EARLY 20TH CENTURY THROUGH WWII
The need to assist the military and policymaking process in America saw the growth of the Intelligence Community in the 20t century. Right from the 18th century, America has believed that its success is pegged on their ability to maintain high levels of secrecy in their affairs. These affairs vary from those of diplomacy to military activities. This secrecy was one of the pillars that shaped the nature of America’s Intelligence Community. During the pre-World War II period, the American ideology on Intelligence Community changed after President Woodrow Wilson’s close contact with Britain’s Intelligence chief. Thereafter, occurrences like the Zimmerman Telegram, annexation of the Panama Canal and the Pearl Harbor attack were seen as major threats to security in the US. These events were crucial in shaping the course that the Intelligence Community took in terms of its development. The development of the Intelligence Community in America is therefore a spill over effect of the pressure that the government faced in ensuring security and development of its territory.[1]
In 1917, the first Intelligence Agency was developed in the United States. It was formed mainly to help with encryption and decryption of data. This was after the 1917 Zimmermann telegram that was sent to Mexico from Germany. The telegram incited Mexico to declare war against the USA. This infuriated the American government under Woodrow Wilson and sparked the formation of an intelligence community that would help with the coding and decoding of data. The Intelligence Agency formed after the telegram was called MI-8. The unit was specifically given the duty of decoding and coding communication. This was done through the course of WWI, and its effects were felt even after the war. The integration of MI-8 into the State Department in 1919 expended the jurisdiction of the agency to cover not only the military, but also diplomatic affairs. This integration brought successful naval disarmament through decryption of Japan’s diplomatic traffic.[2]
Japan’s surprise attack on the American Pearl Harbor in 1941 affected the course of Intelligence community development in US. This attack brought the realization of the poor state of America’s intelligence apparatus. It revealed to the government the casual way in which intelligence matters had been handled. US intelligence analysts had underestimated both Japan’s actual and potential powers. This failure saw the conception of the Office of Strategic Services in 1942. Its work was to coordinate information and carry out secret activities with regard to the Axis powers. There was competition from US Army’s intelligence agency and the FBI. This competition encouraged competence among the agencies.[3]
The attack on Pearl Harbor also prompted the creation of other intelligence capabilities in the military service. The Military Intelligence Division from the Army General Staff stepped in to supervise the work of the Army’s intelligence unit. In 1942, the US government created a unit known as the Military Intelligence Services. The main work of the unit was to carry out photoreconnaissance, agent operations and signals interception. The unit assisted in giving the government intelligence analysis.
President Theodore Roosevelt used the most intelligence activities in the early 20th Century. The growth of this sector of the US government was motivated by the need to justify their annexation of the Panama Canal. The need to gather information on various activities motivated the US governments to develop intelligence units that would assist the government in inciting the inhabitants of Panama to revolt. This revolution was to be used by President Theodore Roosevelt as justification for Panama’s annexation.[4]
Bibliography
Berkowitz, Peter. 2005. The future of American intelligence. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University.
Engdahl, Sylvia. 2012. Espionage and intelligence. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Maccloskey, Monro. 1967. The American intelligence community. New York: Rosen Press.
Richelson, Jeffrey. 2008. The US intelligence community. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press.
[1] Berkowitz Peter, The future of American intelligence (Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University), 58.
[2]Engdahl Sylvia, Espionage and intelligence (Detroit: Greenhaven Press), 106.
[3] Maccloskey Monro, The American intelligence community (New York: Rosen Press), 22.
[4] Richelson Jeffrey, The US intelligence community (Boulder, Colo: Westview Press), 107.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|