In World War II, he served as the political commissar of a brigade
and was decorated for heroism. Following the war, Brezhnev served as
a senior party official in the provinces and Moscow. In the early 1960s
he became Khrushchev’s de facto deputy, but in 1964, with Aleksandr
Shelepinand other Politburo members, he began to plot against
Khrushchev. Brezhnev used the KGB to isolate his patron as he pre-
pared the October 1964 coupthat unseated the country’s leader.
As the new Soviet leader, Brezhnev stocked the KGB with former
political cronies from his home town, including Viktor Chebrikov,
Georgi Tsinev, and Semyon Tsvygun. He worked closely with KGB
head Yuri Andropov, allowing Andropov great sway to broaden
KGB operations internally and externally. In 1981, however, An-
dropov began to plot against Brezhnev. The KGB spread rumors
about corruption in the ruling family, as well as Brezhnev’s declining
physical and mental health, creating confusion in party senior ranks
and perhaps hastening Brezhnev’s death in November 1982. The
Brezhnev era is known today in Russia as a period of “stagnation”
during which the KGB stifled religious and political dissent and the
country fell further and further behind the West.BROWDER, EARL RUSSELL (1891–1973). A leader of the Amer-
ican communist movement in the 1930s through World War II,
Browder also played an important role in Soviet espionage. Brow-
der, whose NKVDcode names were “Helmsman” and “Father,”
was an important link between the Soviet’s intelligence apparatus
and communist sympathizers within the Franklin D. Roosevelt ad-
ministration. In decoded Soviet intelligence messages from the
1940s, Browder is mentioned 26 times as Moscow’s agent. One of
his most influential contacts was Jacob Golos, who ran an impor-
tant espionage ring in Washington. Browder also had extensive ex-
perience as an intelligence agent. In the 1920s he traveled to China
on a Cominternmission with his lover, Kitty Harris, who became
an NKVD illegal.
Browder often acted as a talent scout, passing on potential candi-
dates to NKVD case officers. Despite his activities as party leader
and intelligence agent, however, Browder was considered too soft by
Moscow. In 1946 he was relieved of his position and expelled from
the party. In less than a year, he went from helmsman to pariah, andBROWDER, EARL RUSSELL (1891–1973) •3706-313 A-G.qxd 7/27/06 7:55 AM Page 37