The Intelligence Division in occupied Germany: the untold story of Britain’s largest secret intelligence organisation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article provides the first detailed analysis of the British Intelligence Division (ID) in occupied Germany. It examines the reasons for its undue lack of prominence in the current historiography, its organisational structure, key functions, activities, its legacy and resulting historical significance. Drawing on recently discovered and declassified documents, it argues that the ID played a crucial role in the occupation of Germany by securing the British Zone, destroying anti-democratic movements, helping to control the German population, shape government policy and to construct important elements of the modern German state. This role has been overlooked by historians who underestimate the importance of intelligence, the seriousness of post-war Nazi resistance, focus on scientific intelligence, the Anglo-American recruitment of Nazis, intelligence efforts against the Soviet Union or concentrate on the American Zone.