Glossary

A

Active measures: Actions of political warfare conducted by the Soviet and Russian security services (Cheka, OGPU, NKVD, KGB, FSB) ranging from media manipulation to outright violence.
Agitprop: From otdel agitatsii i propagandy, the Department of Agitation and Propaganda. Political propaganda, originally plays but later any art or entertainment with an explicit political message.
Apparatchik: Derogatory term for a person in a professional capacity of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Soviet government apparatus.

B

Bay of Pigs invasion: Failed 1961 counter-revolutionary invasion of Cuba by a group of Cuban exiles and US military personnel, trained and funded by the CIA.
Belgrade Conference: 1961 meeting of heads of state of nations not formally aligned with or against either Communist or Western blocs, led by Yugoslavia, Egypt and India.
Berlin Wall: Guarded concrete barrier dividing Berlin from 1961–1989, built to prevent unhindered crossing into West Berlin from the surrounding communist-controlled German Democratic Republic.
Bolshevik: Faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) that split in 1903 to become the dominant group which led the Russian Revolution and established the USSR.
Bundestag: German federal parliament.

C

CC CPSU: Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The highest body of the CPSU, by official rules, directing all Party and government activities between Party Congresses. By Stalin’s death, it was primarily symbolic, and the Politburo was the de facto governing force.
Cheka: Secret police (1917–1922), founded and headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky. Succeeded by GPU, OGPU and NKVD.
Chekist: Agent of ChK or Cheka, the Bolshevik security force or secret police formed by Lenin 1917. Later a derogatory term for an agent of any of the Cheka’s many descendants—NKVD, KGB and FSB.
Comintern: The Communist International, an international organization from 1919–1943) dedicated to advancing world communism by all means, including military force.
Containment: Cold War geopolitical strategy of the United States and its allies to stop the expansion of international communism through multiple strategies in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa, Vietnam, and Latin America.
Cossacks: Group of tribal communities in southern Russia and Ukraine with strong military and self-government traditions until the 17th century. Later integrated into the Tsars’ Army. After declaring independence from the emerging USSR, they were subject to purges. Today, millions who identify as Cossacks or their descendants inhabit Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus.
CPSU: Communist Party of the Soviet Union (cf. CPSU Central Committee). The single political party during the USSR.

D

Dekulakization: Campaign of arrests, deportations, and executions of millions of prosperous peasants (“kulaki”) and their families from 1929–1932, in which the USSR expropriated farmlands by declaring the landowners to be class enemies.
Détente: French for “loosening” or “relaxation”. Foreign policy of easing relations between hostile nations. During the Cold War, usually referring to easing relations between East (communist countries) and West (democratic countries).
Dialectics: Philosophy of science and nature based largely on writings of Marx and Engels. Communism was viewed as the natural and necessary end goal of human society.
Duma: The lower legislative body of the Russian Federation (1993–).

E

EEC: The European Economic Community, a regional organization created in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. It was expanded and renamed the European Union in 1993.
Eurocommunism: a revisionist trend in the 1970s and 1980s within some Western European communist parties who sought to undermine Soviet influence.

F

Finlandization: The process whereby a country is induced to favor, or refrain from opposing, the interests of a more powerful country with which it is not aligned, as Finland was during the Cold War.
Ford Foundation: American private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by automobile magnates Edsel Ford and Henry Ford.
FRG: Federal Republic of Germany, the official name of West Germany.
FSB: Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti, the Russian Federal security agency, one of the successor agencies to the KGB.
FSLN: Spanish Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua.

G

Gauleiter: Political official governing a district under Nazi rule.
Gdansk agreement: 1980 accord between the Polish government and striking workers, whose primary demand was the right to create a trade union independent of the Communist Party.
GDR: German Democratic Republic, the English name for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or East Germany.
Glasnost: Literally meaning “openness” or “transparency”, used as a slogan by Mikhail Gorbachev and his government to project an image of reform of the Soviet system.
Gosplan: Abbreviation of Gosudarstvennaya Planovaya Komissiya, “State Planning Committee.” The central economic planning committee for the USSR.

