Who were the "Cheka" during the russian revolution, and why did they shoot people for laughing?

Question

note:for my own interest

i cannot seem to find the answer anywhere, anyone know it?

Answer 1

The Cheka - an acronym meaning the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission (for combating counter revolution and sabotage) (Russian Initials v-r, CH, K).

Founded by Lenin & Felix Dzerzhinskii in December 1917 to help 'protect' the revolution from anti-Bolshevik elements.

They did not shoot people for laughing - rather for political 'crimes' such as hoarding grain, for striking, for inciting others to rally against the Bolsheviks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheka

The successor organisations have been the NKVD, the GRU, the KGB and currently the FSB.

http://www.fsb.ru/fsb/index.htm

For a concise version (in Russian) see

http://www.fsb.ru/fsb/history.htm