History of the Communist Party USA the retiring head of the party, William Z. Foster, published a book entitled "Toward Soviet America", which laid out the Communist Party's plans for revolution and the building of a new socialist society based on the model of Soviet Russia. In that same year, Earl Browder became General Secretary of the Communist Party. At first, Browder moved the party closer to Soviet interests and helped to develop its secret apparatus or underground network. He also assisted in the recruitment of espionage sources and agents for the Soviet NKVD. Browder's own younger sister Margerite was an NKVD operative in Europe until
Military history of the Soviet Union one-man command. Throughout the history of the Soviet Army, the Soviet secret police (known variously as the Cheka, GPU, NKVD, among many others) maintained control over the counterintelligence "Special Departments" (Особый отдел) that existed at all larger military formations. The best known was SMERSH (1943–1946) created during the Great Patriotic War. While the staff of a Special Department of a regiment was generally known, it controlled a network of secret informants, both chekists and recruited ordinary military. Under the direction of Lenin and Trotsky, the Red Army claimed to adhere to Karl Marx's proclamation that the bourgeoisie could be overcome