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The '''Committee for State Security''' (Russian: ''Комитет государственной безопасности'') was the "Sword and Shield" of the Communist party of the Soviet Union.  While its primary function was internal repression of people's basic rights, an external reconnaissance division as it is called, or intelligence organization, also handled spreading the gospel of Marxist international workers revolution to overthrow exiting legitimate governments worldwide, or "the bourgeois order" as Marxists refer to it.

The '''Committee for State Security''' (Russian: ''Комитет государственной безопасности'') was the "Sword and Shield" of the Communist party of the [[Soviet Union]].  While its primary function was internal repression of people's basic rights, an external reconnaissance division as it is called, or intelligence organization, also handled spreading the gospel of [[Marxist]] international workers revolution to overthrow exiting legitimate governments worldwide, or "the bourgeois order" as Marxists refer to it.

During its existence the Committee had many names, finally adopting '''KGB''' in 1954 which was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Empire in 1992.  Historians and writers have often in retrospect used the name KGB to refer to all its predecessor organizations going back to the founding of the Soviet Union.

During its existence the Committee had many names, finally adopting '''KGB''' in 1954 which was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Empire in 1992.  Historians and writers have often in retrospect used the name KGB to refer to all its predecessor organizations going back to the founding of the Soviet Union.

The head of the OGPU at that time was also a member of the Supreme Court, and the Chief Prosecutor of the USSR was responsible for the legality of all acts of the OGPU.  It was simply another ''Cheka'' with broader powers.  These powers grew to such proportions that it became for a while the most powerful and feared government agency.  

The head of the OGPU at that time was also a member of the Supreme Court, and the Chief Prosecutor of the USSR was responsible for the legality of all acts of the OGPU.  It was simply another ''Cheka'' with broader powers.  These powers grew to such proportions that it became for a while the most powerful and feared government agency.  

The OGPU was responsible for overseeing the Belomar (White Sea) Canal [[infrastructure]] project. [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] notes "[[Stalin]] simply needed a great construction project somewhere" to reduce [[unemployment]] and estimates that 100,000 workers, perhaps more, died during the first winter of work on the Canal.<ref>Alexander Solzhenitsyn, ''The Gulag Archipelago'', Vol. II [New York: Harper & Row, 1975], pp. 86 - 98.</ref>

The OGPU was responsible for overseeing the Belomar (White Sea) Canal [[infrastructure]] project. [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]] notes "[[Stalin]] simply needed a great construction project somewhere" to reduce [[unemployment]] and estimates that 100,000 workers, perhaps more, died during the first winter of work on the Canal.<ref>Alexander Solzhenitsyn, ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'', Vol. II [New York: Harper & Row, 1975], pp. 86 - 98.</ref>

==NKVD (1934-41, 1941-43)==

==NKVD (1934-41, 1941-43)==

The KGB was not the only Soviet intelligence organization seeking to subvert and overthrow legitimate foreign governments.  [[Alger Hiss]] for example, was actually an agent of Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU), not the KGB.  This has led to some confusion even today.  

The KGB was not the only Soviet intelligence organization seeking to subvert and overthrow legitimate foreign governments.  [[Alger Hiss]] for example, was actually an agent of Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU), not the KGB.  This has led to some confusion even today.  

Below is a table listing eight different Soviet intelligence entities operating in the United States between the period of 1921 and 1943.

Below is a table listing eight different Soviet intelligence entities operating in the [[United States]] between the period of 1921 and 1943.

*[[Comintern]]

*[[Comintern]]

*[[CPUSA]]; (although CPUSA membership was legal among ''certain'' people at ''certain'' times, membership among government employees and employees of government contractors involved in the war effort, or "defense contractors relating to National Security", to use post-1947 terminology, was clearly illegal.

*[[CPUSA]]; (although CPUSA membership was legal among ''certain'' people at ''certain'' times, membership among government employees and employees of government contractors involved in the war effort, or "defense contractors relating to National Security", to use post-1947 terminology, was clearly illegal.)

*CPUSA '''secret apparatus'''

*CPUSA '''secret apparatus'''

*KGB "legals", i.e. KGB agents registered in the United States on valid visas, operating under a ''[[Rezident]]'' and illegally engaged in espionage. {For the purpose of discussion on this page, KGB is used to encompass all pre-1954 predecessor names conducting foreign intelligence, Cheka or [[VChK]] (1917–22), the [[Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie|GPU]] (1922-23), the [[OGPU]] (1923–34), the [[NKVD]] (1934–41, 1941–43), the [[NKGB]] (1941, 1943–46), the [[MGB]] (1946–47, 1952–53), the [[KI]] (1947-52), the [[MVD]] (1953–54), and the KGB (1954-91)}

*KGB "legals", i.e. KGB agents registered in the United States on valid visas, operating under a ''[[Rezident]]'' and illegally engaged in espionage. {For the purpose of discussion on this page, KGB is used to encompass all pre-1954 predecessor names conducting foreign intelligence, Cheka or [[VChK]] (1917–22), the [[Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie|GPU]] (1922-23), the [[OGPU]] (1923–34), the [[NKVD]] (1934–41, 1941–43), the [[NKGB]] (1941, 1943–46), the [[MGB]] (1946–47, 1952–53), the [[KI]] (1947-52), the [[MVD]] (1953–54), and the KGB (1954-91)}

*[[Essay: KAL 007 Survivors and Gulags of Russia]] KGB Coastal command involvement

*[[Essay: KAL 007 Survivors and Gulags of Russia]] KGB Coastal command involvement

*[[Yuri Bezmenov]]

*[[Yuri Bezmenov]]

==References==

==References==

*[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/09/06/015.html Historians Put Once-Secret KGB Files Online], ''Moscow Times'', September 6, 2007, Issue 3737, Page 3.

*[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/09/06/015.html Historians Put Once-Secret KGB Files Online], ''Moscow Times'', September 6, 2007, Issue 3737, Page 3.

*[http://www.kgbdocuments.eu/ Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania]

*[http://www.kgbdocuments.eu/ Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania]

* John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, Alexander Vassiliev, ''Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America''

* [[John Earl Haynes]], [[Harvey Klehr]], [[Alexander Vassiliev]], ''Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America''

 

[[Category:Espionage]]

[[Category:Espionage]]

[[Category:Soviet Union]]

[[Category:Soviet Union]]

[[Category:Intelligence Agencies]]

[[Category:Intelligence Agencies]]