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The Special Chancellery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Special Chancellery was a unit of Russian foreign intelligence in the beginning of the 19th century, serving the reign of Alexander I of Russia during the Napoleonic wars.[1] The Special Chancellery participated in the two years prior to and during the French Invasion of Russia in 1812.[1] The Special Chancellery operated under the Minister of War. The Minister of War at the time, Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, created the Special Chancellery in 1812. The Special Chancellery’s mission was to gather intelligence on the political activity, military activity, and economy of European states that were a potential enemy of Russia, particularly France.[2] Its operations focused on strategic intelligence, operational and tactical intelligence, and counterintelligence.[1] The Special Chancellery is known to be the birth of counterespionage in Russia.[3]
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