OGPU is an acronym for Obed'enniy Gosudarstvennoi Politicheskii Upravlennie (Combined State Political Directorate). It was the name of the political police in the USSR in one of the stages of its development.
The OGPU was formed from the GPU in 1923. With the creation of the USSR a unified organization was required to exercise control over state security throughout the new union. It was incorporated into the NKVD in July 1934. The NKVD in turn evolved into the KGB.
The organization and responsibility of the OGPU was similar to Nazi Germany's Gestapo.
See also: History of the Soviet Union
