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About Professionalisation in the Intelligence Community: The French Cryptologists (ca 1870–ca 1945)

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The New Codebreakers

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNSC,volume 9100))

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Abstract

Social Sciences and especially Sociology and History are very useful to understand how the Cryptographic Field has been shaped in France in 19th and 20th centuries. This paper tackles this issue explaining how and why this Field has been influenced in-depth by a strong process of ‘Professionalism’ under the Ecole Polytechnique rule.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See David Kahn, The reader of gentlemen’s mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the birth of American codebreaking, New Haven-London, Yale University Press, 2004, 318 p.

  2. 2.

    See Marian Rejewski 1905–1980. Living with the Enigma secret, Bydgoscz, Bydgoscz City Council, 2005, 287 p.

  3. 3.

    See for instance: Jeffrey T. Richelson, The US Intelligence Community, New York, Vetwiew press, 2008, 592 p.

  4. 4.

    Christopher Andrew and David Dilks (ed.), The missing dimension. Governments and Intelligence Communities in the Twentieh Century, London, Macmillan, 1985, p. 6 et 7.

  5. 5.

    See Martin Rudner, “Training and educating US Intelligence Analysts”, International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence, 2009, 22: 1, p. 139 et 142.

  6. 6.

    Mémorial du Dépôt général de la Guerre, Paris, Ch. Picquet, 1828, p. xvij.

  7. 7.

    A special Military body created at the end of 18th Century in order to draw maps.

  8. 8.

    The first French Military Attachés (to Embassies) appeared in fact after 1826 thanks to the 1826 ordonnance that allowed (chap. II, art. 14, al. 2, see Journal militaire officiel, 2e semestre 1826, n° 16, p. 609) the French General Staff to appoint Officers to Embassies. The first were sent to Madrid and to Constantinople.

  9. 9.

    See Mémoires du Maréchal Randon, Paris, Typographie Lahure, 1877, tome II, p. 49. Randon was the Minister of War in charge of implementing the new Military Attachés.

  10. 10.

    See Gordon A. Craig, « Military diplomats in the Prussian and German service: the attachés, 1816–1914 », Political Science Quarterly, vol. LXIV, 1949, pp. 65–94.

  11. 11.

    SHD, DAT, 7 Yd 1616 (personnel file).

  12. 12.

    SHD-AG, M.R. 1577, Memo for the Minister of War with regards to the Mission on the Rhine, December 12th, 1867, 5 p.

  13. 13.

    Reports and maps done during the mission are in SHD-AG, M.R. 1577 to 1581.

  14. 14.

    See his personnel file: SHD, DAT, 10 Yd 114.

  15. 15.

    Decree n° 91 (March 12th, 1874) on the reorganisation of the General Staff, Journal Militaire officiel, 1er semestre 1874, p. 230–231. On the direct role played by Vanson in this Reform, see général Vanson, « Deux documents concernant la réorganisation de l’armée en 1873 », Carnet de la sabretache, 1896, 4e volume, p. 148–159.

  16. 16.

    This 2nd Bureau was different from that one created at the end of the 1860 s in the Dépôt de la Guerre. One of the major difference was that the new one was part of a General Staff that did not exist before 1870.

  17. 17.

    Who became in 1899 « section de renseignements », then « service de renseignements ».

  18. 18.

    The main part of the 2nd Bureau archives remained and are today in SHD (7 N 653–677). The archives of the « section de statistique » were partly destroyed, partly disseminated after the Dreyfus Affair. One can find some hints and traces of them in the « police spéciale » archives (Archives nationales, F7) and in the archives of the Préfecture de Police.

  19. 19.

    See Isabelle Dasque, Monsieur de Norpois: les diplomates de la République (1871–1914), thèse de doctorat d’histoire contemporaine sous la direction de Jean-Pierre Chaline, Université Paris IV, 2005, 960 p.

  20. 20.

    See S. Laurent, L’École libre des Sciences Politiques de 1871 à 1914, Institut d’études politiques de Paris, 1991, 180 p.

  21. 21.

    See Jean-Marc Berlière, « La professionnalisation de la police en France: un phénomène nouveau au début du XXe siècle en France », Déviance et société, XI-1, mars 1987, p. 67–104.

  22. 22.

    Located in german occupied territories by the French Army, then after 1930 in Strasbourg.

  23. 23.

    David Kahn, The Codebreakers. The Story of secret writing, New York, Macmillan publishing, 1967 [rééd. 1996], p. 242.

  24. 24.

    S.H.D.-A.G., 1 M 2352, lettre du ministère des Affaires étrangères ou au ministre de la Guerre, 27 décembre 1900.

  25. 25.

    SHD, DAT, 6 Yf 5578 (Bazeries personnel file).

  26. 26.

    On Bazeries see Octave Homberg’s memoirs (Les Coulisses de l’histoire. Souvenirs 1898-1928, Paris, Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1938, p. 39). Homberg was head of the bureau du chiffre in the Quai at the end of 19th Century. See also S.H.D.-A.G., 1 K 842, Marcel Givierge, Etude historique sur la section du chiffre des origines à 1921. Historique I, s.l.n.d., p. 16.

  27. 27.

    Law from May, 6th 1837; November, 29th 1850 and a decree from December, 27th 1851.

  28. 28.

    See S. Laurent, Politiques de l’ombre. État, renseignement et surveillance en France, Paris, Fayard, 2009.

  29. 29.

    Cf. Commandant Cuignet, Souvenirs de l’Affaire Dreyfus. Le Dossier Trarieux-Tornielli-Reinach, Paris, Société anonyme d’édition Belleville, 1911, p. 13, footnote 1 and Marcel Givierge, Etude historique sur la section du chiffre des origines à 1921. Historique I, s.l.n.d., p. 16 (S.H.D.-A.G., 1 K 842).

  30. 30.

    S.H.D.-A.G., 1 K 193, fonds privé du général Toutée.

  31. 31.

    S.H.D.-A.G., 1 K 842, Marcel Givierge, Etude historique sur la section du chiffre des origines à 1921. Historique I, s.l.n.d., p. 18.

  32. 32.

    Cf. S.H.D.-A.G., 1 K 842, Marcel Givierge, Etude historique sur la section du chiffre des origines à 1921. Historique I, s.l.n.d., 3e époque, p. 3.

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  1. Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France

    Sébastien-Yves Laurent

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  1. Université du Luxembourg , Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Peter Y. A. Ryan

  2. Ecole normale supérieure , Paris, France

    David Naccache

  3. Université Catholique de Louvain , Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Jean-Jacques Quisquater

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Laurent, SY. (2016). About Professionalisation in the Intelligence Community: The French Cryptologists (ca 1870–ca 1945). In: Ryan, P., Naccache, D., Quisquater, JJ. (eds) The New Codebreakers. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9100. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49301-4_2

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