The Decembrist Revolt of December 14, 1825 shook Emperor Nicholas I's (r. 1825-1855) confidence in his control and led him to desire an effective tool against sedition and revolution.
[4] This list enumerates the functions of the Third Section as Emperor Nicholas I described to the Director of the Special Chancellery of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:[5] In the wake of the Decembrist Revolt, Emperor Nicholas wanted above all to know what his people were thinking about his regime and to remain apprised of any growing conspiracies in order to stop them before they caused potential unrest.
At one point in the early 1850s, Third Section agents were even detailed to monitor every move of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaievich, Chief of Russia's Navy and Nicholas’ second son.
In the early 1830s, the Section attempted to apply its mandate to be a moral guide to Russians by encouraging publications it deemed good for the Empire rather than just punishing the authors of damaging works.
[10] Additionally, the Third Section used any publications under its direct control, like the Polish newspaper Tygodnik Peterburgski (Petersburg Weekly), to publish pro-Russian articles in other European nations.
[11] However little success the Third Section's modest propaganda efforts met in foreign presses, it had even less success domestically: rather than print pro-Nicholas propaganda of its own to improve Russians’ opinions of the Emperor, the Third Section resorted to pushing even broader censorship of Russian periodicals, threatening in 1848 to punish publishers not only for running seditious articles but even if the publication's “tone and tendency” was not positive enough.
Alexander effected this removal of power by granting the responsibility for investigation of political crimes, previously the domain of the Third Section, to the Governors-General of Moscow, Kiev, Warsaw, Odessa, Kharkov, and Saint Petersburg.
[16] In the end, the powerful image of the Section and the Gendarmes was largely undermined when they failed to suppress the rising revolutionary movement and acts of terrorism against government officials.
Rather than sort out the confusion and make the Third Section an effective and efficient secret police once again, Count Loris-Melikov ordered it abolished on August 8, 1880.
[17] Managers Gendarme Corps Chief of Staff The Third Section was organized into the following departments (ekspeditsiya); although there was no strict allocation of tasks among different offices.