Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)

"Secret Intelligence Service"

Year 1909 marks the date of creation of the first British formally established and permanent intelligence service. That was the time of German military and – what was more importent for British goverment – also naval expansion. The decision to create Secret Service Bureau was made by the Comitte for Imperial Defence at first of ocrober 1909. Secret Service Bureau was the first formal, but not the first at all British intelligence organisation.

In the second half of 15th century, in times of king Henry VIII Thomas Cromwell run secret agents in Europe. Later an expertise in secret interception was developed by Sir Francis Walsingham, who was remembered by history as the „spymaster” of queen Elisabeth I. Francis's Throckmorton's conspiration against the queen was discovered by him and he hed Trockmorton arrested.
Walsingham was the most reliable man of queen Elisabeth and the British ambassador in France. A network of 53 agents was mentained by him, so sometimes the queen knew about the decisions of French king Philip II beafore his own ministers!

Secret Service Bureau had two main parts beafore the First World War. To counter foreign espionage in United Kingdown and it's colonies was the task of „Home section”. „Foreign section” was collecting secret intelligence abroad, on British potential enemies. Home Section has been transformed into Security Service or Military Intelligence section 5 (MI5). Foreign section (MI1c) became the Secret Intelligence Service or MI6 in 1921.

The first chief of SIS was commander (later promoted to capitain) Sir Mansfield Cumming. He was one, who masterminded contribution of the Service to the First World War. MI6 was operating behind enemy lines in Belgium and France, what was very importent for allied victory.

After war SIS was still needed because of the threat of international communism. Any activities of the commintern was consequently reported by MI6. During 1920s SIS established a close operational relationship with the diplomatic service and a post of Passport Control Officers within embassies. Since early 30s also menace of Nazi Germany had been a problem for British goverment and becouse of that the new target for MI6.

The agents network of SIS was damaged seriously by the German ocuppation during the first years of World War II. But opposition to Nazi rule inspired thousends of patriotic men and women to join or cooperative with SIS.
The extensive double-cross system run by MI5 to feed misleading intelligance to the Germans and Imagionary intelligence activities conducted by the Royal Air Force Photographic Reconnessance Unit were the new initiatives of MI6 during 2nd World War.
But the most significent success of SIS during the war was an operation „ULTRA” with had decisive impact in the Battle of Atlantic, because enemy communication codec were broken by the Goverment Code and Cypher School.

When the Axis were defeated by united Allies, a new age had started. The age of the Cold War. MI6 had to re-orientated itself once again. The new govermental requirements for intelligence was to watch at the Warsaw Pact countries, to minimalise a threat for devided Europe.

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to present the intelligence challanges are various kinds, but SIS focuses on reginal instability, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and international crime.