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Komitet Gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti
Committee of State Security.After Stalin's dead and the liquidation of Beriya the high command ordered a reorganization of MGB, which had over 300,000 soldiers, a secret police, military technology and agents abroad. The new KGB became three main tasks - to empower communism in USSR (the fight against class enemy), to guard the state border and to command espionage abroad.
In real, the first twenty years seemed to be a period of following the Cheka tradition (thanks to its chief I.Serov). But the deployment of East German agents into the structures of NATO is considered his major success. After the bloody revolution in Hungary in 1956 and after being said not to reveal a possible revolt against Khrushchev he was replaced by A.Scheliepin in 1958.
Scheliepin during his three-year period continued to raise the level of education and language knowledge of KGB men. He was blamed for the Cuban Crisis, but it was not his fault. He warned Khrushchev that an open confrontation with the USA was no good thing, but Khrushchev rather dismissed him as to cancel his plans.
In 1961 the high post was overtaken by V.Semichastyi. He tried to push KGB into the position of Stalin-men-free organization. He saw, that the USSR were losing the technical touch with the developed world and therefor he tried to reform the KGB into a technical espionage organization, but he gained no results.
He was replaced by Y.Andropov in 1967 (a die hard Chekist). His main source of result became Vietnam. He had stolen weapons, equipment and other useful things. Even a lead cryptographer was kidnapped. That led to a massive reorganization of US communication network. Andropov was able to deal better with the change of political slants in Czechoslovakia in 1968 than in Hungary. The death tolls were kept at absolute minimum. He also fancied technical espionage but the Russian industry was not able to use the results fruitfully. So he had more successes in desinformation, increasing the influence in the Third World and in training terrorists.
The loss of position and credit in the 70s and 80s meant a stagnation of the KGB, too. In 1982, Vitaliy Fedorchuk was named head of the KGB and he should be trained for the post of minister of inner affairs. He was replaced by V.Chebrikov in one and half years time.
When V.Kryuchkov was named in 1988 the fall of the empire was at full speed. The last chief of the collapsing KGB was Vadim Bakatin, appointed by M.Gorbachev. Bakatin tried to change the image of the KGB what strongly upset the conservative leaders. As a sign of goodwill and openness he handed over the printings of prepared bugging of the US embassy.
The KGB was officially dismissed on 24.6.1991 by M.Gorbachev. Bakatin was appointed to lead two divisions of MSB (Mezhrespublichnaya sluzba bezopasnosti) The new KGB was named AFB (Agenstvo federalnoy bezopasnosti), but the structure was changed only a little.
The KGB used to be divided into several administration
I. Division - foreign intelligence, about 12,000 workmen in 20 geographical areas (1.USA, Canada, 2. Austria, Germany etc.) Other departments were named alphabetical for their desigment - Division K - counterintelligence, Division TX - technical and science, Division S - placing saboteurs and "illegals", Division A - desinformation and covert operation
II. Division - Department of the inner security (until the fall of KGB commanded by German Titov)
III. Division - counterintelligence inside the army and department of state
VII. Division of communications, cryptology and connections
VIII. Division - supporting rear department for other Divisions
Very important was the Administration of Border Armies with over 230,000 soldiers.
The KGB was employing 0.5-2.5 million people and the budget was about 6-12 billion dollars.
Abroad, the KGB had its seats at the embassies, consulates, TASS centers, Novosti, Aeroflot and business seats (together with the GRU).
The Moscow central of the KGB was in the Big Ljublanka and there was a special section in each republic.
