Verified Document

British Counter-Intelligence Did British Counter-Intelligence Essay

On page 848 Major Vernon Kell began -- what later became an out-of-control behemoth organization -- with just "a room, a desk and a filing cabinet"; when Kell asked for a clerk to assist him, the bureaucracy was surprised that "…such extravagance was necessary" (Hiley, 848). This juxtaposition is by way of explaining how, as the fear of the Germans expanded, and as the list of suspected spies grew enormously huge, and paranoia became so powerful that peace groups and labor groups came under suspicion, civil liberties were shoved aside. On page 853 Hiley notes that prior to October 1911, in order to open a letter that was passing through the Royal Mails, a warrant had to be signed by authorities. However, once legislation had passed, as reported earlier in this paper, thousands upon thousands of letters through the Royal Mails were being opened.

All along, Kell was convinced that there was a "…hostile organization" that had taken hold in the eastern and southern counties of Britain; he was sure the spies and other agents of the German government were there in advance of "…the invading forces" and to help those forces'...

But the invasion never came but Kell did arrest men suspected of spying albeit "no evidence was offered," and he arrested "…any unemployed aliens" who might later cause trouble.
In conclusion, on page 860 Hiley writes that "Kell was completely and ludicrously wrong in his assessment of the threat from enemy aliens," but he did manage to gain personal status. The lessons of war can always be viewed critically in hindsight, and in fact war creates a sense of fear from the unknown that makes ordinary men do ridiculous things. But like the American government's decree that all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast would be moved to internment camps (fearing their complicity with Japan after Pearl Harbor), the British were just as sure citizens of German descent would become enemies prior to and during WWI. The way to avoid these situations were civil liberties are put on hold is to avoid wars whenever possible.

Works…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Hiley, Nicholas. (1985). The Failure of British Counter-Espionage against Germany, 1907-

1914. The Historical Journal, 28(4), 835-862.

Hiley, Nicholas. (1986). Counter-Espionage and Security in Great Britain during the First

World War. The English Historical Review, 101(400), 635-670.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Intelligence & Counterterrorism the Intelligence
Words: 2527 Length: 9 Document Type: Literature Review

Yaphe compares America's invasion with that of the British experience, at the end of World War I. According to Yaphe, he parallels between the two are remarkable, showing how Iraq's ethno diverse territory gives rise to violence and cruelty against others. What Yaphe saw was a common course of political division that was present in both Britain 1917 incursion in Iraq, as well as in America's 2003 invasion. The different

Counter Terrorism Operations Counter Terrorism Incorporates Techniques,...
Words: 773 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Counter Terrorism Operations Counter terrorism incorporates techniques, practices and strategies that the governments, military or police departments within a country adopt in their attack on terrorists and their threats. The main tactic that is used against the terrorist is terrorism itself. Counter terrorism involves both the detection of potential acts and the response to related events. can boast of successful counter terrorism on Afghanistan. The U.S. successfully invaded Afghanistan in a bid

Intelligence and Surveillance Policies and Procedures After September...
Words: 2139 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

Many scholars have signified that timely availability of both creative and financial resources leads to effective problem solving. Many scholars have given a great deal of emphasis to the creative aspect of counterterrorism policy making. They assert that policy makers have got to get inside the heads of the terrorists to figure out what they plan to do, what their ideology is and how they are going to execute

British Television and Journalism War on Terrorism
Words: 3194 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

The writer of this article, Victor David Hanson, states that since earlier times, this sort of disparity in power has been in evidence, and it is a fact that the others have been attempting to build up their innate strength and power by merely imitating the West. This is sometimes referred to as a type of 'military parasitism', wherein those who were weak would often try to steal or

Intelligence Agencies
Words: 3317 Length: 11 Document Type: Essay

BRITISH COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE SUCCESSFUL AGAINST LEFT AND RIGHT WING SUBVERSION DURING THE 1930S? The period between the two World Wars was a time of acute confrontations between various national intelligence and counterintelligence agencies especially in Europe. The extent to which such agencies managed to address the challenges to the benefit of their own national government is a subject of debate to this day among analysts and experts. An important case in

U.S. Intelligence by Seeking an
Words: 2050 Length: 7 Document Type: Thesis

In 1953, Congress amended the National Security Act to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Director of the CIA by the President with Senate's advice and consent. Commissioned officers of the armed forces, active or retired, could not occupy the top two positions at the same time (CIA). Intelligence Reform Needed Countless reorganizations of the intelligence community since the end of the Cold War have not produced satisfactory results (Harris

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now