KGB
The KGB, or Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopanosti, was the primary security and intelligence agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until the late 1980s. Established in Moscow, it operated under a veil of secrecy and was responsible for gathering intelligence, conducting counterintelligence, and enforcing state security regulations. The organization was a centralized unit, directly linked to the government, and was notorious for surveilling citizens to ensure compliance with communist ideology. Throughout its history, the KGB evolved from earlier security bodies dating back to the revolutionary era, and its influence peaked during the leadership of figures like Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev, especially as the nation underwent significant reforms.
The KGB's extensive operations included electronic espionage and the maintenance of a secret police force, while its activities sometimes drew public scrutiny due to allegations of political repression and violence, including high-profile assassinations. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the KGB was restructured into the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), which continues to conduct espionage and intelligence operations. Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, has often been associated with the agency's legacy, raising discussions about the ongoing impact of KGB practices in modern Russia. The KGB remains a complex symbol of state power and control, reflecting the broader themes of security, surveillance, and ideology during the Soviet era.
KGB
KGB is an acronym for the Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopanosti, translated from the Russian as the Committee for State Security. The KGB operated in the Soviet Union from 1954 to the late 1980s. The organization ran according to a code of strict secrecy. Chief aspects of the KGB comprised its spy features and tightly run state security systems. No one was exempt from KGB view; citizens were checked on, and KGB officials made sure to know exactly what and how people were doing according to government policy. KGB headquarters were established in Moscow. The organization functioned as a highly centralized unit, as a union-republic state committee. The KGB is known worldwide as the key espionage agency, synonymous with the USSR.
Brief History
The KGB was established in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, in March 1954. Early origins appear as the Checka, the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolutions and Sabotage, set up by Felix Dzerzhisky in 1917. The intention was to protect the Soviet State's security. This goal permeated the NKGB or People's Commissariat for State Security, the MGB or Ministry for State Security, and finally the KGB as it became known. Initially the KGB was set up to be attached to the Council of Ministers of the government in order to act as a committee for state security. In reality, the KGB functioned as a predominantly independent body. In 1977, the Constitution of the Soviet Union ruled that the Council of Ministers had jurisdiction over all ministries and state committees. This included the KGB. The status of the KGB changed in 1978 when a new law was passed, giving the chairman of the KGB a position as a member of the Council of Ministers.
The roster of leaders during the time of the KGB include Leonid Brezhnev, who was the head of the Politburo from 1964 to 1982. Konstantin Chernenko was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Part of the Soviet Union from 1984 to 1985 and was superseded by Mikhail Gorbachev, who took over the reigns in March 1985. His rule coincided with what was termed perestroika, or a time of reconstruction.
The demise of the KGB occurred in the late 1980s amid the fall of communism, followed by the official dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. As Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader, he set about numerous governmental and political reforms. The KGB were subject to one of these reforms, and the office of the KGB became more of an open situation. The media were permitted to enter the KGB offices and open interviews were conducted with some of the officials in the department. Duties of the KGB as they were set in the time of power began to be altered. Once the KGB was no longer operational in its original sense, the name changed to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. The former KGB now acted in a primarily foreign intelligence capacity.
Overview
Structure. The structure of the KGB as an organization involved a division into numerous departments. Each department had a distinctive head, yet the overriding goal of each was to make certain that security regulations were strictly observed. KGB agents worked in the Soviet Union as well as abroad in order to maintain a tight control of security nationally and internationally. Numbers of employees total an excess of 500,000 in the Soviet Union, with additional numbers (up to thousands) employed in the rest of the world. The chairman of the KGB was appointed, rather than elected, by the Supreme Soviet. His selection arose out of the Politburo. The Politburo was constituted with a number of chairmen, including one or two first deputy chairmen and up to four or six deputy chairmen. The KGB Collegium collectively made important decisions as discussed by the chairmen and KGB chiefs.
Duties. The duties of the KGB centered on gathering intelligence. This incorporated spying on other nations as well as conducting counterintelligence initiatives. The role of maintaining the secret police force fell under the auspices of the KGB as did the special military corps and border guard operations. Given the communist regime and the requirement to adhere to these principles, the KGB were responsible for ensuring that behavior was enforced accordingly and any internal resistance to Soviet rule was suppressed. A significant duty of the KGB was the promotion of the communist ideology. Propaganda was distributed and the Soviet cause advocated. There was a strict censorship of material allowed for public purview, with the KGB agents controlling the release or withholding of such information. One of the functions of the KGB which gained renown was the system of electronic espionage which they utilized.
External Intelligence Service (SVR). The External Intelligence Service (SVR) in Russia is considered by today's scholars and media as the pertinent current form of a KGB. The SVR was set up in 1920 as part of the NKVD Foreign Department of the Soviet Union. The NKVD or Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del was the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, whose role was to enforce the law. The SVR functions in a similar vein as the KGB, as an espionage service devoted to protecting Russia.
Negative Publicity. The KGB was known for its use of brute force on numerous occasions. Political assassinations were also claimed as having been at the hands of the KGB, most notably the killing of Leon Trotsky, perceived to be a political dissident. Other alleged assassinations via the KGB include the killing of the United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, and Georgi Markov, a playwright from Bulgaria.
Vladimir Putin and the KGB: Russian prime-minister Vladimir Putin was an officer of the KGB during Soviet rule. The media have used this claim to associate Putin with KGB type sensibilities. His perceptions and loyalties toward the organization who employed him and their espionage activities, and his defense of what he terms the Motherland, have often been quoted.
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