Espionage Study Guide Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 9330 words ( 31 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 31

Espionage

Burds, Chapter 19

Golden Age of Soviet "Illegals"

Cambridge Five: Burgess, Blunt, Maclean, Philby and Cairncross

These five were all discovered to be spying for the Soviets.

Cairncross was never caught. He supplied Stalin with secrets that helped the Soviets stay ahead of British Intelligence, especially at the Battle of Kursk

Cairncross also informed Stalin of ULTRA, when Churchill was hiding ULTRA from Stalin

Cairncross supplied a total of 5832 documents to the Soviets

Cairncros had been working with ciphers at Bleckley Park

Alexander Orlov wrote Handbook of Intellience and Guerilla Warfare in 1963, seminal treatise on the subject

Orlov was the architect of the Golden Age of Illegals of Soviet spy network in the 30s

Orlov was born in Belarussia in 1895, studied law, drafted into tsarist army, fought in October Revolution and Civil War.

Re-entered law school, joined Communist Party, entered intelligence in 1926 and rose quickly

He was a spy in Paris and Berlin, returning to Moscow in 1930.

In 1932, went on a trade delegation to the U.S., obtained a passport as William Golden.

With this alias, he went to Paris, then to London. He was William Golden of American Referator Company, became controller of Philby @ Cambridge.

Orlov continued to use U.S. alias in Switzerland, Estonia, Italy and Spain. Command covert operations behind Franco's lines.

Orlov was called back to Moscow to be executed, but fled using his U.S. alias and money he's skimmed from the Soviets. By 1938, he was back in Moscow as 3-star general with the NKVD

Orlov had fled to the U.S., and when he ran out of money he published his story in Life Magazine, to the embarrassment of Hoover and subsequent Congressional appearance.

Recruitment of sources: most hazardous task. Best tactics are:

Appeal to idealistic purposes

Appeal to personal gain (money, career)

Romantic entanglements

Love of adventure

To conceal a hidden crime

Homosexual deviation and other devices

Blackmail is not commonly used, but is an excuse used by those who are caught to mitigate their guilt

Informants were often people with valuable information who needed money -- civil servants and military

"Honey traps" were sometimes effective, but especially with homosexuals because of social implications

Money is a bigger factor today than it was then -- personal problems were a contributor and the handler offered a way out of the personal problems.

Nightcrawling -- combing DC-area bars and clubs looking for disaffected military, and their weaknesses

False Flag Method -- pose as someone who needs the information for another purpose (i.e. commercial) so that the person selling does not think he is betraying his country

Orlov used heroic trajectory -- to build the spy up as a hero when he was actually the opposite

Philby -- recruited by a scout (his economics prof), and a handler, who took him to Berlin to see the scourge of fascism, and meet his "honey pot" future wife.

Philby built a false identity as a supporter of fascism and was asked to list possible candidates for recruitment -- the other Cambridge Five were all on that list

Orlov wanted to recruit students from upper class families because they tended to take rapid upward career trajectories, putting them in a position to learn things very quickly

The men were plied with young female agents, those with leftist sentiments who engaged in romantic relationships and acted as key ideological influencers

All Five were sons of famous men who struggled to emerge from their fathers' shadows, and their work with NKVD gave them purpose in life.

Philby provided NKVD with insight into MI6

The Five played a key role in the decision of Stalin to sign the 1939 non-aggression pact.

Stuck Writing Your "Espionage Study Guide" Essay?

View All Our Example Espionage Study Guide Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written



Maclean had leaked info about Hitler-Chamberlain negotiations to Moscow. Stalin knew the West was wanted to work with Hitler against the U.S.S.R., so he dropped his opposition to fascism, at least until war broke out.

Chapter 20: Operation Barbarossa

Stalin had at least 84 sources informing of German intent and readiness to launch Barbarossa

Stalin dismissed all reports as misinformation, believing Churchill responsible

The Soviet intelligence system from all over the world confirmed the attacks well ahead of time, all rejected by Stalin

This institutional myopia led to the denial of this imminent attack in the fact of overwhelming intelligence

Philby was rejected by Stalin for not confirming that this was all misinformation

Philby would eventually be head of MI6's Section IX for anti-Soviet operations

The Cambridge Five were at times suspected of being double agents

Late in the war, key intel provided by Philby would change Soviet perceptions of him.

Philby then provided the NKVD with info on all British agents around the world

Back to Barbarossa -- political leadership must trust the spy network in order for the spy network to be effective

Stalin was guided by a sour history with British intelliegence and by German misinformation

Richard Sorge, an agent in Tokyo, noted that old, unfit Japanese soldiers were in Manchuria, while the good ones were in the south. This meant that Japan was not going to attack the U.S.S.R.

Gen. Zhukov moved his forces (40% of total) to Moscow, arriving just in time to repel the Germans

Red Orchestra -- loosely affiliated group of Soviet espionage rings in Nazi-occupied Europe

There were four main groups: PTX (Belgium), Red Three (Lucerne), Trepper (occupied Europe), and Schulze-Boysen/Harnack (Germany)......

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Espionage Study Guide" (2013, November 28) Retrieved June 25, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/espionage-study-guide-178305

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Espionage Study Guide" 28 November 2013. Web.25 June. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/espionage-study-guide-178305>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Espionage Study Guide", 28 November 2013, Accessed.25 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/espionage-study-guide-178305
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example