The White War
How did Britain, though assumed to be bankrupt, pursue an anti-Communist economic war from 1945. Ian Locke examines the case.
US, for example, only agreed to become the ‘arsenal for democracy’ as a result of explicit information it received from the British.
Soviet Union. Preliminary intelligence work on the Soviets (and Communists) had already been undertaken following the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939. British intelligence readily acknowledged an immediate advantage; the Soviets found it impossible to keep secure their internal and external communications by having to deal with up to 125 local languages which had to be translated into Russian. As a result there were limits on the type of signals they could effectively use.
The Economic Warfare department had begun to tailor its objectives towards undermining Soviet economic interests early in 1944, based on the experience of handling the Axis powers. The anti-Communist operations comprised three main areas of activity – direct intervention in the economy; the gathering, interpretation and handling of economic intelligence; and overt economic counter-espionage.
France was abandoned in 1945).
To continue reading this article you will need to purchase access to the online archive.
Buy Online Access Buy Print & Archive Subscription
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
