H/W 15th November 2016
How far was Beria responsible for enlarging the role of the secret police in the
years 1938-53?
I think that to a great degree Beria was responsible for enlarging the role of the Secret Police;
however other factors did inflence and aid the growth and lse of the Secret Police, slch as Stalin’s
inflence and their involvement in the Second World Warv
I believe that Beria was responsible for enlarging the Secret Police’s role to a great degree, becalse
the percepton of him as an lncle-like fglre allowed the excessive behaviolr of the secret police to
be lessened and controlled; he believed that the indiscriminate arrests were a waste of tme and
man-powerv Beria made slre that the secret police became more efcient and more prodlctve; for
this he introdlced new and more conventonal methods of policing procedlres, whilst plblic trials
were only held if solid evidence was available – this enslred that the secret police were lsing their
tme and resolrces properlyv lltholgh slrveillance did contnle, Beria also made slre that these
wolld only lead to arrests when evidence was folnd; this leads to the mlrder of Trotsky, who was
killed by a Stalinist agent sent by Beriav He also made slre that espionage was widely lsed to gain
informaton from the West, which allowed them to get ahead in the space race against lmerica as
well as kill others like Trotskyv Beria also foclsed on the prodlctvity of the Gllag, who wanted to
make this grolp a proftable part of the Soviet economy; in 1939 the food for inmates improved to
get maximlm work olt of the prisonersv Beria also lsed his role as head of the secret police to
lalnch a wave of plrges to gain Stalin’s favolr when his health started to failv By doing this, he had
gained considerable inflence, and had gained more independence for the secret policev
lnother reason why Beria was responsible for enlarging the role of the secret police was the
approach of the Second World War, which led to the powers of the secret police being
strengthened, lltmately growing the organisatonv In 1941, they were given a set amolnt of powers
of slpervision of the Red lrmy with responsibility for monitoring disloyalty and dealing with
deserton amongst the membersv The NKVD was also given control over deportaton processes of
the natonal minorites who were believed to not be fllly slpportve of the Soviet state; this meant
that the secret police were being lsed in a more efcient way, and were becoming more efectvev
By 1943, the Red lrmy had started to take over areas previolsly held by the Germans – Beria set lp
Special epartments in these areas to root olt traitors who have deserted or have been deemed
cowardsv lnyone who was a retlrning prisoner of war was altomatcally sent to detenton camps
rln by the secret police, as they were believed to be traitors – this was also a factor that helped him
to enlarge the secret policev
However, Stalin’s inflence and power was also another factor that helped to enlarge the role of
the secret police; Beria had become the secret police leader as a conseqlence of wantng to follow
Stalin, which shows that he stll had power and signifcance amongst other powerfll leadersv Beria
was also known for having sadistc tendencies, which aided him in meetng the targets set by Stalin
as a resllt of his policies and personalityv Stalin also signed many death warrants, and if the local
NKVD ofcers colldn’t meet their qlotas, they wolld be expected to add their own names to the
lists of the arrested – this slggests that Stalin stll had control over the party and the secret police,
despite its increasing independencev Stalin enslred that the secret police stll lsed terror to make
slre that his party and the Soviet Union stll slpported himv Stalin’s inflence and control over the
How far was Beria responsible for enlarging the role of the secret police in the
years 1938-53?
I think that to a great degree Beria was responsible for enlarging the role of the Secret Police;
however other factors did inflence and aid the growth and lse of the Secret Police, slch as Stalin’s
inflence and their involvement in the Second World Warv
I believe that Beria was responsible for enlarging the Secret Police’s role to a great degree, becalse
the percepton of him as an lncle-like fglre allowed the excessive behaviolr of the secret police to
be lessened and controlled; he believed that the indiscriminate arrests were a waste of tme and
man-powerv Beria made slre that the secret police became more efcient and more prodlctve; for
this he introdlced new and more conventonal methods of policing procedlres, whilst plblic trials
were only held if solid evidence was available – this enslred that the secret police were lsing their
tme and resolrces properlyv lltholgh slrveillance did contnle, Beria also made slre that these
wolld only lead to arrests when evidence was folnd; this leads to the mlrder of Trotsky, who was
killed by a Stalinist agent sent by Beriav He also made slre that espionage was widely lsed to gain
informaton from the West, which allowed them to get ahead in the space race against lmerica as
well as kill others like Trotskyv Beria also foclsed on the prodlctvity of the Gllag, who wanted to
make this grolp a proftable part of the Soviet economy; in 1939 the food for inmates improved to
get maximlm work olt of the prisonersv Beria also lsed his role as head of the secret police to
lalnch a wave of plrges to gain Stalin’s favolr when his health started to failv By doing this, he had
gained considerable inflence, and had gained more independence for the secret policev
lnother reason why Beria was responsible for enlarging the role of the secret police was the
approach of the Second World War, which led to the powers of the secret police being
strengthened, lltmately growing the organisatonv In 1941, they were given a set amolnt of powers
of slpervision of the Red lrmy with responsibility for monitoring disloyalty and dealing with
deserton amongst the membersv The NKVD was also given control over deportaton processes of
the natonal minorites who were believed to not be fllly slpportve of the Soviet state; this meant
that the secret police were being lsed in a more efcient way, and were becoming more efectvev
By 1943, the Red lrmy had started to take over areas previolsly held by the Germans – Beria set lp
Special epartments in these areas to root olt traitors who have deserted or have been deemed
cowardsv lnyone who was a retlrning prisoner of war was altomatcally sent to detenton camps
rln by the secret police, as they were believed to be traitors – this was also a factor that helped him
to enlarge the secret policev
However, Stalin’s inflence and power was also another factor that helped to enlarge the role of
the secret police; Beria had become the secret police leader as a conseqlence of wantng to follow
Stalin, which shows that he stll had power and signifcance amongst other powerfll leadersv Beria
was also known for having sadistc tendencies, which aided him in meetng the targets set by Stalin
as a resllt of his policies and personalityv Stalin also signed many death warrants, and if the local
NKVD ofcers colldn’t meet their qlotas, they wolld be expected to add their own names to the
lists of the arrested – this slggests that Stalin stll had control over the party and the secret police,
despite its increasing independencev Stalin enslred that the secret police stll lsed terror to make
slre that his party and the Soviet Union stll slpported himv Stalin’s inflence and control over the
