FROM TRUST TO TREACHERY: UNRAVELING SOVIET INTELLIGENCE TACTICS IN THE 1920S AND 1930S
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Authors
Atherton, Daniel J.
Subjects
Cheka
White Russians
political violence
strategic deception
assassination
kidnapping
Soviet Union
Bolsheviks
GPU
OGPU
NKVD
Operation Trust
Evgeni Miller
Boris Savinkov
Nikolai Skoblin
Sydney Reilly
White Russians
political violence
strategic deception
assassination
kidnapping
Soviet Union
Bolsheviks
GPU
OGPU
NKVD
Operation Trust
Evgeni Miller
Boris Savinkov
Nikolai Skoblin
Sydney Reilly
Advisors
Sukalo, Alexandra
Date of Issue
2023-12
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This thesis examines why the Soviet Union’s intelligence service, in its efforts to neutralize the White Russian movement, chose strategic deception as its primary tactic in the 1920s and political violence in the 1930s. The research effort uses variables common to criminal investigations (victim, means, motive, and opportunity) as a framework to evaluate the decisions made by Soviet intelligence and political leaders in their respective decades. The thesis uses Soviet intelligence operations drawn from each decade as case studies to further refine the comparison.The exercise yields two conclusions. First, the steady consolidation of White Russian leadership after the Russian Civil War was a significant factor in the Soviet choice of political violence in the 1930s. Second, the increase in Soviet intelligence capacity for foreign operations was another significant factor in the move toward political violence. In contrast, Soviet motivations in attacking the White Russians, and the opportunity to do so, did not change significantly from the 1920s to 1930s, and thus did not impact Soviet decision-making. The research result is a refined understanding of how Soviet intelligence adapted to different foreign threats in the interwar period, and the refinement of a research tool applicable to Soviet and Russian intelligence operations up to the present, and those of services trained by the Soviets.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
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NPS Report Number
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.