H

Helsinki Accords: Non-binding agreements between 35 Western and Communist nations in 1975 in an attempt to improve relations by renouncing violence and supporting human rights.
Helsinki Groups: Social groups for monitoring observance of the Helsinki Accords
Hungarian revolution: 1956 uprising against Soviet-imposed policies suppressed by a military invasion in which at least 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed.

I

Izvestia: Soviet newspaper founded in 1917, which expressed the official views of the Soviet government. Post-USSR, continued to have close ties to the Russian government.

K

Katyn massacre: Mass execution of an estimated 22,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia carried out by the NKVD in April–May 1940, which Soviet authorities claimed was done by German soldiers.
Kerenskyism: From Alexander Kerensky, a leading figure in the Russian Revolution. Derogatory term for policies of appeasement to Communist influence, enabling their rise to power.
KGB: Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, “Committee of State Security,” the main USSR security agency for the USSR from 1954 until its dissolution in 1991.
Komsomol: Abbreviated from Kommunisticheskiy Soyuz Molodyozhi, “Communist Youth League.” Political youth organization established after the Russian Revolution.
Kosygin reforms: 1965 set of economic policy changes under Premier Alexei Kosygin that introduced sales and profitability as key indicators of business success.
Kronstadt rebellion: 1921 uprising in the Kronstadt Bay area against the Bolsheviks by Russian sailors, soldiers and workers. Several thousand are estimated to have been killed in combat or executed.
Kulak: From Russian kulak, “fist,” a tight-fisted person. Originally a term for affluent independent farmers, later applied to any peasant who resisted collectivization of their land or crops.

L

Lenin Peace Prize: Award instituted by the Soviet government to recognize prominent communists and supporters of the Soviet Union outside the USSR. Usually awarded to several people each year on an ad hoc schedule.

M

Menshevik: Member of the moderate non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, defeated by the Bolsheviks.
MGB: Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, “Ministry of State Security.” The intelligence and secret police apparatus founded in 1946, succeeded by the KGB in 1954.
MP: Member of parliament.

N

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed territory which began in 1988. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, sporadic hostilities continue.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an intergovernmental security and military alliance of North American and European countries created for mutual protection against the Soviet Union. Created in 1949 by 12 countries, in 2019 it consists of 29 member nations.
Neutron bomb: Nuclear bomb designed to maximize lethal neutron radiation while minimizing physical blast and heat. Its aim is to kill people while leaving buildings and grounds intact and habitable.
New Economic Policy: Economic policy proposed by Lenin in 1921 to authorize limited free-market and private entrepreneurship to rebuild the Soviet economy, which had collapsed after the attempt to implement a communist economy in 1918–1920. The policy was revoked by Stalin in 1928.
Newspeak: Fictional “politically correct” language in George Orwell’s novel 1984. The term is used derogatorily to describe language crafted to promote propaganda or exert social control by creating or banning specific words.
NKVD: Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs. Primarily operated as the secret police. Headed, successively, by Yagoda (1934–1936), Yezhov (1936–1938), Beria (1938–1945), and Kruglov (1945–1946). Succeeded by the MVD USSR, Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
Nomenklatura: Literally “list of names,” the key circle of people in the USSR; the Soviet Communist Party leadership as well as key positions in the government.

O

OGPU: Obyedinyonnoye gosudarstvennoye politicheskoye upravleniye, Unified State Political Directorate, the secret police of the USSR (1923–1934). Preceded by the Cheka, succeeded by the NKVD.
OSCE: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, set up after the signing of the Helsinki Accords in August 1976.
Ostpolitik: German abbreviation for “new Eastern policy.” A set of strategies meant to improve relations between West Germany and communist Eastern Europe beginning in 1969.

