"Now that the Milk is Spilt": Appeasement and the Archive on Intelligence

• Published in: Diplomacy and statecraft Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 527 - 565
• Main Author: Ferris, John R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.09.2008; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Appeasement; Bureaucracy; Decision making; European history; Foreign policy; Great Britain; Historical Development; Historiography; Intelligence; Interwar Period; Interwar years; Politics; Strategic behaviour; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 0959-2296; 1557-301X
• DOI: 10.1080/09592290802344996

This article assesses British intelligence and its effect on policy during the interwar years. It discusses the publically available documentation, which now includes almost all the material on the matter, though the data base has been permanently destroyed in significant ways. The paper traces the development of British intelligence between 1869-1939, involving the transition from a tradition to a system of intelligence, with the greatest change occurring during the Fist World War. The article assesses how, between 1914-39, intelligence was interrelated to bureaucratic politics, modes of decision making, and the formulation of strategic politics, modes of decision making, and the formulation of strategic policy. It discusses the structure and power of British intelligence agencies between 1919-39, their quality compared to rivals in other countries, and the impact on policy of their successes and failures. It concludes that intelligence, as an influence and a source of evidence, is essential to the study of diplomatic and strategic history, upon which its impact is complex and variable.