The KGB Campaign against Corruption in Moscow, 1982-1987
Publication Year: 2010
Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
Front Cover
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Download PDF (169.4 KB)
pp. ix-xv
By investigating the corruption permeating the internal trade organizations of the Soviet Union—and, more precisely, the Moscow trade network—we can learn a great deal about the Soviet system under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev from the 1960s until 1982. The rise of the trade organizations’ power and political influence reflected in many ways the overall evolution of the Soviet system during the Brezhnev...
Chapter 1: A Force That Eluded Control: The Rise of the Moscow Trade Organizations
Download PDF (655.2 KB)
pp. 1-42
In the Soviet Union, from the era of Lenin to that of Chernenko, the Communist Party never lost its power to another political force. Nevertheless, its authority was challenged, and some specialists argue that it occasionally lost its grip on Russian society. To support their argument, scholars have pointed to the 1930s and to the period from 1947 to 1953, when the KGB, by creating a climate of terror, accumulated so much power...
Chapter 2: Integrity and Efficiency: The KGB’s Anticorruption War
Download PDF (686.2 KB)
pp. 42-99
The KGB was shaped by the nature of the Soviet regime, which gave it an increasingly important role after 1917, as well as by the character of its leaders. During the first years of the Soviet Union, it constituted a powerful force because the regime had weak support and was in danger of collapse, thus making recourse to repression very appealing. In 1917, Lenin appointed Dzerzhinski the first leader of the Cheka (All-Russian...
Chapter 3: Who, How Many, and How Much? Corruption in the Moscow Trade Organizations
Download PDF (506.1 KB)
pp. 100-139
From analyzing the impact of the KGB’s crackdown on the trade organizations, we now turn to an analysis of those who were suspected, accused, and convicted of corruption and to the scope of bribe-giving as a form of corruption in the Moscow trade network, scope being a reference to the number of people and the amount of money involved. Among the published analyses of the different facets of this corruption, none has yet given concrete details on the employees in the trade organizations...
Chapter 4: The War the KBG Lost
Download PDF (719.6 KB)
pp. 140-200
The Moscow trade network was already a political force in the Brezhnev era, having acquired considerable influence during the 1960s due to its increasing autonomy in the allocation of resources in the capital. Its political successes were most apparent in the food sector. The leaders of the Moscow trade organization used their influence to promote their interests and were quick to defend the interests of their organizations whenever they were threatened.1 This was particularly true in the 1980s, when...
Conclusion: Changes in the Moscow Trade Organizations
Download PDF (191.2 KB)
pp. 201-211
The nomination of Andropov to be leader of the Communist Party in 1982 was a clear sign that the KGB had regained a level of power in the Soviet political system that it had not had since the 1930s. The security force’s influence had increased during the 1970s, primarily through its battle against lawbreakers—speculators and smugglers, among others—a battle in which, by Soviet standards, the KGB was successful. These operations enlarged the KGB’s responsibilities, particularly when it was...
Appendix
Download PDF (81.2 KB)
pp. 213-215
Notes
Download PDF (207.9 KB)
pp. 217-230
Bibliography
Download PDF (131.0 KB)
pp. 231-235
Index
Download PDF (209.2 KB)
pp. 237-249
Spine
Back Cover
E-ISBN-13: 9780822973850
E-ISBN-10: 0822973855
Print-ISBN-13: 9780822961086
Print-ISBN-10: 0822961083
Page Count: 272
Publication Year: 2010
Series Title: Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies
Series Editor Byline: Jonathan Harris, Series Editor
