HST 3049: Spies and Subversives: British Counter-Espionage and Political Surveillance, 1931-1955
Taught
Level 3: semester 1
Module Leader: Mr. Richard Thurlow
Restrictions
This module cannot be taken in conjunction with Mr. Richard Thurlow's Level 3 Special module, HST 3023/3024: Britain's Secret History, 1908-1951. Nor can this module be taken in conjunction with Dr. Julie Gottlieb's Level 3 Special module, HST 3069/3070: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Britain, 1923-1945
Pre-requisites
A pass in at least two history modules from HST200 - HST299.
Module Summary
This module examines the response of the British 'Secret State' to Soviet and Fascist/Nazi espionage and subversion from the 1930's until the early Cold War. The 'Open Government Initiative' has led to the 'opening of the books' with regard to the ongoing release of MI5 files from this period into the National Archives, since 1997. Through the use of declassified primary source material from this and associated files in the Home Office, Foreign Office, and Cabinet Office, the module will examine the performance of MI5, in peace and war, against the 'main adversary' (either the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany) during this period, and the domestic political surveillance of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the British Union of Fascists and other Mosleyite organisations.
Teaching
Two one hour sessions per week. One of these sessions will be a seminar, the other will be based on document work and informal lecture. The topics which will be covered include:
| Themes |
| The formation of the Security Service in 1931 |
| The Red Menace in the 1930's |
| The Political Surveillance of British Fascism, 1932-39 |
| Soviet Espionage in the 1930's |
| British Counter-Espionage against European Fascism, 1936-39 |
| The Phoney War and the Security Revolution |
| Internment and the Tyler Kent Affair |
| MI5 |
| The CPGB and the Second World War |
| Nazi Agents and Double-Agents |
| The Magnificent Five of the Cambridge Comintern (Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt and Cairncross) |
| Atom Spies and the Cold War |
Selected Reading
- Michael Smith, The Spying Game: The Secret History of British Espionage, rev. ed. (London: Politico's, 2003)
- Christopher Andrew, Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Community, (London: Heinemann, 1985)
- John Curry, The Security Service, 1908-1945: The Official History, (Kew: Public Record Office, 1999)
- R. Thurlow, The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)
- Nigel West and Oleg Tsarev, The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB's Archives, (London : HarperCollins, 1998)
There is also a growing historiography on the subject which includes a range of interesting material from official histories of British Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, the KGB version of events, to a range of popular journalistic accounts which in turn vary from the informative to those offering a more dubious gloss on events. For those who can visit the National Archives at Kew, there is a wealth of new Security and Intelligence material which can be used in the course of dissertation work.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Students completing this module will have developed:
- A broad understanding of significant issues in a substantial period of French history, enabling the identification of major historical debates.
- Their ability to present material in seminars, exchanging views with both the tutor and other students.
- Their ability to research particular historical issues and debates in a more detailed form for essay writing, coming to independent conclusions of the basis of the literature.
- Their ability to synthesise different interpretations and argue effectively from the evidence their ability to maintain and extend their skills in the handling of primary source material.