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Soviet Union [USSR] After Khrushchev
Brezhnev evidently had learned a lesson from Khrushchev's
experience and went out of his way to raise the status of the
police and clamp down on political dissent. The KGB's investigative
powers were extended in 1965 to include certain categories of
economic crime, and it continued to be accorded favorable publicity
in the Soviet press. Its growing prestige and authority
accommodated those neoconservative trends that manifested
themselves during the late 1960s and 1970s: curbs on cultural
freedom, a crackdown on dissent, and a partial rehabilitation of
Stalin.
Brezhnev and his party colleagues became worried about the
ambitions of Shelepin, however, and decided to put an end to his
influence over the security police. In May 1967, Semichastnyi was
removed as KGB chief, and by November of that year Shelepin was out
of the Central Committee Secretariat. The new KGB chairman was
Iurii I. Andropov, a Central Committee secretary who had served as
ambassador to Hungary and later as head of the Central Liaison with
Communist and Workers' Parties of Socialist Countries Department.
He was apparently a neutral figure politically, agreed upon by all
members of the collective leadership; Brezhnev, however, managed to
bring in several of his own protégés to serve directly below
Andropov. The most important of these was a KGB official named
Semen Tsvigun, reportedly Brezhnev's brother-in-law, who was made
first deputy KGB chairman in December 1967. Viktor M. Chebrikov was
another official with links to Brezhnev who was brought to Moscow
to serve in the KGB. The presence of his allies in the KGB
leadership was a source of strength for Brezhnev, and he made
certain that their careers prospered. In addition to encouraging
favorable publicity for the KGB, Brezhnev was careful to ensure
that employees of the KGB were well paid and enjoyed significant
privileges and perquisites.
Brezhnev may have underestimated the political prowess of
Andropov, however. Andropov benefited from the increased powers and
prestige that the KGB gained under the Brezhnev leadership and
became a powerful political leader in his own right. As Brezhnev's
death became imminent in 1982, Andropov began contending for the
top party post. His success in reaching his goal in November 1982
was due partly to his attack, using KGB files as weapons, on the
Brezhnevites for their involvement in corruption. Not surprisingly,
Andropov's short tenure as general secretary (November 1982-
February 1984) was marked by a stronger KGB role. Even Andropov's
illness and death did not result in a decline for the KGB. On the
contrary, the extended period of political upheaval in the Kremlin
following his death seemed to increase the KGB's influence. Its
officials received prominent coverage in the press, and KGB
representation on party and state leadership bodies grew.
Data as of May 1989
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