History 584

Modern Intelligence History from John Buchan to James Bond

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-12:18

                                                           162 Hopkins Hall, 128 North Oval Mall

The Ohio State University

 

 

Professor J. Siegel

342 Dulles Hall

2-0314

siegel.83@osu.edu

http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/siegel83/

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:00-3:30 p.m., or by appointment

 

Grader: Robert Clemm, 332 Dulles, clemm.1@osu.edu, office hours by appointment.

 

 

This course will examine the role of diplomatic and military intelligence in the making of policy. The function of intelligence gathering, appraisal and assessment has often been overlooked in the exploration of policy making, especially in times of peace. It will be our undertaking to examine some of the most significant international events of the twentieth century in light of the contribution, or lack thereof, of both covert and overt forms of intelligence. After an introduction to the field and a discussion of the origins of the modern intelligence services, we will analyze the histories of several of the major intelligence organizations in the twentieth century. We will then discuss in depth the influence of the assessment and utilization of intelligence on the perceptions of policy makers and public opinion in both war and peacetime up to the immediate post-war era and the origins of the Cold War intelligence climate. The course will not be concerned with the intricacies of tradecraft, but with the interplay between intelligence and international policy making in the origins and encounters of the First and Second World Wars and the establishment of the intelligence rivalries and relationships which played their part in the Cold War. In our final week, we will consider the correlation between the growth of intelligence communities, their legitimization and delegitimization, and the popular image of spying represented contemporaneously in fiction and film.

This course fulfills requirements in the International Studies Intelligence and National Security concentration. Within the history major, it is a post-1750, Group B course.

 

Course Objectives:

 

By completing the reading assignments, attending class, and taking and studying their own notes on the lectures and discussions, students will enhance their factual and conceptual knowledge of this period in international history, and will gain an understanding of the relationship between diplomatic and military intelligence and the making of policy. The written assignments will underscore these objectives as well as aid the student in improving his/her analytical and writing skills and encouraging independent thinking.

 

 

Course Requirements:

 

Late work will be marked down 1/3 of a letter grade per day.

 

Attendance. You are required to attend the lectures and be responsible for the material covered in them. Please come to class on time so that you do not cause unnecessary disruption for your fellow classmates. Please also do not leave class before the class is dismissed. Attendance will be taken. If you miss more than two sessions over the course of the quarter, your final grade will be dropped 1/3 of a letter grade for each additional day missed. More than five total absences will result in automatic failure of the course. The only exceptions to this policy will be made for medical or legal emergencies. In accordance with departmental policy, the student will be expected to present proof of the emergency, such as an official statement from the University Medical Center. 

Active participation in in-class exercises and discussions covering the readings and lectures. Readings are expected to be completed by the Thursday of each week.

Two essays (3-4 pages) outlined below, due 30 January and 1 March.

One midterm, 8 February, and one final exam, 12 March.

 

Midterm: 30%; Final: 40%; Papers: 25%; Discussions: 5%

 

 

Policies:

 

(1)   Examinations: You must take the exams at the scheduled time. Students will be allowed to take a make-up exam only for urgent reasons, such as a medical or legal emergency. In accordance with departmental policy, the student will be expected to present proof of the emergency, such as an official statement from the University Medical Center. If you need to take a make-up exam, you must submit your proof of emergency to me within 9 days of the scheduled exam.

(2)   Grade complaints must be made in writing and only after 24 hours have passed after grades are distributed.

(3)   Academic dishonesty: Papers and exams must represent the work of the student alone. Plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing grade on the assignment and other penalties determined by university regulations. Plagiarism cases will be referred to the appropriate University committee on academic misconduct without exception. Information on plagiarism can be found at http://cstw.osu.edu/, particularly at http://cstw.osu.edu/writing_center/handouts/index.htm. See also the paper assignment at end of syllabus. Students are encouraged to consult with me if they are uncertain about the proper use of sources.

(4)   In accordance with departmental policy, all students must be officially enrolled in the course by the end of the second full week of the quarter. No requests to add the course will be approved by the department chair after that time. Enrolling officially and on time is solely the responsibility of each student.

