USSR, State Security Committee: the history of the security service

In 1991 the USSR collapsed. The State Security Committee disappeared with this country. However, the memory of him is still alive not only in the post-Soviet space, but also far beyond its borders.

On account of the KGB, there are countless special operations that have had a serious impact on the development of the political situation in the world. Up to now, many memories of one of the most effective special services in the world have come through folk folklore. Hundreds of anecdotes, myths, names of names and other.

Creating a structure

Immediately after the victory of the revolution, the new people's power created special agencies in the USSR. The State Security Committee de jure appeared only in 1954. At this time, after the death of Stalin, there were quite large-scale reforms. The security authorities have also undergone changes. The KGB, in fact, existed and long before that, just had other names. The department was quite autonomous, and its leaders played a significant role in the party's political system. Especially, beginning with the so-called Khrushchev's "thaw", when the party began to slowly move away from the old ideals and more and more to get bogged down in the quagmire of the bureaucracy and nomenclature.

In the post-war years, until 1954, a large-scale counter-espionage program continued in the USSR. The State Security Committee took part in it directly. There was a huge number of spies, scouts, informers and so on. However, during the Khrushchev reforms, personnel were significantly reduced. As it became known from the documents published in Russia, almost half of the people were reduced.

The Hierarchy of the KGB

Employees of the Soviet special services controlled all processes in the country and beyond, which could threaten the security of the people. In Moscow there was a central administration. Also in each republic there were their own central committees. Thus, the order from Moscow was given to the republican administrations, which were 14, and then - to the seats. In every city, district, autonomy there were also departments. The chekists, as the people of the service called the people, were engaged in the investigation of especially important or resonant crimes, counterintelligence, the search for spies, political dissidents. For this, one branch answered. There were also others.

Departments

This is the department for ensuring border security, which protected the state cordon and prevented the entry of potentially dangerous persons and the departure of unreliable elements. Department of Counterintelligence, which dealt with anti-spyware activities. Foreign Intelligence Department. He organized special operations abroad, including power operations. Still there was a department that dealt with ideological issues abroad and in the USSR. The State Security Committee paid special attention to this direction. The employees took a direct part in the control and creation of products of artistic activity. Agents recruited foreign cultural figures to propagate communist ideals.

Known secret operations

One of the most famous operations of the KGB was carried out in 1945. The Soviet Union was rebuilt after the destruction of the war. In early February, a children's health camp "Artek" opened in the Crimea . Ambassadors of the United States and Great Britain were invited to the opening ceremony. At the end of the celebration, the pioneers performed the hymn of the United States of America in the original as a tribute to a military alliance. Then the flattered Harriman was given a wooden hand-made coat of arms. The unsuspecting ambassador hanged him at his desk. In the arms was not at that time analogues bug "Zlatoust." It could work autonomously without power supplies. He allowed the special services to listen to the ambassador's office for 8 years. After the discovery of the listening device, the Americans tried to copy it, but without success.

Military operations

The State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR was often involved in various military operations. One of the very first was the operation "Whirlwind". In 1956, a mutiny broke out in Hungary against the ruling party, which was loyal to the USSR. The State Security Committee immediately developed a plan to eliminate the rebel leaders.

At the end of November, bloody battles broke out between the supporters of the nationalist counterrevolution (many of whom supported the Third Reich in World War II) on the one hand, and the Hungarian security services along with the Soviet troops on the other. The State Security Committee of the USSR did not take part in them, but developed a plan to seize one of the rebel leaders, Imre Nagy. He was hiding in the embassy of Yugoslavia, from where he was deceived and deceived to the Romanian side, where he was arrested.

The invaluable experience gained helped the KGB in the next similar operation in Czechoslovakia, where the counter-revolutionary insurgency also had to be suppressed with the help of the Soviet troops, because of the inability of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia to do it themselves.

The State Security Committee of the USSR was established in 1954 and existed until 1991. The memory of one of the most successful special services in the world has survived to this day.