Ogpu simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Secret police, police established by national governments to maintain political and social control. Setting up shop in the corner house, a secretive headquarters in the. The various name changes of cheka and their dates are given as follows, cheka december 1917 gpu february 1922 ogpu july 1923 gugb july 1934 released for publicnkgb february 1941. The kgb history shows that the soviet intelligence service and secret police checka changed many names and functions before it transformed into the kgb. The city of riga came under soviet control in 1940, and the brutal new leaders brought with them the dreaded kgb secret police. Previously, before the communist regime, romanian secret police was called siguran. This top secret 639 page history of the soviet state security organs was completed in 1977 under the auspices of victor chebrikov,the deputy head of the kgb who later became head of the agencythe book was intended for use in the kgbs special academy for the training of senior officers. Nkvdkgb activities and its cooperation with other secret. Having first read the second volume the world was going our way, the kgb and the battle for the third world, i resolved to expand my knowledge by reading the acclaimed first volume. If you grafted the central intelligence agency cia with the federal bureau of investigation fbi, added a few hefty tablespoons of paranoia and repression, and translated the whole megillah into russian, you might wind up with something like the kgb.
The mitrokhin archive and the secret history of the kgb christopher andrew, vasili mitrokhin. After a brief chapter on the czars secret police, whose horrors from the time of ivan the terrible forward hardly matched those the kgb produced during any single year, the book settles into a pattern, discussing the work of the kgb first inside and then outside the soviet union. It is a history of what we know as the kgb, but was actually many different organizations, starting with the royal russian empire. It was formed in 1954 as a successor of earlier agencies, the cheka, nkgb, and mgb. The federal security service is one of the successor organisations of the soviet committee of state security kgb. The functioning and operation of this apparatus, which surpassed the activities of the police in countries with democratic systems severalfold, had a significant and direct.
Before that it was the nkgb and before that it was nkvd and eventually all the way back to cheka which was the secret police organization created duringafter the russian revolution in 1917. State security general ivan alexandrovich serov russian. It was the soviet unions state security and political police agency, two roles which the cia doesnt have in our democratic society. Particularly notorious examples were the nazi gestapo, the russian kgb, and the east german stasi. Secretpolice tactics include arrest, imprisonment, torture. Active measures are widely believed to be an invention of soviet intelligence. The main focus of the organization would eventually become state security. The secret work of soviet secret agents by john daniel. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The kgb is a russian language abbreviation for komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti.
Lavrenty beria, secret police and atomic bomb project chief loses kremlin power struggle. There was a never an administration that though it had too much power, and due process always seems a burden. The ogpus powers were greatly increased in 1926, when the soviet criminal code was amended to include a. The kgb and the battle for the the third world newly revealed secrets by christopher andrew paperback. Officers were referred to as chekists, a name that is still informally applied to people under the federal security service of russia, the kgb s successor in russia after the dissolution of. Cwihp is pleased to announce the addition of 9 new document to its online digital archive. Bolshevik secret police founded 20 december 1917 on this day in 1917, wasting little time after the revolution, vladimir lenin called for the founding of the bolsheviks security apparatus and the forerunner of the kgb, the cheka. Kgb is the russianlanguage abbreviation for state security committee. Generally clandestine, secret police have operated independently of the civil police. Kgb is an acronym for komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, which translates to committee for state security.
The first secret police after the october revolution, created by vladimir lenins decree on december 20, 1917, was called cheka. Police and politics in the soviet union, unwin hyman 1990 isbn 0044457189 richard c. The origins of the kgb go all the way back to the reign of tsar nicholas ii when, in 1881, the secret police force known as. It operated legal and illegal espionage residencies in target countries where a legal resident gathered intelligence while based at the soviet embassy or consulate, and, if caught, was protected from prosecution by diplomatic immunity. The kgb spy museum opened last month and chronicles the evolution of the soviet secret police from the 1917 founding of vladimir lenins cheka on through joseph stalins nkvd, led by mass. The interrogation of prisoners, especially political prisoners, is highly charged. All of these volumes have a similar style and format, with chapter headings such as the great illegals, love and loyalties, and a dangerous game, along with lengthy appendixes listing code names of secret agents and 16 wq winter 2000 the selling of the kgb. The theory and practice of soviet intelligence, alexander orlov. When the kgb was formed in 1954, it wasnt a new thing. The red files timeline is coded for educators, teachers and students according to the following. The coup of august 1991 a good source for history about the failed coup of 1991 and its aftermath.
