict have been updated.

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