Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
List of Soviet secret police agencies, the Soviet secret police agencies and their different names are as follows chronologically.
Note. For most items listed there the secret policy operations were only a part of their functions.
The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky on December 20 1917, was called "Cheka" (ЧК). Officers were referred to as chekists, a name that is still applied to people under the FSB of Russia, the KGBs successor.
- Cheka (Also called Vecheka) - "All-Russian Extraordinary Committee to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage"
February 8 1922 Cheka becomes GPU, a section of NKVD.
- NKVD - "People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs"
In 1923 GPU changed to OGPU but remained under the auspices of the NKVD.
- OGPU - "Joint State Political Directorate or All-Union State Political Board"
July 1934 (O)GPU renamed to GUGB.
- GUGB - "Main Directorate for State Security"
April 1943 NKVD divests itself of the functions of secret policing into the NKGB.
- NKGB - "People's Commissariat for State Security"
In 1946 all People's Commissariates are renamed to Ministries
- MGB - "Ministry for State Security"
- Viktor Semionovich Abakumov 1946 - 1951
- Semion Denisovich Ignatiyev 1951 - 1953
- The East German secret police, the Stasi, took their name from this iteration.
MVD (Formerly NKVD, sans secret policing) and MGB (The formerly independent secret police) in March 5 1953 are merged into the MVD by Lavrenty Beria.
Beria is purged and the MVD divests itself again of the functions of secret policing. The again (As of March 13 1954) newly independent force becomes the KGB
- KGB - Committee for State Security
Now after renames and tulmults, the KGB remains stable untill 1991.
- Ivan Serov March 13 1954 - December 8 1958
- Aleksandr Shelepin December 25 1958 - November 13 1961
- Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny November 13 1961 - May 18 1967
- Yuri Andropov May 18 1967 - May 26 1982
- Vitaliy Fedorchuk May 26 1982 - December 17 1982
- Viktor Chebrikov December 17 1982 - October 1 1988
- Vladimir Kryuchkov October 1 1988 - August 22 1991
- Leonid Shebarshin August 22 1991 - August 23 1991 (Acting)
- Vadim Bakatin August 23 1991 - October 22 1991
After the State Emergency Committee fails to overthrow Gorbachev and Yeltsin takes over, General Vadim Bakatin is given instructions to dissolve the KGB.
Related article
- Okhranka, secret police of Imperial Russia
