h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I actually went to East Germany a few times while it was in its last days, and no, I wouldn't say the authorities there were 'kind and gentle'. 'Comically inept' would be closer...

Well, I'd still prefer 'authoritarian' to 'repressive', which I think is too judgemental. But it seems that I'm in a minority, so perhaps we should just let the h2g2 editorial authorities decide...

Well, the 'champagne and caviare' remark could be seen as a bit stereotypical. I sometimes think that Bond, James has more of a thing about caviare than the Russians do. Still.

I do hate to be a pain, but all the books I've read about Soviet dissidents and what not always make a bit of a thing about how the KGB was for external affairs and there was another organ for internal affairs. And this was the one which all soviet citizens ran afoul of. It seems to be a tradition to make a point of explaining this I mean, which is why I mentioned it in the first place Kind of like having to mention that cat if you write an article on quantum physics. I think that was the NKVD (or...) but it could be another name, but ran concurrently with the KBG. Bit like the difference between MI5 and MI6.

OK, Solnushka, here's a potted history of the alphabet soup of Soviet State Security organisations. Not very nourishing, I'm afraid.

The first Soviet state security organization, the Vecheka, was created in 1917. The Vecheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-revolution and Sabotage) is more commonly known as the Cheka.

The Cheka was transformed in 1922 into the GPU (State Political Directorate) which was subordinated to the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs). The NKVD had been formed in early 1918 and controlled the militia (police), criminal investigation departments, fire brigades, internal troops, and prison guards.

With the formation of the USSR in 1923 the GPU became the OGPU (Unified State Political Directorate) and was upgraded to an independent directorate of the Soviet Council of People's Commissars (i.e. it was removed from NKVD control).

In 1934 the OGPU was transformed into the GUGB (Chief Directorate of State Security) which was subordinated into the new All-Union NKVD. This marked the beginning of Soviet state security’s most powerful and autocratic period. All key aspects of internal and state security were now subordinated into one body under one leader, most notoriously, from 25 November 1938, Stalin's right-hand man and mass-executioner-in-chief, Lavrentii Pavlovich Beria.

In 1941, a Decree of the CPSU Politburo removed the GUGB from the NKVD and elevated it to equal People’s Commissariat status, creating the NKGB. The new NKGB was responsible for 1) external espionage, 2) counter-espionage throughout the USSR, 3) operations to find and liquidate anti-Soviet parties and counter-revolutionary formations in the USSR and 4) guarding the leaders of the party and state.

In March 1946 the Soviet government was restructured and all People's Commissariats (NK) were redesignated Ministries (M). Thus the NKVD became the MVD and the NKGB became the MGB. Beria became a full member of the Soviet Politburo and a deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers exercising full control over the MVD and MGB.

On 6 March 1953, the day after Stalin died, Beria succeeded in uniting the MVD and MGB into one body, the MVD. In 1954, after Beria's fall, "secret trial", and execution, the monster unified MVD was again split up. The reformed MVD retained its traditional policing and internal security functions while the new KGB took on the state security functions of the MGB.

The KGB was subordinated to the USSR Council of Ministers, the Soviet Cabinet. The final change to the Soviet KGB occured in 1978 when the KGB was upgraded to the "KGB of the USSR". The KGB was now in the inner circle of the Council of Ministers with the KGB Chairman guaranteed a seat on the council.

So at the time of Sakharov's exile the KGB had pretty much the same powers as the old NKGB. That included responsibility for counter-espionage throughout the USSR (S could easily be branded as a spy for the West, and often was) and operations to find and liquidate anti-Soviet parties and counter-revolutionary formations in the USSR (easy enough to pin that on S as well if they liked). You may have the fond notion that these various setups operated in watertight compartments, but the reality was different. Very different indeed.

Deary me, yes. Was just coming to apologise, after a bit of a surf. In fact, I think I looked at the same website as you

*bangs head on floor in admission of uselessness*

It is true about the books dwelling at great length on the differences, but I suspect the people I was reading about were being got at on internal policing charges rather than espionage. It always amused me slightly given I have a blind spot for acronyms at the best of times and Russian ones are many, varied and, as you say frequently indistinguishable in reality.

Sorry, sorry. Does it help that I did like your article a lot?

And look, I didn't even take you to task for downgrading Solzenitsin to an also ran in the most important Russian dissidant stakes (joke, joke).

Cheer up, Solnushka. I'm delighted that you liked the article. Thank you. And it's always interesting to look into points such as you raised - which is why I did just that - and verify the facts. The mystery inside the riddle inside an enigma, or whatever it was that Churchill called it, is still mysterious to many in the West, and I sympathise. The more you study it, the more incredible it all appears at first - till you see it with your own eyes. And we tend to see the USSR in terms of a lumpen 'bloc', whereas in truth at the highest levels it was a continually bubbling cauldron of tensions and rivalries, as the alphabet soup testifies.

True.

And I admit I should have checked myself before I posted the second time, but there you go.

for Belshazzar!

Congratulations on getting under fine entry recommended!

Azara

Congratulations on getting *another* fine entry recommended!

Congratulations Belshazzar!!

This entry has now entered the state of being recommended and joined that couple of your other entries in the subbing system

Well done!

Sir Bossel, you are a Knight of the highest rank! And a Gentleperson.

Congrats indeed!