(5)   Please turn off cell-phones at the beginning of class.

 

*All students with disabilities who need accommodations should be certified by the Office for Disability Services. After doing so, they should see me privately during my office hours to make arrangements. Please do so by the third week of class. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901; http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/*

 

 

Readings available for Purchase:

All readings for purchase available at SBX and the other book stores. Readings not available for purchase will be available in the course packet, through electronic reserves, or through Carmen.

 

Krivitsky, Walter G. MI5 Debriefing & Other Documents on Soviet Intelligence. Gary Kern, ed. Riverside, CA: Xenos Books, 2004.

Philby, Kim. My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy. New York: Random House, 2002.

Shulsky, Abram N. and Gary J. Schmitt. Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence. Washington, DC: BrasseyÕs Inc., 2002.

 

 

Recommended Reading:

If you are not entirely familiar with the international history of the twentieth century, I recommend you consult the following:

Keylor, William. The Twentieth Century World: An International History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

 

 

Course Sessions and Readings:

 

Week I                

4 January—Introduction: Why Study Intelligence History?

 

Reading (to be finished by 9 January):

Shulsky and Schmitt, chapters 1-3.

Warner, Michael. ÒWanted: A Definition of ÔIntelligence.Õ In Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 46, No. 3, 2002. Unclassified Edition. https://www.cia.gov/csi/kent_csi/docs/v46i3a02p.htm

 

 

Week II

9 January—Overview of British Intelligence

11 January—Overview of Tsarist and Soviet Intelligence

 

Reading:

Shulsky and Schmitt, chapters 4-8.

 

Week III

16 January—Overview of US Intelligence

18 January—Intelligence and the Origins of WWI—Knowing the Triple Alliance

 

Reading:

May, Ernest, ed. Knowing OneÕs Enemies. Chapters 2 and 3. [course packet]

 

 

Week IV

23 January—Intelligence and the Origins of WWI—Knowing the Triple Entente

25 January—Intelligence and the First World War—Humint

 

 

Reading:

May, Ernest, ed. Knowing OneÕs Enemies. Chapters 4, 5, and 7. [course packet]

The Zimmerman Telegram: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2005/highlights_oct/oct17/default.htm and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/releases/2005/highlights_oct/oct17/popup/hw_3_187_1.htm

 

 

 

Week V

30 January—Intelligence and the First World War—Comint and Codebreaking

First Paper Due: Pick one country discussed in the articles from MayÕs edited volume, Knowing OneÕs Enemies. In three to four pages, discus which one of Shulsky and SchmittÕs four Òelements of intelligenceÓ—collection, analysis, covert action, and counterintelligence—was most significant in the role played by intelligence in that countryÕs pre-World War I position.

 

1 February—Intelligence and the Interwar Period—Do Gentlemen Read Each OtherÕs Mail?

 

Reading:

Denniston, A.G. ÒThe Government Code and Cypher School Between the Wars.Ó In Intelligence and National Security, 1986.

Angevine, Robert G. ÒGentlemen Do Read Each OtherÕs Mail: American Intelligence in the Interwar Era.Ó In Intelligence and National Security, 1992. [Course Packet]

Krivitsky, Walter G. MI5 Debriefing, pp. v-xiii, 105-217.

 

 

 

Week VI

6 February—Intelligence and the Origins of WWII in Europe

8 February—Midterm, covering through 1 February and the reading through Week V

 

Reading:

Krivitsky, Walter G. MI5 Debriefing, pp. v-xiii, 51-104.

Watt, D.C. ÒAn Intelligence Surprise: The Failure of the Foreign Office to Anticipate the Nazi-Soviet Pact.Ó In Intelligence and National Security, 1989, pp. 512-534. [Course Packet]

 

 

Week VII

13 February— Intelligence and the Origins of the War in the Far East

15 February— Intelligence and WWII—Breaking the Code(s)

 

Reading:

Philby, pp. vii-91.

Stone, David R. ÒSoviet Intelligence on Barbarossa: The Limits of Intelligence History.Ó In Peter Jackson and Jennifer Siegel, ed.s, Intelligence and Statecraft: The Uses and Limits of Intelligence, pp. 157-171.

