Soviet Union 1991

First update

The abolition of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will always arouse the dissatisfaction of some vested interests. KGB Chairman Kryuchkov is the one who criticizes the most. The relationship between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB is also very mysterious, even in Bailey In the era of Asia, the name was still the KGB and it was an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

However, the owner of Lubyanka would not be so easily captured. He came to Yanayev's personal apartment in the Kremlin and argued with the Soviet General Secretary, trying to let him retain the tradition of the Internal Affairs Ministry of the Soviet Communist Party. He did not want to imprison him. The power that was firmly in the hands was dispersed among various departments. Then let the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs change from aloof and powerful agencies to departments that only enjoy certain special powers.

"The tradition of the Soviet Union is that there is a functional department that can firmly monitor and control everyone's behavior. Reducing the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is undoubtedly a wrong choice." Kryuchkov's deeper words are, General Secretary, you actually They are attacking the KGB.

But how could Yanayev's determination to reduce the Ministry of Internal Affairs be denied in a few words? In the leader's apartment in the Kremlin, Yanayev, sitting on the sofa, refuted Kryuchkov's views on the spot.

"Yes. From the Cheka to the General Administration of Political Security, it has developed to the Internal Affairs Commissariat. Its functions have included our current Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Justice and the army. It integrates political security, domestic counterintelligence, foreign intelligence, Integrated with social security, it gradually evolved into a huge organization that managed labor camps, had directly affiliated internal affairs forces, and even had its branches within the Soviet Red Army!”

Yanayev stared at Kryuchkov and said word by word, "The rights of a department even cover all aspects. Anyone would be wary of this department. Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs actually belongs to the Council of Ministers , But if the Council of Ministers is not concurrently held by the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the KGB, will they take the Council of Ministers seriously? I am afraid that only our colleagues in the Political Bureau can suppress your domineering arrogance? "

From Andropov to Gorbachev and now Yanayev, almost all of them have been working towards a balance of power, starting with reducing the KGB's power to supervise the people. Now that certain powers have been further decentralized, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is like a victim accurately dismembered by a scalpel, step by step from being dismembered from a sturdy strong man to a pitiful worm without limbs.

However, Yanayev still reserved the most basic item for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is to maintain domestic social stability and unity. Not only did Yanayev not reduce the powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in this regard. Instead, it expanded their authority.

"But if there is no strong department to supervise and lead other departments, it will easily cause difficulties in carrying out work." Kryuchkov said, trying to use his own words to make Yanayev change his mind.

"So you are saying that it is a good choice for me to keep a department that may launch a coup at any time? Comrade Kryuchkov?" Yanayev chuckled and shook his head, as if talking to Kryuchkov Just like telling a joke.

"Do you remember what I told you before? We don't need democracy and freedom. Because those are lies fabricated by despicable and shameless politicians in the West. Likewise, we don't need centralization developed under the pretext of national security. Domination, because the concentration of power will lead to terrible political struggles. IMHO, you can look at the history of the Soviet Union. How many government leaders were elected to power? Stalin killed Trotsky, Khrushchev got Beria through a coup, but he himself was overthrown by his dear student Brezhnev. Gorbachev had slightly better luck. After all, Andropov and Chernenko died one after another, which gave him the opportunity to come to power.”

Yanayev did not mind telling Kryuchkov this at all, "At the beginning, I stipulated that the position of General Secretary should not exceed eight years, that is, to prevent the advantages and disadvantages brought by the lifelong tenure of the Chairman, including political struggles. Now I The purpose of reforming the Ministry of Internal Affairs is also to prevent political turmoil from happening again and to ensure a smooth transfer and transition of power.”

"But Comrade Yanayev, how will you supervise the party and hostile elements in the future?" Kryuchkov asked.

"Ideological struggle is no longer the main factor. Economic development is the top priority of the Soviet Union. Do you still notice the posters of American imperialism posted everywhere? Those things have long been No more." Yanayev's deliberate downplaying of the political struggle does not mean that the Soviet Union is not wary of the United States. The United States will always be the evil empire in Yanayev's heart.

"Although there are occasional political conflicts with the West, we have also accelerated the transformation of the economic market. Not only have we restored the measures in Lenin's New Economic Policy to a certain extent, we have also modified the shortcomings caused by Stalin's system. . Although their achievements cannot be clearly seen for a while.”

