The Soviet Union And Great Britain

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

John Le Carre born David John Moore Cornwell in 1931 was in fact a member of British Intelligence Agencies known as MI5 and MI6 from 1959 to 1964. These agencies heavily favored and romanticized by other top espionage literature writers like Ian Fleming (James Bond). Le Carre has twenty-one novels written in thirty-six languages, many of which have been captured on the silver screen including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. With his being employed by the British Foreign Service, consistent novels of espionage, and his present active political voice in regards to war, and foreign policies; It is very likely that perhaps his characters in the first successful novel of the Karla Trilogy, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, are a conjuring based on his experience, thus making this novel an accurate depiction of cold war espionage.

While Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a good novel to pick up and read, and develop a good idea of what Cold war espionage must have been like during this time period, the literature is written with a dialect or jargon that may make it difficult for some readers.

For one thing, John Le Carre is a British author so any slang or jargon used may be off setting or confusing for readers not familiar with British vocabulary. To add to this issue would be the time period. The 1960 and 70’s had a plethora of words that faded with the times, and it is important to mention the 60’s even though this is a 1974 novel, because Europe has always been considered to be about a decade behind the times compared to say the U.S. in trending. Also John Le Carre’s Mi-5 and MI-6 career was in the 60’s. To make matters worse a lot of the nouns and verbs used in this novel are coded in what could be described as espionage, intelligence, or perhaps military slang, or one could say the jargon is slang with ulterior interpretations than a civilian public would perceive.

A critic by the name of Anthony Lane from the New Yorker makes mention in his article A critic at Large, I Spy, that someone could be captivated or befuddled reading this novel or watching the movie. The first sentence in the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy novel sets the tone of the story to come and is a prime example of what Lane and this researcher are referring to when it comes to the novel’s jargon:

"The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead at Taunton races, Jim would never have come to Thurgood’s at all." (Page 3)

A strong start for a novel revealing a death of a stranger to the reader, but in light of this Jim’s destiny made at turn. Taunton races might be an enigma to a reader not familiar with Great Britain however and it is never revealed what this is, it is in fact a horse race track located somewhere around Somerset, England.

These issues aside the novel is powerful with a suspense that is spellbinding, and if the jargon isn’t explained somewhere within passages of the novel, the sentence context can often times reveal the meaning of such coded jargon like "Source Merlin," which is a source who provides seemingly invaluable material on the USSR, or "Scalp hunters" which are MI6 agents who handle kidnapping, burglary, blackmail and assassination, or "Janitors" which are operations staff at the intelligence agency a.k.a. the "Circus." They act as security guards and ensure that all members have verified security clearances.

While not all Cold War tactics and events that took place between the super powers and their allies have been declassified, there is sufficient evidence to at least suggest that Le Carre’s novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is an accurate portrayal of Cold War espionage tactics and or events.

From 1947-1991 the world was virtually divided into an east and west struggle over ideology just short of violence or as defined by Encyclopedia Britannica:

rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and had only limited recourse to weapons. The term was first used by the English writer George Orwell in an article published in 1945 to refer to what he predicted would be a nuclear stalemate between "two or three monstrous super-states, each possessed of a weapon by millions of people can be wiped out in a few seconds. (Cold War)

This description of the Cold War combined with Le Carre’s employment background offers some support that there is accuracy in his novel. After all what differentiates the Cold War from the previous World Wars was that the Cold War was merely a looming threat of mass death where the World Wars were full of mass death. The Normandy Invasion alone holds an inaccurate low ball estimate of 85,000 dead on D-day. This war lasted 6 years and ended with a death toll around 75,000,000, so how could the Cold War that lasted around 45 years have no real record of death tolls or even be called a war if no armies really advanced against each other? Because this war was mainly fought with information and disinformation…spies.

According to the United Kingdom Historical Archives under United Kingdom Spies of the Cold War:

Spies and spying became part of the Cold War game. Both sides in the Cold War used spies as a way of acquiring knowledge of what the other was doing or to spread false knowledge of what one side was doing. (British historical archives)

In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a main character known as Control is the head of the Intelligence Agency. Privately he calls Jim Prideaux to his office for a most secret and alarming discussion. He informs Prideaux, who is a British spy and another major character, with the notion that there is a double agent spy referred to as "a mole," inside the British Intelligence Agency referred to as "The Circus."

