History Channel - Spy Web: International Espionage - Set 2 (1999)

Unlike any other Century the last 100 years has provided filmed conflicts and adventures covering World Wars and many other sweeping military actions. All too often these huge conflicts have been taken at face value. The story has unfolded in newspapers and film clips in a way which has left historians to piece together the final jigsaw. But even now have their efforts given us the true picture?
Through the American Freedom of Information Act, the relaxation of the British Fifty Year Rule, and the opening of KGB secret files, there are now fascinating gems of information emerging from the previously forbidden archives which have been firmly closed to outside eyes. Documents and film footage previously designated as "Top Secret" or "Most Secret" have slowly been released sometimes without announcement or publicity, waiting for knowledgeable researchers to put two and two together in order to find out what really happened. A classic recent example is the story of the British spy John Cairncross who revealed the Allies' Atomic Bomb to Stalin.
It is understandable when fighting a war against evil - whether a declared war against a fascist monster like Hitler or a Cold War tyrant like Stalin - not to disclose your greatest codebreaking achievements or espionage successes, for fear of compromising your agents or giving useful information to the enemy. However, when peace returns the population needs to know how their collective and sometimes secret efforts helped to destroy a crazed madman or an enslaving ideology.
In this series "Spy Web: Great Spying Stories of the Twentieth Century" the research team have uncovered some of the most fascinating spying and espionage stories which helped win victory in the most harrowing circumstances.
It will examine the subterfuge and espionage which helped to defeat the Kaiser in World War I, how the Germans mounted a sabotage campaign in the United States during World War II, and how each major power enlisted sophisticated spy rings and elaborate hoaxes to mislead the enemy.
What were the real code breaking successes of World War II and why have they only been released now? How did American Intelligence break the Russian Military codes during the Cold War and which spy rings contained double - double agents? How did the Cambridge spy ring operate and did the KGB really appreciate the information it received?
With the wealth of new information now coming to light it is possible to look back over the major conflicts of the last 100 years and take for the first time a completely new look at what really happened. Did British and American Intelligence really crack the German and Japanese codes so well that they could assassinate a Japanese Admiral in mid-air? Did the Allies de-code Hitler's orders faster than his own Generals could?
Which events that looked like chance at the time, were really brought about by the use of codebreaking and espionage? Why were all Soviet maps deliberately inaccurate? Were known spies given false intelligence in order to hoax the Russians during the Cold War? Was a British frogman caught red-handed under a Russian cruisers hull? Who was James Bond based on and were his real exploits stranger than fiction?
Now for the first time this series can reveal the cloak and dagger world of spies and espionage during the last 100 years. Great Spying Stories of the Twentieth Century - You will never look at History in quite the same way again!

Produced by Nugus/Martin Productions Ltd for The History Channel

Part 1: Spying from the Skies
The balloon first gave mankind the ability to look down on the battlefield; then came ever more sophisticated aircraft with cameras. Today much of the work of intelligence gathering is undertaken by satellites. The fascinating story of spying from the air over the last 100 years, including the hitherto untold story of the secret spy flights of the Cold War.


Part 2: The Atomic Spy Rings
During World War II the Soviet government operated a large spy ring that sought atomic secrets in Great Britain, Canada and USA. The success of this operation enabled the Russians to explode an atomic bomb several years earlier than believed possible. Not until the US 'Venona' code-cracking breakthrough was the full extent of the Soviet penetration revealed.


Part 3: Early Russian Intelligence
The Cheka was the infamous Bolshevik organisation which took control of Russia as Lenin's feared secret police. It was licensed to carry out executions and was responsible for the 'Red Terror' from September 1918. Its brutality knew no bounds and it was run by the dreaded Felix Dzerzhinsky who founded the Gulag Archipelago.


Part 4: Secret Air Operations
Aircraft were first used to drop agents behind enemy lines during World War I. The skills of the first pioneers were rediscovered twenty years later when Britain had to find ways of supporting Resistance throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. Agents were flown in or picked up, supplies and sabotage teams parachuted. The British Special Operations flights were joined by US 'Carpetbagger' squadrons, and their methods continued to be employed during the Cold War.


Part 5: US Army Intelligence
This organisation traces its roots back to 1776 and the spying service set up by George Washington. Since then the service has distinguished itself throughout the Twentieth Century, with exciting stories of intelligence gathering in both World Wars and during the Cold War and Vietnam, culminating in its electronic intelligence units which were first used in the Gulf War in 1991.


Part 6: US Air Force Intelligence
From its early beginnings with General John J Pershing and his Mexican expedition of 1916, the US Air Intelligence arm has a fascinating history, spanning both World Wars. It is now the world leader in the collection and analysis of all forms of photographic and electronic data, and deploys a bewildering array of ultra-high speed aircraft, satellites and unmanned drones.


Part 7: The GRU
Sometimes referred to as the 'Fourth Department, Russian military intelligence', it was created in 1918 and produced a network of spies which operated worldwide through the Stalinist era, World War II and still employs 100,000. The GRU also controls Russia's Special Warfare Services known as the Spetsnaz.


Part 8: Spy Ships and Submarines
Throughout the Twentieth Century in all the major conflicts both sides have operated intelligence collection ships. In World War II the warships of many navies began carrying high-frequency, direction-finding equipment and subsequently electronic intelligence collection equipment. But there have been a fascinating array of non-naval vessels. Some of them like the USS Pueblo have been involved in major international incidents. Others have mysteriously disappeared.


Part 9: Japanese Intelligence
Japan's traditional fascination with the West led at the beginning of the 20th century to the foundation of an elaborate spying network based on the need for military intelligence. Historically its enemies were China and Russia but by the 1920s and 1930s its main focus became the USA. The programme looks at the story of the Japanese intelligence network in the build up to Pearl Harbor and beyond.


Part 10: French Intelligence
Already in position at the beginning of the 20th Century the French had a sophisticated intelligence network which was actively useful during World War I and which went on to confront the Bolsheviks during the inter War years. It continued during World War II and has since been involved in post war intelligence and various colonial conflicts which have provided a fascinating story.


Part 11: US Naval Intelligence
The US's longest surviving intelligence service was created in 1882. One of its most prominent divisions was the American Photographic Interpretation Centre created in 1941 to train and support fleet photographers. It played an active role in the Cold War era particularly in electronic monitoring. By 1970 a vast expansion in Russian Naval operations on a worldwide scale created the necessity to keep track of all Soviet naval-related activities.