The NKVD (Narodnyi komissariat vnutrennikh del) was a ministry of the Soviet government responsible for security and law enforcement. Set up in 1917, the NKVD underwent numerous organizational and functional changes. Sometimes it included the secret political police, foreign intelligence, as well as the regular police force, the border guards, and the prison system. At other times, it was divided into two separate agencies, one responsible for state security and the other for law enforcement. These changes were due to political rather than administrative factors. The NKVD's notoriety as an instrument of terror belongs to the periods when the state security apparatus came under its jurisdiction (July 1934 to April 1943, except for February–July 1941).