Process paper
I chose the topic of the J Edgar Hoover for my nhd topic and this led me to choose the KGB for my European history project. My teacher Mr. Bond suggested that it would be interesting to research KGB to look at the similarities between KGB and American spy agencies such as CIA and FBI. I was also interested in this topic because in my past research of FBI and CIA, I have learned that there are a lot of actions of spy agencies that are not taught in school and I was intrigued to see how the Russian perspective would impact this. The topic I chose is important in history because KGB was involved in many events in Russian history and it also had an effect on other countries during the Cold War, especially the USA.
In order to research the topic, I went to online encyclopedias to gain background information about the KGB. I learned about it's origin and how the secret police in russia has a long history of change in names and power. I also found a book by Graham Yost helpful in the research because it went in detail about the history of KGB. In addition, I thought the predecessor Cheka was interesting to look at because it was created to uphold the revolution but it became another tool to suppress freedom of the people. The secret police also went through a lot of change in leadership and some main leaders included Dzerzhinksy, Yagoda, Beria and was influenced by Stalin and Lenin.I used keywords that I found in these sources to look at primary sources.
I used the information in secondary sources to look for primary sources about KGB activities in Russia and and in foreign countries. I found an archive called the Mitrokhin archive and it was helpful because it had notes from KGB and its predecessor. The notes were in Russian but few had English translations and some had summaries in English. I also found some interviews from ex-KGB agents and they provided insight about ideologies of the agency. The sources might have been biased however because they could have been affected by their opinions now.
During my research, I found various archives and websites that had KGB related documents but they were in Russian. One of the websites I found was compiled by historians from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and had various documents about the secret police and its role in these countries. The documents however were in Russian and tried to look up the title of document and find the English translation but I could not find any. I was sort of nervous because I have never experienced this difficulty in finding primary sources. I think the lack of primary sources might have impacted my historical analysis but I tried to look at summaries of documents and also find primary sources from the CIA’’s perspective.
The topic of KGB relates to the theme of cause and effect because it is important to look at the why such an institution was created and how the changes in Russian history impacted the intensity of the KGB's actions. Similarly, the KGB and its predecessors in turn influenced the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Another subject I looked at was the similarities with CIA and other foreign intelligence agencies because KGB are often portrayed as the "bad guys" but there do exist common aspects in all intelligence agencies and their role in how the government and country function.
I chose the topic of the J Edgar Hoover for my nhd topic and this led me to choose the KGB for my European history project. My teacher Mr. Bond suggested that it would be interesting to research KGB to look at the similarities between KGB and American spy agencies such as CIA and FBI. I was also interested in this topic because in my past research of FBI and CIA, I have learned that there are a lot of actions of spy agencies that are not taught in school and I was intrigued to see how the Russian perspective would impact this. The topic I chose is important in history because KGB was involved in many events in Russian history and it also had an effect on other countries during the Cold War, especially the USA.
In order to research the topic, I went to online encyclopedias to gain background information about the KGB. I learned about it's origin and how the secret police in russia has a long history of change in names and power. I also found a book by Graham Yost helpful in the research because it went in detail about the history of KGB. In addition, I thought the predecessor Cheka was interesting to look at because it was created to uphold the revolution but it became another tool to suppress freedom of the people. The secret police also went through a lot of change in leadership and some main leaders included Dzerzhinksy, Yagoda, Beria and was influenced by Stalin and Lenin.I used keywords that I found in these sources to look at primary sources.
I used the information in secondary sources to look for primary sources about KGB activities in Russia and and in foreign countries. I found an archive called the Mitrokhin archive and it was helpful because it had notes from KGB and its predecessor. The notes were in Russian but few had English translations and some had summaries in English. I also found some interviews from ex-KGB agents and they provided insight about ideologies of the agency. The sources might have been biased however because they could have been affected by their opinions now.
During my research, I found various archives and websites that had KGB related documents but they were in Russian. One of the websites I found was compiled by historians from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and had various documents about the secret police and its role in these countries. The documents however were in Russian and tried to look up the title of document and find the English translation but I could not find any. I was sort of nervous because I have never experienced this difficulty in finding primary sources. I think the lack of primary sources might have impacted my historical analysis but I tried to look at summaries of documents and also find primary sources from the CIA’’s perspective.
The topic of KGB relates to the theme of cause and effect because it is important to look at the why such an institution was created and how the changes in Russian history impacted the intensity of the KGB's actions. Similarly, the KGB and its predecessors in turn influenced the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Another subject I looked at was the similarities with CIA and other foreign intelligence agencies because KGB are often portrayed as the "bad guys" but there do exist common aspects in all intelligence agencies and their role in how the government and country function.