P

PEN: Acronym for “poets, playwrights, editors, essayists, and novelists.” A writers' association founded in 1921 to promote freedom of expression among writers worldwide.
Perestroika: Literally meaning “restructuring”, a general policy during Mikhail Gorbachev’s government intending economic improvement of the Soviet Union via some loosening of central control, though not fully transitioning to a market economy.
Politburo: The most powerful body within the Communist Party and the USSR.
Prague Spring: Brief period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia in early 1968, which ended with a Soviet invasion that August and the installation of communist hardliners.
Pravda: Literally “Truth,” a Soviet newspaper, founded in 1912 and active official press of the Russian Communist party from 1912–1991. Post-USSR, it was first sold to private concerns, and then later split up into multiple owners, including the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which acquired the newspaper.
Procuracy: From Russian Prokuratura, a Soviet watchdog organization whose goal was to ensure the enforcement of laws and dictates by individual officials and citizens.
Putsch: August Coup of 1991, an attempt by hard-line members of the KGB to retake control of the country from President Gorbachev. It collapsed after two days, hastening the dissolution of the party and the USSR.

Q

Quisling: A traitor, a collaborating leader. From Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian politician who led a Nazi-inspired political party in the 1930’s and became head of Norway’s government during its occupation by Germany in World War II.

R

Realpolitik: foreign policy based on specific conditions, not broad philosophy/ideals. Its main underlying thrust is that world politics is always a field of conflict with various parties seeking power.
Refuseniks: people who were denied permission to emigrate from the USSR and other Eastern bloc countries; primarily referring to Soviet Jews wanting to emigrate to Israel. Other religious groups and ethnicities were also targeted.
RF: Russian Federation, 1991 to present, the successor State to the USSR.

S

SALT II: The second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, through which the United States and USSR agreed to reduce their nuclear missile arsenals in 1979, following seven years of negotiations.
Samizdat: Dissident literature, spread through clandestine means. Vladimir Bukovsky summarized it as follows: “Samizdat: I write it myself, edit it myself, censor it myself, publish it myself, distribute it myself, and spend jail time for it myself.”
SDI: Strategic Defense Initiative, an ambitious U.S. defense system against Soviet long-range nuclear missiles proposed by President Reagan in 1983.
SDP: Social Democratic Party, a centrist UK party founded in 1981. Merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Social and Liberal Democrats.
Sinyavsky-Daniel trial: Infamous trial held in Moscow in February 1966. The first Soviet trial where writers were tried based on their literary work.
Socialism with a human face: A program announced by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in April 1968 to allow moderate liberalization and democratization.
Socialist International: Worldwide association of political parties seeking to establish democratic socialism. Founded in 1951, it has 153 member parties from more than 100 countries in 2019.
Solidarity: Polish Solidarność, trade union founded in 1980 whose demands included the right to union independence from the Communist Party.
SPD: SPD—Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, The Social Democratic Party of Germany. Changed its name in 1890 from the Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands, SAPD), which had been founded in 1875 in the merger of two German Marxist parties. One of the major political parties in post-war West Germany and then re-unified Germany.
Spetsnaz: Abbreviation for Voyska spetsialnovo naznacheniya, “special purpose forces.” Soviet SAS, special forces of USSR and later Russia, involved in many counter-insurrection and anti-terrorism operations.
Stasi: Short for Staatssicherheitsdienst, State Security Service. The East German secret service, established in 1950 and ended with the reunification of Germany in 1990.
SVR: Sluzhba vneshney razvedki, the Foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation. One of the successor agencies to the KGB.

T

Tbilisi massacre: Also known as the April 9 Tragedy. Violent suppression of a massive anti-Soviet demonstration in 1989 in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia.
Trilateral Commission: Non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by American banker David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among Western Europe, North America and Japan.
Troika: A triumvirate—a three-person or three-entity power structure, usually de facto and not officially.

U

USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, established in 1922 and dissolved in December 1991.

W

Warsaw Pact: Collective defense treaty originally signed in 1955, covering the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite nations. Original signatories: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR. Dissolved in 1991.