Why did totalitarian governments recruit secret police as full combat divisions?

Deleted member 97083

The Soviet NKVD, Nazi German SS, and Imperial Japanese Kempeitai all had full combat divisions that fought on the battlefield

Why did totalitarian governments recruit secret police as full combat divisions fighting on the frontlines?
 

Deleted member 1487

The SS weren't a secret police force, that was the Gestapo. The SD was the 'nazified' version when it was amalgamated. The Waffen SS grew out of the Hitler bodyguard unit and were a way for Heinrich Himmler to extend his influence and hope to potentially supplant the regular army at some point. They were like the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The NKVD needed entire divisions to keep control over the regular army in combat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD#World_War_II_operations
During World War II, NKVD Internal Troops units were used for rear area security, including preventing the retreat of Soviet Union army divisions. Though mainly intended for internal security, NKVD divisions were sometimes used at the front to stem the occurrence of desertion through Stalin's Order No. 270 and Order No. 227 decrees in 1941 and 1942, which aimed to raise troop morale via brutality and coercion

They were used to keep control over entire cities and wide areas, so they needed large organizations and combat level organization to maintain their brutal control.

The Kempeitai were a military police force, also a 'secret' police to keep control over the army leadership too.

There was only about 7500 as of 1945, I don't think they formed divisions for combat though apparently they did engage in counter insurgency.
 
NKVD Internal Troops: They were the border guards and garrison troops (guarding railroads, factories, supplies, gulags etc). Having second line units for area security and counter insurgency was a necessary niche. They got upgunned when they needed to be sent to the front line.

Waffen-SS: The same as above except replace border guards with Concentration Camp guards and police. By 1941/1942 they were also used to bypass a German law that prevented the Wehrmacht from recruiting foreigners. And after that basically because Germany had lost all control of the situation.

Kempeitai: I've never heard of them having their own divisions.
 
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Like the others said, SS weren't secret police and the Kempeitai didn't have combat divisions AFAIK. Also don't think I'd consider Kempeitai to be secret police, they were very visible military police. The closest equivalent to the Gestapo in Japan would be the Thought Police.
 
The Soviet NKVD, Nazi German SS, and Imperial Japanese Kempeitai all had full combat divisions that fought on the battlefield

Why did totalitarian governments recruit secret police as full combat divisions fighting on the frontlines?

The SS was not a police force, though it controlled police forces through the RSHA.

It was however the "private army" of the Nazi Party, and provided a counterweight to the Wehrmacht, which was not regarded as reliably loyal to the regime. It was also a vehicle for the military ambitions of the Nazis and Hitler, in particular the idea that true-believing Nazis were better soldiers.

The NKVD was a police force; it contained combat troops because the Party always feared a military coup and wanted an absolutely loyal force to suppress any such plots. (The Soviets were much more paranoid than Hitler.) Also the NKVD troops could be trusted with special weapons, such as the first Katyusha rocket batteries. And they were used to enforce discipline against regular army troops when necessary. (The SS was also used this way toward the end of the war, but in a clumsy manner. I have read that near the end, it was dangerous to be sent as a messenger to HQ, because SS vigilantes were summarily hanging anyone moving to the rear as deserters.)

I've never heard of Kempeitai combat units.

Italy also had "party" units of "Young Fascists" and "Blackshirts" - not associated with the police, but as with the SS, meant to demonstrate the prowess of true believers.
 
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