What is Espionage?
Espionage, also known as spying, is a dangerous career, but one the is important to national security, especially during wars.
There are three main parts to espionage:
1. Collection of documents and evidence
2. Counter intelligence - laying false trails to confuse the enemy
3. Covert operations - planned operations to conceal identities, put pressure on enemies and to support allies
Other aspects of espionage also include surveillance and research.
Spies were often non-descript individuals because they needed to blend into many different environments and if they were caught by their enemies they would be held hostage and normally tortured for information.
Espionage, also known as spying, is a dangerous career, but one the is important to national security, especially during wars.
There are three main parts to espionage:
1. Collection of documents and evidence
2. Counter intelligence - laying false trails to confuse the enemy
3. Covert operations - planned operations to conceal identities, put pressure on enemies and to support allies
Other aspects of espionage also include surveillance and research.
Spies were often non-descript individuals because they needed to blend into many different environments and if they were caught by their enemies they would be held hostage and normally tortured for information.
Intelligence Agencies During the Cold War
America, Britain and the USSR each had their own branches of Intelligence Agencies and national security. America have the CIA, England the MI and the USSR had the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopanosti). CIA during the Cold War: The CIA began as the Office of Strategic Services but this dissolved in 1947 to become the Central Intelligence Agency. The agency conducts espionage and military operations around the world. Harry Truman, William D Leahy and William J Donovan created the CIA out of the need of an intelligence agency separate from the government. The Agency handled the international espionage while the FBI handled the domestic side. The way the CIA is structured was shaped by the Cold War. MI during the Cold War: England's Military Intelligence also had domestic and international sections. Section 5 was the domestic section and worked alongside MI6/SIS, the international half. It was established by Vernon Kell, an army captain and linguist. The aim and purpose was the same as the CIA and other national security services. |
THE KGB WAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST SPY AND NATIONAL SECURITY ORGANISATIONKGB during the Cold War:
The KGB - Committee for State Security - was formed 1954 in Moscow. Originally it was the Cheka (USSR secret police) and changed names several times before becoming the KGB. While the predecessors of the KGB used terror to control public dissent, the new committee did not. They did the normal things for a national security service to do – gather intelligence, conduct counterintelligence, and so on - but they also were in charge of enforcing Soviet morals and ideology. |
Spy Gadgets
Gadgets were an important part of any spy's repertoire. From hidden guns to miniature cameras to little transmitters in shoe soles, the array of weapons that spies were furnished was extensive. Below are a few of the most amazing and popular gadgets of them all. Sedgley OSS .38 Glove Pistol This was a .38 single shot pistol designed in Philadelphia and was used by the Naval Intelligence Office. The gun was mounted to the back of a cowhide glove, with which the spy would normally wear a long sleeve garment to hide it. To activate the gun, you had to first make a fist and punch your target. Upon impact, the bullet would be fired. Code in a Compact Good for female spies, this gadget was a makeup compact with code typed on the mirror. The code could only be read from a certain angle. The Bulgarian Umbrella An dart gun disguised as an umbrella was a tool that the KGB used to assassinate journalist Georgy Markov. The dart contained ricin, a highly toxic protein produced in the seeds of castor oil plants. Lipstick Gun Used by the KGB and also known as the "Kiss of Death", this tube of lipstick concealed a 4.5mm gun which was fired by twisting the bottom. F-21 Pocket Camera This KGB issued camera was created to fit inconspicuously on a piece of clothing. The lens was disguised as a button and a wire ran down to a pocket hole where the spy could squeeze the trigger and snap a shot. |
"SPYING
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