The Spying Game
Prying into the territory of the other side was fraught with danger. During the Cold War the super powers mobilized thousands of spies and spotters to lift the enemy’s secrets. Even the allied military missions in Germany doubled as covert observers.
Tales of the Cold War
Some just counted tanks, others stole blueprints for nuclear bombs. During the Cold War, Germany was the battleground for thousands of spies and spotters. The threat of nuclear overkill provoked a near insatiable hunger for intelligence on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Reconnaissance and intelligence services engaged in a relentless battle to provide their governments with vital data to enable them to decide on war or peace. It was an all-out effort to prevent mutual assured destruction. Be they military observers, spies or traitors . either by conviction or just in for the money - they all acted as suppliers of intelligence for their masters in Washington and Moscow. Many of them risked their lives, and quite a few lost it. Yet, was it worth the price? Did the spying game really contribute to keep the Cold War cold in the end?
Mission Behind the Iron Curtain
During the Cold War, tensions between East and West mount alarmingly. In consequence, western intelligence services shift their focus on East Germany as the Warsaw Pact’s major deployment zone. Among those send forth are so-called travel spies, basically amateurs, as well as the professionals with the military missions. On their semi-official forays into East Germany they regularly collect valuable data by meticulously taking notes of motorized columns, the numbers and types of vehicles and their call-signs. It’s intelligence like this which enables NATO staffs to draw up the Soviet Army’s order of battle. The game of spies is in full swing. All this comes at a price as confrontations with eastern counter intelligence sometimes result in tragic incidents. Yet, did the spying game really contribute to keep the Cold War cold in the end?
War in the Shadows
At the outset of the 80s, the Soviet army is universally modernized. The renovation of its armored divisions is well underway, observed closely by western military intelligence in East Germany. At center stage: their T 80 tanks and Mil Mi-28 combat helicopters. Weapons-scouts in the field are not the only ones constantly on active duty at that time, however. So are top agents in high command or in intelligence service stations, for instance in the autumn of 1983, as the Cold War is once again heading towards a dangerous crisis. NATO is practicing new procedures of nuclear release. Apparently, Moscow is concerned the exercise could be the beginning of a nuclear first strike by the NATO. Moscow’s secret services are on high alert. It takes a double agent to clear up this dangerous misunderstanding.
