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kgb: a history ofKomitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti
means “Committee for State Security.”
This is the name of the legendary Russian secret police organization the
KGB. The secret police of the communist
state of Russia was founded in 1954 after it evolved from several
predecessors. The first of these
organizations was born into existence in 1917 during the time of the Bolsheviks
rule over Russia and was originally called VECHEKA. The organization was primarily aimed at
squelching all protests, uprisings and enemies of Bolshevism.[i] It wasn’t long after the creation of the
Cheka—as the VECHEKA soon became called—that they began to take power into
their own hands and increased their responsibilities and duties. The force became a self-named judge, jury,
and executioner to not only the enemies of the Bolshevik party but to anyone
that they found unfavorable. In 1922, the Bolsheviks decided the need for this
secret group had been outgrown and as a result, abolished it.[ii] The successor to the Cheka was a group that
operated under the name GPU for nearly two years and then beginning in late
1923 as the OGPU. This group operated on
several new premises, as they existed under a new leader—Joseph Stalin—and
under a newly formed government: the USSR.[iii] The OGPU expanded on the duties of its
predecessor by not only searching out enemies of the state but also by
performing counterintelligence and police actions.[iv] Following the OGPU in the succession of
Russian secret police organizations was the group called NKVD. This group still contained a tinge of the
previous OGPU but with enhanced power of investigative and judicial processes
that were needed by Stalin during his powerful reign throughout the 1930’s.[v] The focus of this organization grew to
include foreign enemies of the USSR as Stalin became increasingly paranoid of
the opposition to his party.
Espionage—both inside and outside the USSR—were the focus of the NKVD as
well as the use of the forced labor camps.[vi] The year 1941 saw changes come for the
Russian secret police group. The
organization known as the NKVD split into another organization known as the
NKGB, which was designated as the agency that dealt with Russian state
security. In 1946, both organizations
became ministries of the government and assumed new titles. The NKVD became known as the MVD and the NKGB
as the MGB. The MGB also expanded its
duties during World War II to include espionage and counterespionage for the
USSR.[vii] The power of this organization continued to
grow as time went on and they inherited the duties of deportation, satellite
intelligence, treason investigations, and persecution of various minority
groups.[viii] The MGB evolved into the organization known
as the KGB in 1954. The KGB co-existed
with the MVD and became the group concerned with security of the state.[ix] The KGB was given the opportunity to grow
like none of the previous secret police organizations before it had. It eventually assumed the powers of
espionage, intelligence, labor control and became the eyes of the communist
party both on foreign and domestic soil.[x] The KGB evolved into such and important part
of the communist party in the USSR that if it were to vanish “with it would
evaporate the basic means of regulating Soviet thought, speech, and behavior;
of controlling the arts, science, religion, education, the press, police, and
military.”[xi] The KGB remained an intricate part of Russian
security until the fall of the communist system in 1991 when it was stripped of
its military power and divided up into separate intelligence units.[xii] The VCHEKA were formed in 1917 under
the rule of Lenin for the purpose of supporting the Bolshevik rule and helping
to abolish any who may have opposed it or sought to bring an end to the rule of
the Bolsheviks. The VCHEKA soon became
known as the Cheka and were initially involved in the protection and
preservation of the Bolshevik party.
However, this power quickly grew as the Cheka “quickly took upon itself
the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of enemies of the state.”[xiii] During the time of the Civil War, the Cheka
became heavily involved in the operations of the Red party. The duties of the Cheka ranged from not only
protecting the interests of the Bolsheviks but to controlling the whites and
working to squelch the war that raged inside of Russia. The Cheka are responsible for the symbol of
the sword and shield that was later adopted by the KGB. “The KGB adopted the Cheka symbols of the sword
and the shield: the shield to defend the revolution, the sword to smite its
foes.”[xiv] The Cheka began a rule of terror with their
no-nonsense techniques and their scare tactics.
“The Cheka did not execute its victims in public, but published lists of
victims. Though this practice later
lapsed, the executions lost nothing in terror-inspiring quality through greater
secrecy.”[xv] The Cheka sought out any supporters of the
revolution against the Bolsheviks and held these executions as a lesson in
state security and rule. It is
estimated, that during the time of the revolution, the Cheka executed close to
fifty thousand people whom they believed to be enemies of the Bolshevik rule.[xvi] During the civil war, the Cheka also claimed
that many western governments had staged plots to overthrow the Bolshevik
government and that they were responsible for thwarting these attempts.[xvii] The Cheka continued to grow due to their
recruiting methods and also due to the fear that they struck into the hearts of
the Russian people. They eventually grew
away from military control and numbered near seventy thousand members in
1920. However, in 1922 Lenin became more
and more concerned with the legalities of police control and abolished the
Cheka. The duties and responsibilities
of the Cheka were given to a newly created organization called the GPU.[xviii] The successor to the Cheka was a
party that was given the name GPU. The
initials of the GPU stood for State Political Administration.[xix] The GPU was created to take over the
responsibilities of the Cheka while starting off with a clean reputation that
was in direct contrast of the Cheka. For
nearly two years it went under the name GPU until the name was changed to OGPU
with the O standing for united. This
name change occurred at the same time that the state adopted the initials USSR
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and stood to symbolize the new government
under Stalin and the unity and togetherness the party was bringing to the
country.[xx] Despite the efforts to promote the OGPU as a
new form of state police protection, their duties strongly resembled those of
their predecessor. Although the civil
war had ended by the time the OGPU came into existence there was still and
underground resistance that was trying to fight the Red party. Their efforts were to establish a nationalist
underground and eventually overthrow the communist reds. The OGPU assumed the duties of fighting this
resistance just as their predecessors had.
