Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

from CPUSA personnel to Soviet agent handlers. Nevertheless, by

the 1940s the link between communist parties and Soviet intelligence

services was clear.

COMMUNIST PARTIES (FOREIGN). Between World War Iand

World War II, foreign communist parties tamely accepted the direc-

tions of Moscow. The Comintern, with its offices in Moscow, con-

trolled the parties through the assignment of special Comintern rep-

resentatives, financial subsidies, and discipline. Failure to accept the

party line meant excommunication. Before 1945, the Soviet intelli-

gence services had a close and symbiotic relationship with foreign

communists. Communist party members became a pool of recruits

for the services: the code word for party members in Soviet intelli-

gence traffic was “fellow countrymen.” After 1945, Soviet intelli-

gence had greater luck in recruiting communists in France, Italy, and

Germany on ideological grounds. The American and British pools

had pretty much dried up.

The Comintern and then after 1943 the international department of

the Communist Party’s Central Committee used the security service

to deliver cash to foreign communist parties. As late as the Mikhail

Gorbachevyears, the KGBdelivered an annual stipend of $2 mil-

lion to the American Communist Party (CPUSA). The Soviet

archives reveal that the KGB brought similar stipends to many North

American and European parties. In the case of the CPUSA, it was a

waste of funds. The CPUSA barely attracted 20,000 voters in presi-

dential elections and had no impact on American culture or society.

COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (CPSU). The So-

viet security services had a symbiotic relationship with the ruling

Communist Party. The Chekastyled itself as the “sword and shield

of the party,” and the successive services maintained this relation-

ship. Indeed, the identification cards of KGBofficers had embossed

on them a sword and shield. When Joseph Stalinserved as party

leader from 1924 to 1953, he managed the service through a Special

Department. Stalin paid close attention to the assignment of senior

officers and often communicated with them through telegrams and

personal letters. He encouraged Chekistyto bring their concerns to

him, and he became the prime consumer of gossip and denunciations

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