CIRCULARS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF RUSSIA ON COUNTERING ESPIONAGE IN THE MECHANISM OF LEGAL REGULATION ON THE EVE AND DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
The article analyzes the Circulars of the Police Department of the Russian Empire, aimed at organizing the activities of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia to combat espionage. It is concluded that this type of normative act, firstly, explained to the employees of security and gendarme units how to conduct intelligence work, to identify agents of foreign powers to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. Secondly, this type of departmental normative act determined the algorithm of interaction between employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and officers of the War Ministry in the implementation of counterintelligence functions of the state. An analysis of the Circulars of the Police Department shows that the authorities expected the greatest threat from the espionage of the subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (many of whom were Slavs who understood Russian) and the Chinese who were on the territory of the Russian Empire for commercial purposes. While assigning counterintelligence functions to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, at the same time, the authorities emphasized that the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should not get carried away with them to the detriment of « political and criminal investigation ». In addition, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire were prohibited from providing assistance to the military intelligence officers of the Russian Empire on the territory of foreign powers.