22 - Intelligence

Summary

From 1942, the balance of intelligence and power turned simultaneously and systematically toward the Allies. Intelligence did little to cause Axis defeat, but much to shape how the Allies achieved victory. The cooperation between the Western Allies in intelligence was imperfect, but better than anything ever known before. German spies against Britain, the USSR and the United States were controlled by its enemies. The effect of intelligence on the Eastern Front was constrained because tyrants who were military micromanagers, poor as strategists and consumers of information, dominated policy for both sides. The USSR led the world regarding intelligence in peacetime, but that strength had little value for war. More than any other power, spies gave it strategic intelligence, but against allies rather than enemies. The United States won the Pacific War because of the quality of its forces and commanders and the scale of their resources, but intelligence let it win far speedily and cheaply than could have happened otherwise.