Changes

Similar to other espionage agencies, the Russian experience developed from domestic espionage conducted to protect the expanding and increasingly centralized state in the 16th century. Domestic and foreign spying were often kept in the same organization, which continued throughout the Soviet Union period; however, now there were other organizations that also carried out policing and spying activities.  Nevertheless, the structures increasingly became complex by the late 19th century and early 20th century, as Russia and then the Soviet Union found itself protecting a large frontier and spending a lot of effort in domestic policing of its population through counterintelligence and repression of violent groups. With increased internal violence, spying agencies resorted to more violent measures to carry out activities, including heavy use of torture. This likely helped to fuel animosity with the fall of Russia and eventually the fall of the Soviet Union, in both cases where the policing agencies were dismantled, in part due to their violent reputations. Nevertheless, the lessons learned by the Soviets did make them highly effective in using Communist sympathizers to help them steal major secrets and carry out other espionage before and during the Cold War. Espionage in Russia improved through lessons learned from a long history that started in the 16th century.