Start Date

5-3-2024 9:20 AM

End Date

5-3-2024 10:30 AM

Disciplines

History

Subjects

Spies -- Soviet Union, Espionage -- Russia, United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Central Intelligence Agency

Abstract

Beginning with the communist recruitment of Kim Philby in 1934, this paper traces the decades-long espionage journey of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring. Exploring the reach they had from the halls of the British government to Washington D.C, this paper highlights the building blocks of the Five’s legacy and their implications. This paper details the levels of and effects of British governmental incompetence in cementing the Five as international spy celebrities and enabling their Soviet espionage endeavors. Overall, it seeks to explore how the British were the agents of their own humiliation regarding espionage, and unnecessarily increased tension with their American allies, ultimately elevating Soviet espionage by baring the incompetence of their own.

Keywords: Cambridge University, Spies, Espionage, Soviet Russia, Cambridge Five, Teodor Maly, FBI, CIA

Part of the Panel: Hidden Histories during WWII
Moderator: Professor Richard Beyler

Creative Commons License or Rights Statement

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42098

Included in

History Commons

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May 3rd, 9:20 AM May 3rd, 10:30 AM

The Cambridge Five Spy Ring: The Notorious Bane of the British Government

Beginning with the communist recruitment of Kim Philby in 1934, this paper traces the decades-long espionage journey of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring. Exploring the reach they had from the halls of the British government to Washington D.C, this paper highlights the building blocks of the Five’s legacy and their implications. This paper details the levels of and effects of British governmental incompetence in cementing the Five as international spy celebrities and enabling their Soviet espionage endeavors. Overall, it seeks to explore how the British were the agents of their own humiliation regarding espionage, and unnecessarily increased tension with their American allies, ultimately elevating Soviet espionage by baring the incompetence of their own.

Keywords: Cambridge University, Spies, Espionage, Soviet Russia, Cambridge Five, Teodor Maly, FBI, CIA

Part of the Panel: Hidden Histories during WWII
Moderator: Professor Richard Beyler