abbreviation for KOMITET GOSUDARSTVENNOY BEZOPASNOSTI (Russian for "
Committee for
State Security"), the former Soviet
Union's
secret police, espionage and
security agency. Established in 1954, the KGB was successor to a
series of
state security agencies, the first of which began in 1917. The KGB controlled the
intelligence operations within and without the Soviet
Union. It had a
vast network of employees whose responsibilities were domestic as well as international and included
covert intelligence operations (such as the
secret collecting of
information and the spreading of
false information for such
purposes as destroying a country's repute, etc.), the protection of Soviet political leaders, border patrol (to keep intruders out and citizens in), as well as the
utilization of a large
network of
secret informers within the Soviet
Union itself. These informers, controlled by KGB officers, pervaded all levels of society including the armed forces as well as the
general populace. Their principle function was surveillance of the population to ensure political loyalty and they reported to
administration offices located in every
major town. People found to be anti-Soviet by KGB agents were interrogated and those deemed as
security risks were incarcerated in prisons, forced
labor camps or
psychiatric hospitals
run by the KGB. The KGB became the largest
secret-
police and espionage
organization in the
world, estimated as
having between 400,000 and 700,000 employees in the
late 1980s. In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet
Union, the KGB was reformed and its
personnel and functions greatly reduced.
abbreviation for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Russian for "
Committee for
State Security"), the former Soviet
Union's
secret police, espionage and
security agency. Established in 1954, the KGB was successor to a
series of
state security agencies, the first of which began in 1917. The KGB had a
vast network of employees whose responsibilities were domestic as well as international and included
covert intelligence operations, the protection of Soviet political leaders, and border patrol (to keep intruders out and citizens in). In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet
Union, the KGB was reformed and its
personnel and functions greatly reduced.
the
intelligence and internal-
security agency of the Soviet
Union, organized in 1954 and responsible for enforcement of
security regulations, protection of political leaders, the guarding of borders and
secret or
underhanded operations abroad.