Early_20th_Century

Early 20th Century Early 20th Century Systematic espionage aided the Japanese in defeating the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. In preparing for World War I the Germans again flooded France with a host of espionage agents, some of whom were disguised as trade representatives, teachers, agricultural laborers, or domestics. The most famous of these agents was Mata Hari, who posed as an Indian dancer in Paris. German agents also engaged in attempts to sabotage American national defense both before and after the U.S. entry into World War I. Most nations, however, entered World War I with inadequate espionage staffs, and the war was frequently fought on the basis of poor intelligence. The lessons of that war, along with rapid advances in technology, especially in communications and aviation, spurred a major growth in intelligence agencies. This was further stimulated by the advent of Fascist governments in Europe and a military dictatorship in Japan, all of which had expansionist foreign policies, and the creation of counterespionage agencies such as the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. These developments led other, democratic countries to establish counterespionage systems as well. World War II. World War II was the great stimulus to intelligence services worldwide. Modern military and communications technology put a premium on accurate and quick information, war, intelligence, world, ii, great, agents, secret, information, german, espionage, counterespionage, agencies, technology, stimulated, military, massive, japan, growth, germany, foreign, famous, failure, efforts, double, de, communications, british, before, battles, american, after, years, worldwide, whom, virtually, turned