Imperial Security Service (Vierzland)
| Kaiserlicher Sicherheitsdienst (KSD) | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 9 May 1920 |
| Dissolved | 10 January 1990 |
| Type | Secret police Intelligence agency |
| Jurisdiction |  Vierz Empire |
| Headquarters | Trausch Building, Adtrus |
| Motto | Kaiser und Heimat Emperor and homeland |
| Employees | 112,654 (1990) |
| Agency executives |
|
The Imperial Security Service (Vierz: Kaiserlicher Sicherheitsdiesnt, KSD) was the official secret police and intelligence agency of the Vierz Empire from 1920 until its abolition in 1990. It was one of the most prolific and effective security services of the Silent War. It was described as a state within a state due to its "stranglehold" on Vierz politics and national security matters for seven decades.
The KSD was founded in 1920 by order of Emperor Alexander II in the aftermath of Vierzland's defeat in the Frontier War, which had provoked widespread domestic turmoil. It was a cabinet-level agency, but operated outside of the cabinet's purview and was responsible only to the Emperor. Its main tasks became domestic surveillance, foreign intelligence gathering, and the maintenance of internal security.
The KSD became known for its brutality and state terrorism. During and after the Great War, the KSD were responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, such as the Red Cleansing, in occupied territories, which left over 500,000 dead. During the Silent War it operated pervasive spying and support networks to support Vierzland's geopolitical goals, often cooperating with and supporting terrorist organizations to do so. It used torture, psychological warfare, and assassinations to eliminate political dissent. Over 200,000 Vierz were detained, imprisoned, tortured, or killed by the KSD during its existence. During the chancellery of Jens Pohl, the KSD operated death squads that performed extrajudicial executions.
The Vierz Revolution of the 1980s brought an end to the KSD's existence after the abdication of Victor IV. Chancellor Heinrich Werner dismissed the agency's last head, Baldur Katzenbach, in 1989 and did not appoint a successor. It was formally abolished with the dissolution of the Vierz Empire in January 1990. Many of its senior officials were tried and sentenced for crimes against humanity in the 1990s, but others gained clemency or fled the country to avoid prosecution.