The secret police was the most feared institution in the stalinist years. The kgb is the umbrella organization serving as the soviet unions premier security agency, secret police, and intelligence agency, from 1954 to 1991. Zuckermans book is the first to place the entire history of the socalled okhrana within the context of the political and social history of late imperial russia. Officers were referred to as chekists, a name that is still informally applied to people under the federal security service of russia, the kgb s successor in russia after the dissolution of the soviet union. Kgb operations in north america history of the soviet. Internet archive contributor internet archive language english. Although the poststalin secret police, the kgb, no longer inflicted such largescale purges, terror, and forced depopulation on the peoples of the soviet union, it continued to be used by the kremlin leadership to suppress political and religious dissent.
This top secret 639page history of the soviet state security organs was completed in 1977 under the auspices of viktor chebrikov, the deputy head of the kgb who later became head of the agency. The secret police remained the most powerful and feared soviet institution throughout the stalinist period. Of course that is the administration, those on the inside. Like the western intelligence services, the russians get information about foreign states from two principal sources, from secret informants and undercover agents and from legitimate sources such as military and scientific journals, published reference material, and records of parliamentary debates. The secret police acted as the vanguard of the forces of order in this internal war, its tentacles penetrating every corner of russian life. What is the difference between the cheka, the nkvd, and the kgb.
It is more than a secret police organization, more than an intelligence and counterintelligence organization. This is the first of a threepart series based on neverbeforepublished training manuals for the kgb, the soviet intelligence organization that. Russia s main intelligence agency, its security agency and the secret police, all came under the kgb. Its official name was the joint state political directorate. The theory and practice of soviet intelligence central. After the death of stalin, the mvd abandoned extreme violence and was reorganized to form the kgb in march 1954. It was founded on 30 august 1948, with help from the soviet nkvd, while. Kgb, russian in full komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, english committee for state security, foreign intelligence and domestic security agency of the soviet union. Not only is there gulag mentioned above but her other great book, iron curtain. It was actually a successor to a previous soviet secret police organization called mgb.
The kbg counted with a disinformation campaign slandering barron that he was a fake, and his book a fabricated zionist conspiracy. After the dissolution of the ussr, the kgb was split into the federal security service and the foreign intelligence service of the russian federation. The secret kgb manual for recruiting spies history news network. Stay connected to your students with prezi video, now in microsoft teams. Bolshevik secret police founded history channel on foxtel. Secret police tactics include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution of political enemies and intimidation of potential opposition members. During the soviet era the kgb s responsibilities also included the protection of the countrys political leadership, the supervision of. Ogpu was the secret police of the soviet union from 1922 to 1934. Secret police download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Chronology of soviet secret police agencies wikipedia. This episode of red files tells the fascinating story of the men and women who betrayed their western homes to spy for the kgb. Trahair and robert miller, encyclopedia of cold war espionage, spies, and secret operations, enigma books 2009 isbn 9781929631759. The mitrokhin archive and the secret history of the kgb.
