The History of the KGB

The KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, or Committee for State Security, in English) was one of the many intelligence and security agencies that have existed within what is today commonly known as Russia. As an independent agency, the KGB was formed in 1954 and was often described as the "sword and shield of the Communist Party." Unlike the CIA in the U.S., the KGB did not serve their countrymen and instead acted as an instrument of the Communist Party. Through its years in operation, until its dissolution in 1991, the KGB served as the lead agency in the Soviet Union for matters concerning:

Foreign intelligence production and analysis,

Domestic intelligence production and analysis,

Protection of certain government officials, and

Border security

With their hands strategically placed in these aspects of the Soviet Union, the KGB was a force that had absolute control of the region during its reign, effectively having a part in any major political decision it chose and driving the country in any direction it so desired. By having control of foreign intelligence, the KGB had the most knowledge of what was happening in the governments around them and were able to control what information their government leaders got to see. By having control of domestic intelligence operations like domestic spying, the KGB could control the citizens of every city in every province, arresting those who sought to dissent against the government. By having control of the security of government officials, each member of government under their protection literally had their lives in the hands of the KGB. Finally, by having control of border security, the KGB had absolute control of whom or what came in to the country.

The KGB eventually became the largest foreign intelligence service in the world. While still focusing a majority of its efforts on domestic spying, the KGB was also successful at infiltrating almost every major western intelligence agency, including the CIA, MI6, and the FBI's counter intelligence offices, to name a few.

At the height of its power, the KGB went so far as to cast into exile several intellectuals and humanitarians labeled as dissidents, including advocates for human rights, religious activists, and two Nobel laureates. Along with exile, those determined by the KGB to be anti-establishment could be kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, and/or killed. The effectiveness and successes of KGB agents is likely directly due to their willingness to utilize the most brutal and ruthless of intelligence gathering methods.

Ultimately, all of the successes of the KGB were not enough to stave off the anti-communist efforts of the United States and its allies during the Cold War or the cries for independence from millions of Soviet citizens tired of living under the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party. In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism from a position of influence in the region, the Soviet Union was divided into fifteen different countries. The KGB remained under the control of the newly formed Russian government following the fall of the Soviet Union, but the spy agency was quickly dissolved. Its members were redistributed to other offices of government by the newly elected Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Amazingly , members and leaders of the former KGB were never held accountable for their crimes against their fellow countrymen.

Sources:

Pringle, Robert W. KGB. This History Channel.

Fall of the Soviet Union. The Cold War Museum.