“The GPU was ordered not merely to collect intelligence on the émigré
White Guards and Ukrainian nationalists but also to penetrate and destabilize
them.”[xxi] The OGPU had also begun to expand its
horizons to include intelligence efforts targeted toward the Western
powers. The Soviets had the upper hand
on intelligence efforts against the rest of the world for two main
reasons. The first of these was because
the USSR was adamant about security, both domestic and now increasingly
foreign, and they were already gaining valuable experience. The rest of the world was at disadvantage
because of the carefree attitudes on global intelligence. The second advantage that the Soviets had
with the OGPU was that the Communist party had significant numbers in the West
and had a large pool of possible recruits for intelligence operations outside
of the Soviet Union whereas the Western influence inside the country was
minimal.[xxii] The OGPU discarded the practice of execution
that was characteristic of its predecessor and instead turned toward the
placement of enemies of the state in concentration camps.[xxiii] These camps evolved from the beginning stages
where they were simply relocation camps for those who opposed the Communist
party to their latter form of labor camps where the prisoners were subjected to
labor that advanced the well being of the party and the country. By the 1930’s, the OGPU had a stronghold over
the majority of the police power in the Communist state. They were responsible for the deportation of
groups of peasants and had a stronghold on various government offices and
intelligence units throughout the country.[xxiv] The OGPU melded into an organization
called the NKVD—an acronym that stands for the People’s Commissariat of
Internal Affairs—in 1934 and inherited the immense power of the OGPU.[xxv] “The NKVD also controlled the militia
(ordinary police, fire services, registry offices and various other departments
not directly concerned with State security.”[xxvi] It was also during the reign of the NKVD that
the secret police demonstrated the highest amount of brutal force that the
Russian people had seen from any of the secret police forces. “This episode also became notorious in Russia
as the Yezhovshchina from the name of Nicholas Yezhov, head of the NKVD during
the two peak years.”[xxvii] During this reign of terror, millions of Russian
citizens were killed and sent to forced labor camps. Neither social class nor political beliefs
could be blamed for this purge as even two former heads of the organization
were not safe from feeling its wrath.[xxviii] Stalin’s
post-war years, 1945-53, represent the most obscure period in the history of
the Soviet security apparatus. During
this phase one is dealing more than ever with a secret police, the development
of which must be chronicled in terms of strong, or less strong, presumption
rather than on the basis of hard facts such as are often simply not available.[xxix] The NKGB was born out of a division
in the NKVD and was given the task of being in charge of State security in
1941. The two groups existed in this
form until 1946; at which point they became ministries of the USSR and were
renamed the MVD and MGB respectively.
The MGB was primarily involved in “espionage and counterespionage during
World War II, administered prisoner-of-war camps, exercised political
supervision of the armed forces, and was generally responsible for internal
security.”[xxx] Following the conclusion of World War II, the
MGB gained more power and control over the counterespionage game as they
expanded their horizons to include controlling several satellite states as well
as keeping an eye on anticommunist activities around the world. They controlled interrogation of suspected
traitors and others who were determined to be against the Communist cause. Stalin’s death in 1953 saw the end of the MGB
as it once again merged with the MVD.
Slowly, the MVD was stripped of its power and in 1960 it had been
completely abolished.[xxxi] The
demise of the MVD had little effect on State security however due to the
creation of the KGB in 1954. The purpose
of this organization was to finally put State security in the hands of the
Communist party. The KGB’s tasks were generally
defined in official Soviet publications as encompassing four areas; the
struggle against foreign spies and agents, the exposure and investigation of
political and economic crimes by citizens, the protection of state borders, and
the protection of state secrets.[xxxii] The KGB was also charged with other
responsibilities, which involved preventing crimes of both a criminal and
political nature.[xxxiii] The new organization brought changes to State
security both in the eyes of the public and in the way that security was
handled by the USSR. Great measures were
taken to ensure the secrecy of the organization and to also paint a clean image
while the organization was in the infant stages.[xxxiv] The KGB in addition to performing matters
concerning State security also partook in regular actions that affected the
general population. When the polio
epidemic hit the USSR in 1950’s it was the KGB who took charge and fought the
disease to keep it in check although the epidemic was denied and refuted.[xxxv] The KGB recruitment process was exact and
particular in the types of people that it sought after. One trait that was looked for in possible KGB
recruits was loyalty to the Communist party.