Yanayev's method is more inclined to state control of the lifeline of the economy and then reform the market economy. The vast majority imitated China’s reform system. It is much better to be in the hands of the political bureau than to be taken over by those oligarchs.

"So. The functions of the same Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB are very different from before. For you, it is more important now to specialize in homeland security. Especially Islamic extremism and national separatism in Russia The rise of franchise countries should be more vigilant in this regard.”

"So, Comrade Kryuchkov, now you know why I want to weaken the power and functions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Yanaev put his hands on his knees. Looking at Kryuchkov who was silent in front of him. The words have been made so clear. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is now responsible for national security. As for other important tasks such as ideology, they are handed over to the Soviet Propaganda Department and the Central Secretariat. They don't have to worry about these things anymore.

Kryuchkov knew that it was meaningless to continue to entangle, so he simply chose to respect Yanaev's decision. Intuition told me that there would be no good end to going against the general secretary.

"Goodbye. General Secretary Yanaev." After Kryuchkov finished speaking to Yanaev, he stood up and left. After the Ministry of Internal Affairs was weakened, there was no doubt that the next one would be the KGB. Yanaev would never want a department that could challenge authority in this country.

"GRU." Yanaev whispered softly. As the intelligence department of the army's general staff, Yanaev also began to set his sights on this department. Although these intelligence agencies outside the government departments have always been unpopular and unwelcome, this is why Marshal Beria appeared in the People's Security Committee, while General Berzin appeared in the GRU.

GRU, also known as the All-Soviet Military Intelligence Bureau, was initially responsible for the military intelligence of the Soviet Army. It made many contributions to the Soviet Union in the civil war and the Great Patriotic War, but its scale was far less than that of the State Security Committee. The biggest difference between the two is that the GRU plays a greater role at the military level, while the KGB plays a greater role in maintaining the country's political order, but their authority is also higher than that of the GRU. And most importantly, the KGB can be said to be affiliated with the government to a certain extent, while the GRU is affiliated with the military intelligence agency of the Soviet General Staff.

Obviously, the GRU was also used by Yanaev to disperse the power departments of the KGB, especially the Border Guard General Administration. It is well known that the KGB has a large number of border guards. The Border Guard General Administration leads the border military districts, border guards and outposts. Although the headquarters of the border guards is not large, the total number of border guards exceeds 220,000. For a large country like the Soviet Union with a long border, this is the minimum number allowed by practical needs.

In the late 1980s, Kryuchkov wrote to Gorbachev, telling him that he urgently needed to expand the border guards, improve their material conditions, and increase their financial investment. Border guard funds have accounted for half of the total budget expenditure of the State Security Committee, and a considerable part of it is used to update or maintain technical equipment, military technology and weapons, target facility construction, communications, and pay salaries for major units.

After moving the Border Guard Bureau from Lubyanka, it will be subordinate to the GRU, which means that the budget of the State Security Committee will likely be reduced by half, and the power of the KGB will also be reduced by half. Because Yanayev's previous disarmament action also made those people in the Soviet Army General Staff complain, and expanding the functions and powers of the GRU can just be used to shut these people up. Look, Moscow doesn't treat the GRU as an outsider. So you'd better keep quiet about the issue of disarmament.

"In this way, we have finally reached the ideal balance. The reduction of the KGB's power should be long-term, not radical in the short term."

After abolishing the Border Guard Bureau, for Yanaev, the KGB has finally returned to a relatively safe level. At least like the CIA in the United States, it has power, but it is not so powerful that it is above the party.

After Yanaev wrote a list of names on paper, he put down his pen and put the list on the side of the table. In addition to Kryuchkov and Pugo, there are Comrade Sergei and Comrade Srechenkov of the First Directorate. As the current three-person team of the KGB, their power to call the wind and rain in the government can be said to be considerable.

Previously, Yanaev had used the KGB’s manpower in his actions against government corruption, but he was also worried about the corruption and bureaucracy within the KGB, so during the Great Purge, Yanaev chose to ignore and compromise with some KGB officials.

After gradually consolidating his power, Yanaev finally won the opportunity to reorganize. He wanted to let the entire Soviet system know that no one’s authority could override the party. (To be continued.)