Concept in Definition ABC

The dreaded secret service of the USSR during the Cold War It went down in history with the collapse of the country it protected, a direct consequence of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is his story.

The KGB denomination was not always that of the Soviet secret services, being created as such after the Second World War and in the middle of the Cold War.

Its direct predecessor was the Stalinist NKVD, led by the sinister and powerful Laurenti Beria, although this organization was only in charge of the safety internal (read control and repression of anyone who might appear dissident), while the KGB was in charge of espionage outside the country, as well as counterintelligence and repression of dissidents.

Its foundation in 1954 responded to the needs of the Cold War scenario, which required large agencies with many attributions and a constant flow of information between departments, that could overcome the quarrels Y competence Earlier that, for example, were so damaging to the German war effort during World War II due to the enmity between the heads of the different intelligence services.

In addition to its powers as an espionage and counterintelligence service, it also had police functions such as internal security of the USSR.

That is why he had so many agents who worked incognito - and who identified themselves as such at the time. timely, such as when making an arrest - such as with a certain number of troops uniformed. In fact, the KGB was a military body and therefore dependent on the army regardless of whether it could employ civilians (who were under military jurisdiction).

His methodology Operational was identical to those of the rest of the secret services that worked during the Cold War, both in espionage work on the enemy (or on third parties that could be considered "neutral", but who were interested in influencing or monitoring), such as looking for spies who operated in territory Soviet or its states satelite.

From the USSR it was considered that the KGB protection mission should include the "living space" within the Curtain of Steel, for which the espionage service collaborated closely with the intelligence services of the countries Europeans.

We cannot extend such cooperation to the secret services of all communist countries since, for example, the USSR maintained an arduous rivalry with Maoist China, to the point that there were even some serious armed incidents on the border that divided both states.

In this context, close collaboration at the level of intelligence it is totally disposable, although there may have been specific collaborations for mutual benefit.

The KGB is also known to be a very well-oiled intelligence-gathering machine.

This is especially true in the case of internal dissent; It is well known that one of the main "problems" of dictatorships is external dissent, which is why the KGB compiled large amount of information about people and movements that he could consider potentially or overtly dangerous to integrity politics of the USSR.

One of the most notorious cases carried out by the KGB was the infiltration of the secret services British (MI5 and MI6) starring the so-called “Cambridge Five”, whose most famous agent is Kim Philby.

The group, which acted out of conviction, was recruited in the 1930s by the NKVD, but from 54 on they began to operate under the jurisdiction of the KGB.

This infiltration can be considered one of the most successful and famous in history, since Philby became appointed head of MI6's counterintelligence section, meaning that he should be the one to pursue himself to get caught... yes, it certainly seems like a joke.

Philby also secured the liaison post between the CIA and MI6 in Washington, from which he continued to pass on valuable information to the Soviets. He defected to the USSR in 1963.

Aldrich Ames was another American who, during the 1980s, spied for the USSR while working at the CIA.

Other famous cases of espionage in favor of the USSR must be placed in the time frame of the intelligence agencies that preceded the KGB and, therefore, are outside the scope of this Article.

After the disintegration of the USSR, the FSB (Russian secret service) can be considered

On a curious note, the current Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had been a KGB counterintelligence agent.

Photos: Fotolia - Alarico73 / Militarist

Topics in KGB