Oil of Russia

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All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ Deputies (VTsIK)—the supreme legislative, directive, and supervisory body of Soviet Russia, operating in the period between the All-Russian Congresses of Soviets. First elected October 25 (November 7), 1917, consisting of 62 Bolsheviks, 20 Left Socialist Revolutionaries, six Social Democrats, and three Ukrainian Nationalists. The first chairman of the VTsIK was Lev Kamenev (Rosenfeld) (1883–1936).

Ail-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counterrevolution and Sabotage (VChK)—a special service for safeguarding the national security of Soviet Russia. Formed December 7 (20), 1917 by a resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars. Its jurisdiction encompassed curtailing and preventing crimes against Soviet rule, finding and arresting criminals, investigation, court decisions, and even the execution of sentences. Feliks Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926) was the perennial chairman of the VChK.

Artillery Office—Russia’s central military institution of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Artillery Office was in charge of specialists in the manufacture of artillery (gunners, fusiliers, gatekeepers), as well as treasury blacksmiths of Russian cities (except lowland, coastal, and Siberian ones). The Artillery Office managed the manufacture, distribution, and accounting of artillery and munitions (the Artillery Court, Ordnance Court, and Treasury “Powder” Mills reported to it), monitored the status of fortifications in most cities, and observed the condition of abatises. Controlled by the boyars (less often by the okolnichies) and two chief clerks, it was divided into three desks—city, abatis, and monetary. The Artillery Court was incorporated into the Cavalry Office in January 1678, but became independent again in 1682; in 1701, it formed the basis for the creation of a new central military institution, the Artillery Office.

Bosporan Kingdom—an ancient slave-owning state in the northern Black Sea region in the Cimmerian Bosporus (Kerch Strait), with its capital at Panticapaeum. It was formed about 480 BCE by the merger of Greek cities on the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas, and later expanded along the eastern shore of Maeotis (Maeotian Swamp, Maeotian Lake, modern Sea of Azov) to the mouth of the Tanais (Don) River. After the late 2nd century BCE, it was incorporated into the Pontian Kingdom, later a vassal of Rome. Destroyed by the Huns.

Embassy Office—a central governmental institution of the Muscovite state in the mid-16th to early 18th centuries, created in 1549, charged with conducting relations with foreign states. The Embassy Office was charged with general supervision of the country’s foreign policy and all ongoing diplomacy: the dispatch of Russian embassies abroad, the receiving and release of foreign embassies, the preparation of texts of instructions (nakazy) to Russian ambassadors and correspondence with them, the drafting of agreements, conduct of negotiations, and—beginning in the early 18th century—appointing and monitoring the actions of permanent Russian diplomatic representatives abroad. The Embassy Office managed foreign merchants during their stays in Russia and all arriving foreigners in general, other than soldiers. In addition, it ransomed and exchanged Russian prisoners, managed newly annexed territories, and dealt with the Don Cossacks and landowning service Tatars of central districts. In the early 18th century, as a result of the reforms of Peter the Great, supervision of foreign relations was transferred from the Embassy Office to the Embassy Chancellery. In 1720, the Embassy Office was abolished and replaced by the Foreign Affairs Board.

Fire worshipers—also called Parsis or Gabrs, were followers of the teachings of Zoroaster who lived in antiquity in Persia, on the Absheron Peninsula, and in northwestern India. They spoke Gujarati.

Icon painter—an artist, usually a member of a monastic order, who specializes in the creation, on the basis of Orthodox canons, of icons for churches and monasteries. An icon is a picture on a wooden board depicting saints and episodes from the Bible. Translated from Greek, “icon” means “image, depiction.” In Kievan Rus, icons were called just that— “images.” Their ease of placement in a temple, their brightness, and the strength of their colors made icons painted on wood most suitable for decoration of Russian wooden churches. In medieval Russia, icons were treated with great respect as objects of worship. Icons were in every home, and lamps burned before them. Icons were also placed at road forks, wells, hung on gates, and placed at the entrances to cities. Icon painting in Kievan Rus was considered an activity pleasing to God. A true icon painter had to be a righteous man and an outstanding personality— combining the talent of an artist and a knowledge of scripture. Before beginning work on an icon, the artist fasted, bathed the night before, and donned a clean shirt. As he began work, he offered a prayer to God, asking Him to “bless my work.”

Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU)—a special service for safeguarding the national security of the Soviet Union. Formed in February 1922 by decision of the Politburo of the RCP(b) Central Committee from the former VChK, initially designated as the State Political Directorate (GPU). With the formation of the USSR in December 1922, it was renamed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU). Feliks Dzerzhinsky was the chairman of the OGPU from 1922 to 1926, followed by Vyacheslav Menzhinsky (1874–1934) from 1926 to 1934.

Khazar Khanate—a state originating in the mid-7th century in the Lower Volga region and eastern part of the North Caucasus as a result of the breakup of the Western Turkic Khanate. In the early 8th century, the Khazars controlled the North Caucasus, the Azov region, and most of the Crimea, as well as the Eastern European steppes as far as the Dnipro [Dnieper], and they warred with the Arabs for the Transcaucasus. Displaced by the Arabs, the Khanate shifted to the Lower Volga. In the late 8th and early 9th centuries, the struggle within the Khazar Khanate intensified, and in the late 9th century the Pechenegs settled on their territory in the Northern Black Sea region and along the Don. In the late 10th century, due to a series of Russian campaigns of conquest, the Khazar Khanate ceased to exist.

Manufacturing and Mining Board—a central governmental industrial institution of the Muscovite state in the early 18th century, founded by Peter the Great’s decree of December 23, 1718. This institution supervised all Russian industry, including mining, and was abolished on December 10, 1719 in connection with its reorganization into two new departments, the Manufacturing Board and the Mining Board.

Mining Board—a central governmental ore mining institution of the Muscovite state and Russian Empire in the 18th century, providing supervision of the mining and manufacturing industries. It operated intermittently, from 1719 to 1731, from 1742 to 1783, and from 1797 to 1807. Board operations were governed by the Mining Privilege and the Mining Regulation, as well as special and Senate decrees.

Mining Office—a central governmental mining engineering institution of the Muscovite state in the early 18th century. Formed on August 24, 1700 by a decree of Tsar Peter the Great, it laid the foundation for government administration of mining geology in prospecting for ore and other minerals in various parts of Russia. This institution managed ore prospecting and the training of people versed in mining, concerned itself with the construction of factories, and collected information on metals mined and newly discovered mineral fields. Under its control, iron works were built at Nevyansk, Tagil, Kamensk-Uralsky, and Alapayevsk. Subsequently, the country’s need for foreign metal ceased. By the end of Peter the Great’s reign, Russia was trading Russian iron and copper abroad. The institution was abolished on December 23, 1718 in connection with its reorganization into a new central industrial department, the Manufacturing and Mining Board.

Order of Lenin—highest decoration of the Soviet Union, instituted April 6, 1930 by resolution of the USSR Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ Deputies.

Polovtsy—also called Cumans, Kipchaks, and Qypchaqs, spoke a Turkic language and inhabited the South Russian steppes from the western horns of the Tien-Shan to the Danube from the 10th to 13th centuries. They raised livestock and led a nomadic life. From the 10th to 13th centuries, they regularly raided the territory of Kievan Rus. Attacks in the late 11th century were most dangerous. They were crushed and subjugated by the Mongolian-Tatar hordes in the 13th century. Some Polovtsy joined the Golden Horde, while others fled to Hungary. The Russian people’s struggle with the Polovtsy tribes was reflected in chronicles and in the monument of Russian literature, The Story of Igor’s Campaign.

Siberian Office—a central governmental institution of the Muscovite state in the 17th to 18th centuries, separated from the Kazan Palace Office in 1637. It managed administrative, judicial, military, and financial matters, trade, postal services, mining, and other enterprises over the territory of all Siberia, and to an extent, its relations with adjacent countries. This office was reorganized by Peter the Great’s decree of December 18, 1708 into the Moscow Chancellery of the Siberian Province, and in 1710 it ceased to exist. Its functions were concentrated in the hands of the Siberian governor and the governor’s office in Tobolsk. Due to the declining income received by the treasury from Siberia, the Russian government reinstituted the Siberian Office in 1730 and made it report to the Senate. The newly created institution managed only administrative, financial, trade, and customs matters. The Siberian Office was abolished for good on December 15, 1763, by order of Catherine the Great.