| Combat Organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party | |
| Native Name: | Боевая организация партии социалистов-революционеров |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Dates: | – |
| Country: | Russia |
| Ideology: | Revolutionary socialism Populism (Russian) |
| Position: | Left-wing |
| Partof: | Socialist Revolutionary Party |
The Combat Organization (or the Fighting Organization) was the terrorist branch within the Socialist Revolutionary Party of Russia. It was a terror sub-group that was given autonomy under that Party. In his memoirs, group member Boris Savinkov called the group the "Terrorist Brigade."[1] (This phrasing was followed in his own memoirs by Whittaker Chambers, an American spy for the Soviets.[2])
In 1902, Grigory Gershuni founded and led the group. In July 1904 they murdered the Russian Minister of the Interior, Vyacheslav von Plehve.
In 1904, Gershuni was arrested, and Yevno Azef succeeded him, with Boris Savinkov as his deputy. Azef, a double-agent in the employ of the Tsarist secret police Okhrana, changed the Terrorist Brigade's mode of attack from firearms to dynamite.In its middle period (1903–1906) the brigade's members included more than a dozen women and more than four dozen men—some nobles, honorary citizens, priests, and merchants. Most were 20–30 years old; 19 were Jews, and two Poles.[3] In 1908, Savinkov succeeded Azef, but the group disbanded shortly thereafter.