 

 

 

Week VIII

20 February— Intelligence and WWII—Spies, Deception, and Counterintelligence

22 February— The Cold War: Intelligence and the Bomb

 

Reading:

Masterman, J.C. The Double-Cross System. New York: The Lyons Press, 2000, preface-p. 35.

Steury, Donald P. ÒDissecting Soviet Analysis, 1946-50: How the CIA Missed Stalin's Bomb.Ó Studies in Intelligence, vol. 49, no. 1, 2005. Unclassified Edition. https://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol49no1/html_files/stalins_bomb_3.html

Orlov, Alexander. "The U-2 Program: A Russian Officer Remembers." Studies in Intelligence. Winter 1998/99:5-14. https://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/winter98_99/art02.html

The March Crisis and the Berlin Airlift— https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/17240/art-4.html

 

 

Week IX

27 February— The Cold War: Intelligence and the Crises: Berlin, U-2, etc.

1 March— The Cold War: Spies, Moles, and Traitors

Second Paper Due: Choose one or two documents in the collection, ÒThe March Crisis and the Berlin Airlift.Ó In three to four pages, discus which one of Shulsky and SchmittÕs four Òelements of intelligenceÓ—collection, analysis, covert action, and counterintelligence—is most important and visible in the documents you have chosen, and why.

 

Reading:

Philby, pp. 92-end.

 

 

 

Week X

6 March—ÒThe Spy Who Came In From the ColdÓ

8 March—Intelligence and the Cold War—A Preliminary Assessment

 

Reading:

Jackson, Peter. ÒHistorical Reflections on the Uses and Limits of Intelligence.Ó In Peter Jackson and Jennifer Siegel, ed.s, Intelligence and Statecraft: The Uses and Limits of Intelligence, pp. 11-51. [Course Packet]

 

 

Final Exam: Monday, March 12, 9:30 AM - 11:18 AM

History 584

Modern Intelligence History

from John Buchan to James Bond

GENERAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

 

 

All papers and assignments must be turned in at THE BEGINNING OF CLASS on the day they are due, unless you are otherwise instructed. Papers and assignments that are submitted after the professor has begun teaching will be considered late, with no exceptions. Late work will be penalized one-third of a letter-grade per day. Electronic submissions will not be allowed without the prior agreement of the professor. [1]

 

You will always be graded on your writing style and grammar as well as the content of your work. Be sure to proofread and edit thoroughly before turning in your assignments. Margins should be one-inch. Fonts should be serif and 12 point. Lines must be double-spaced. Your pages must be numbered (no number on the first page of text) and for papers there must be a separate title page. Your paper must have a bibliography and footnotes, when appropriate, (not parenthetical citations—if you do not know what this means, ask) and your citations must follow either the Chicago Manual of Style or Kate TurabianÕs A Guide for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Guidelines for the use of the Chicago style, including online sources, can be seen at the addresses below. http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/documentation/intext_citation_chicago_hu.html

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html

(If you do not know what serif fonts are, or parenthetical citations, please ask the professor! There is no penalty for asking questions. There is a penalty for ignoring the instructions.)

 

I urge you to always be extremely vigilant in crediting your sources. As The Ohio State University Code of Student Conduct outlines: ÒPlagiarism is the representation of anotherÕs work or ideas as oneÕs own; it includes the unacknowledged word-for-word use and/or paraphrasing of another personÕs work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another personÕs ideas.Ó Plagiarism is considered to be academic misconduct, which will result in disciplinary action. Anything that is not an original idea, the product of original research, or common knowledge (such as ÒWorld War I began in 1914Ó) needs documentation, including information that you have gleaned from your class notes.

 

It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term academic misconduct includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct (http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/info_for_students/csc.asp).

The University Committee on Academic Misconduct has provided the following page, which contains numerous websites dealing with plagiarism and how to avoid it:

http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/prevention.html


[1] If your paper is late, email the professor your finished paper as soon as it is completed, to stop the clock. Then submit a hard copy to the professor or the professorÕs office as soon as physically possible.