An eyeopening history of the komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti or kgb. The secret work of soviet secret agents as want to read. Following the attempted coup of 1991 in which some kgb units as well as the kgb head vladimir kryuchkov played a major partthe kgb was dismantled and ceased to exist from november 1991. It is an instrument for subversion, manipulation and violence, for secret intervention in the affairs of other countries. Important figures in the kgb included those such as major zastrow and his enforcer ivan illyich gort, aka steel wolf, of the red shadows, as well as the not so subtly named kgbeast. The crushing of eastern europe, also has a great deal about how the kgb and other secret police forces were used to uphold the communist regimes in the east. Torture methods used against doomed soldiers and democratic oposition in poland by polish secret police, the ub urzad bezpieczenstwa, mbp ministerstwo bezpieczenstwa publicznego, sb bezpieka between 19441963. This meant suppressing unorthodox political and religious ideas, and the. Online document archive the journal of cold war studies. The fact, as later admitted by kgb officer oleg nechiporenko, is that barrons publication in 1974 of the kgb the secret work of the soviet secret agents dealt a crushing blow to kgb operations throughout the world. Nov 16, 20 after the dissolution of the ussr, the kgb was split into the federal security service and the foreign intelligence service of the russian federation. Top secret history of kgb, 1977, chapters 112 and appendix. In the 1980s, it employed an estimated 500,000 people and controlled all police, security, and intelligence operations in the soviet union. Kgb full english name committee for state security, foreign intelligence and domestic security agency of the soviet union.
Kgb simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The kgb s responsibilities also included the protection of the countrys political leadership, the supervision of border troops, and the general surveillance of the population. The ogpu was theoretically supposed to operate with more restraint than the original bolshevik secret police, the cheka. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
In late 1990, then kgb head vladimir kryuchkov recruited highranking members of the soviet elite into a tightknit conspiratorial cell, which sprang into action the following august after failing to convince gorbachev to either resign in favor of its preferred candidate or declare a state of emergency. Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti kgb is a russian language abbreviation. The cheka, or secret police, was established in 1917 during the civil war in russia. The kgbs responsibilities also included the protection of the countrys political leadership, the supervision of border troops, and the general surveillance of the population. History of kgb kgb espionage museum state security. It was formed in 1954 as a successor of earlier agencies, the cheka, nkgb, and mgb during the cold war, the kgb suppressed ideological subversion. There was a succession of soviet secret police agencies over time. Tiap lebaran telah banyak agen lain, menyodorkan pilihan lain yang lebih ciamik ceritanya. From the okhrana to the kgb christopher andrew like much else in. Yuri andropov yuri andropov, who was head of the kgb, and ultimately general secretary of the soviet government. Now that they are able to speak freely about the situation, western.
The russian kgb was an umbrella organization of ussr up till november 6, 1991. A 1983 time magazine article reported that the kgb is the worlds most effective informationgathering organization. The new soviet foreign intelligence and domestic security agency evolved from the secret police and had many name and organizational changes before it was named kgb. One of the big surprises of the book, for me, is that the kgb actually was the ruling organ of the dictators of the ussr. The sword and the shield by christopher andrew is perhaps the most complete history of an intelligence agency ever written.
The pendulum swung the other way with the ascension of leonid brezhnev in 1964, and, especially, the appointment of yuri andropov as the head of the kgb in 1967. It was the main internal security agency for the soviet union from 1954 until its breakup in 1991. Newly uncovered evidence points to andropovs major influence on foreign affairs from 1967 to 1982, his interest in superpower confrontations with the us, the space race, and disseminating information to the west via victor louis. Russian president vladimir putin is reportedly planning to resurrect the kgb the soviet unions powerful secret police force. For those on the outside, it can be and usually is a very different matter altogether. An acronym for allrussian extraordinary commission for combating counterrevolution and sabotage, it was tasked. The kgb is a russian language acronym for komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti. The kgb has kline, an internal counterintelligence and security branch that kept tabs on other kgb men and loo. Kgb, or komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti committee for state security, was the soviet unions state security and political police agency, serving as the main internal and external intelligence and counterintelligence bureau, and external espionage and counterespionage organization from 1954 to 1991. It also gathered military and political information about other countries. What are some good books to read on the stasi, the kgb. The problem of the kgb and the manipulation of historical memory first appeared on the horizon of our collective consciousness with the publication in 1973 of aleksandr solzhenitsyns the gulag archipelago based upon diaries, memoirs, letters, and oral histories of former prisoners, the gulag archipelago played an important role in the development. The nkvd established numerous secret prisons around the capital madrid, which were used to detain, torture, and kill hundreds of the nkvds enemies, at first focusing on spanish nationalists and spanish catholics, while from late 1938 increasingly anarchists and trotskyists were the objects of persecution.