Potential agents were required to be members of the party and were
thoroughly examined to determine a strong foundation of party beliefs. Another determination is made on basis of
character. When examining a recruit for
character, no holds were barred as “it is permissible to resort to everything:
blackmail, bribery, and threats” were made to determine a persons character and
put extreme pressure upon it.[xxxvi] Such techniques used are pitting the person’s
character against him. This includes
threatening a person dedicated to his family with harm or loss of the family,
which they hold dear.[xxxvii] The KGB began to get involved in the
espionage war with the United States by establishing and recruiting operatives
to work in the United States on behalf of the Russian secret police. In 1966 it was determined that a major
improvement in intelligence was needed against the United States: the main
adversary of the Soviet Union.[xxxviii] Illegal operatives were setup in the United
States and the intelligence war with them ensued as tensions grew between the
two countries over intelligence and the Cold War.[xxxix] The KGB continued its ruthless tactics on
foreign political figures as well as it grew in power throughout the 1950’s and
1960’s. “In 1954 two notorious attacks
were mounted against NTS (National Labor Union), the émigré Russian anti-Soviet
organization.”[xl] The KGB continued to grow in power into the
1980’s even though it was plagued with problems. Officers of the KGB had begun to doubt the
sincerity of their government and the party that stood behind it and
consequently defection became an option for several. News of these attempts was discouraged in the
USSR and attempts were made to recover officers and agents who succeeded in
their defection.[xli] The KGB underwent structure changes in the
late 1970’s when a law was passed that made the chairman a member of the
Council of Ministers. This was a change
from the previous position of the KGB as a committee that was simply attached
to the Council of Ministers. This helped
to establish the KGB’s ultimate authority as an official position in the
Russian government instead of one that had just been acquired.[xlii] The KGB had also established itself in most
government institutions by this time and had operatives widespread throughout
the government and the world. However,
even though it appeared to be widespread, the centralization and organization
of the KGB was very rigid and secure.[xliii] The downfall of the KGB has been brought in
part by the corruption that had begun to spread in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The use of propaganda by the State party had
become evident to some individuals and began to spread slowly. It was determined that ranking officials
inside the KGB had no regard or respect for the law and with that had no
understanding of the repercussions that came with the violation of it.[xliv] As a result of these growing suspicions and
doubts in the government and party that the KGB protected, it’s demise came in
1991 when it was stripped of its military functionality and its many domestic
powers. This fall ran in conjunction
with the fall of the Communist party in Russia in the early 1991.[xlv] The
Secret police forces in Russia helped to carve the nation’s identity throughout
its Communist rule in the 20th Century. The various organizations played a key role
in the power that was exerted by the Communist party both on the foreign and
domestic level. During the peak of the
KGB rule, it was estimated that 300,000 members existed throughout the world to
help contribute to the power of the Soviet Union and tend to the
responsibilities of the KGB. The
KGB—throughout its reign—conducted the most extensive and successful espionage
operations that any nation has ever seen.[xlvi]
It has left a model to be studied with both successes and mistakes to be learned
from for intelligence organizations across the globe. [i] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 134. [iv] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [v] Ibid. [vi] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 68. [vii] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [viii] Ibid. [ix] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 225. [x] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xi] John Barron, KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents (New York: Readers Digest Press 1974), 1. [xii] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xiii] Ibid. [xiv] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 23. [xv] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 126. [xvi] Ibid. [xvii] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 25. [xviii] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 132. [xix] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xx] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 134. [xxi] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 32. [xxii] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 35. [xxiii] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 136. [xxiv] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xxv] Ibid. [xxvi] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 157. [xxvii] Ibid. [xxviii] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xxix] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 202. [xxx] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xxxi] Ibid. [xxxii] John Pike, Functions and Internal Organization. (Accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/kgb/su0515.htm; Internet. [xxxiii] Ibid. [xxxiv] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xxxv] Filipp Bobkov, KGB – Former Soviet Union – State Security Bodies. (Accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.globalspy .com/kgbbobkov.html; Internet. [xxxvi] Aleksei Myagkov, Inside the KGB (New York: Arlington House, 1976), 45. [xxxvii] Ibid. [xxxviii] Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 190. [xxxix] Ibid. [xl] Ronald Hingley, The Russian Secret Police (New York: Simon and Schuster 1970), 233. [xli] Robert M. Gates, Spymasters and the Cold War. (Accessed 17 September 2000); available from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?TS=969234789&RQT=309&CC=1&Dtp=1&Did=00000001C; Internet. [xlii] John Pike, Organization of the Committee for State Security. (Accessed 15 September 2000); available from http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/kgb/su0515.htm; Internet. [xliii] Ibid. [xliv] J. Michael Waller and Victor J. Yasmann, Russia’s Great Criminal Revolution: The Role of the Security Services (Accessed 15 September 2000); available from http://www.afpc.org/issues/crimrev2.htm; Internet. [xlv] Encyclopedia Britannica Online, “KGB,” (accessed 18 September 2000); available from http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?tmap_id=110718000&tmap_typ=dx; Internet. [xlvi] Ibid.
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