1944 June: Foreign intelligence and strategic deception are major
factors in Red Army victory in Operation Bagration. August–October:
Polish Home Army uprising in Warsaw is suppressed by German mili-
tary, SS, and paramilitary formations. Smershand NKVD units begin
purge of noncommunist Polish forces.1945 April: Red Army begins assault on Berlin. Adolf Hitler’s body
discovered in early May. 9 May: Germany surrenders to Allies. De-
cember: Elizabeth Bentley defects to Federal Bureau of Investigation in
New York.1946 NKGB and NKVD are renamed MGB (Ministry of State Secu-
rity) and MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs); V. S. Abakumov is named
minister of state security.1948–1949 First Berlin crisis ends with major American victory.
MGB investigates Leningrad case and arrests Aleksei Kuznetzov,
Nikolai Voznesenskiy, and more than 200 of their colleagues from the
Leningrad party apparatus.1950 June 25: Korean War begins with North Korean invasion of
South Korea. September: Leading officials of Leningrad party appara-
tus are executed.1951 Viktor Abakumov is arrested; Semyon Ignatiev is appointed
head of the MGB.1952 19th Communist Party Conference begins as Joseph Stalin sig-
nals that preparations for a purge of old leadership are in place. Arrests
are made in alleged “Doctors’ Plot” by Jewish physicians in the pay of
American intelligence, a signal that Stalin is preparing to move against
enemies in party and security apparatus.1953 1 March: Joseph Stalin suffers massive stroke. 5 March:
Stalin’s death sparks succession crisis. Lavrenty Beria exposes some of
Stalin’s crimes and releases more than a million prisoners. 26 June: Be-
ria is arrested at Presidium meeting. 23–24 December: Beria and sev-
eral subordinates are tried and executed.1954 13 March: KGB (Committee of State Security) is created, at-
tached to the Council of Ministers. December: Viktor Abakumov and
subordinates are tried and shot in Leningrad.CHRONOLOGY• xvii06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page xvii