Overwhelmed and in disbelief that Control insists that the mole is 1 of 5 major intelligence officers within the Circus. Prideaux accepts the assignment to go meet a contact in Czechoslovakia that will reveal this mole. Prideaux will phone back to Control with a simple name that will reveal the mole. "Tinker", "Tailor", "Soldier", "Poor Man" and "Beggar Man" are the names to be used which are taken from an English nursery rhyme called Tinker, Tailor. These intelligence officers, now turned suspect, are Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase, Roy Bland, George Smiley, and Percy Alleline.

Prideaux will never make this call back to Control for he is shot, seized, interrogated, and held prisoner by Soviet officials. A whistle had been blown somewhere to alert the Soviets about him and his secret mission. With much diplomacy from his best friend Bill Haydon, he is released and thus Prideaux’s career in the Circus is over. He becomes a recluse substitute instructor at Thurgood’s prep school.

The botched mission is an embarrassment for the Circus and forces an early retirement for Control, and George Smiley. The four remaining senor intelligence officers take the reigns of the Circus and delighting the British Prime Minister with large morsels of intelligence on Soviet operations within the K.G.B. thanks to project "Witchcraft."

This project is a Merlin-source that reveals information so large and incredible that neither Control nor Smiley could believe any of it to be reliable prior to their forced retirement. Despite their objections to carry out missions or make decisions based on this amazing intelligence, the other intelligence officers carry on with Witchcraft at the approval of Parliament. The information is far too juicy and control and Smiley are getting old and over suspicious in the eyes of Parliament as well as the four officers. The shooting and failed mission of Prideaux was the last thing needed to sweep the two under the carpet for good with forced retirement.

Smiley keeps his mind sharp and carries about his days outside the Circus in the same manner as he did when he worked there. Because of his brilliant work during his espionage active years, smiley is no fool in realizing there are a plethora of enemies that could jump at the chance to kill him. He maintains these espionage habits like knowing that it takes precisely 117 steps from the start of his street to his front door , or knowing which direction all 12 doors in house open, or immediately recognizing an unfamiliar car in his neighborhood, but one thing is different in his routine and that’s no longer actually going to work, which means he now is home more often…alone. George Smiley is married but yet his house is always empty nowadays. While many attempts had been made to keep things a secret to protect the feelings of Smiley, his uncanny ability to pick up on details had revealed to him for some time that his wife was having an affair with Bill Haydon. While this sadness sets in, Smiley is hit with further news that his longtime friend and superior, Control, had died due to illness. Now Smiley was truly alone. No work, colleagues, friends, wife, or Karla now.

Karla is what could be described as an anti-hero or George Smiley’s rival from the K.G.B. This researcher uses anti-hero because there never really seems to be any hate between the two. More or less a recounting in when one had the edge over the other or met each other before either of them was as proficient as they would become as intelligence officers. There is definitely a strong mutual respect for what the other can do with their wits and ability to decipher details most would overlook or can’t decipher. The only thing separating these two is their countries ideology, so like George Smiley; this researcher can see Karla more as a respected adversary than a villain or enemy. In fact the true enemy is as the novel details, the enemy is within.

That notion and phrase as seen on the covers of some newer copies of this novel holds more truth to Le Carre than meets the eye which will be explained further in this research paper.

Over a year has passed since the Smiley, Control retirement, and nestled within China is a tactical British spy named Ricky Tarr. Ricky has been on special assignment to tail and report on a Moscow Center Intelligence officer, and against Tarr’s trained instincts he falls deeply in love with the Moscow Center Intelligence officer’s wife Irini. A secret love affair ensues and she reveals to Tarr that through her husband she knows of a high ranking mole planted by the Soviet’s within the Circus.

Petrified with fear for his life, Tarr disappears without a trace or word to anyone including his superiors who would now assume him to be a traitor. After some time that Tarr deems safe enough to emerge from hiding he secretly reports the frightening news about the mole back to his only trusted supervisor Peter Guillam who enlists the aid of Lacon. It’s Lacon that upon hearing this news realizes that the only way to find a high ranking mole within the circus when everybody is an obvious suspect is to get someone that understands the people and goings on within. This person would have to be above suspicion, and that person can only be George Smiley; a man who a year ago would have been just as subject to suspicion, but has been out of the game for over a year, so couldn’t possibly be the mole.

A memorable quote from the novel really sets the tone for Smiley’s revival in the espionage game. "It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies?"

This is where the hero George Smiley begins to unravel the mystery identity of the mole, and he does it with grace and ease. Each person, their quirks, their works, hidden lives, agendas, and most of all habits are all massive bits of information that are meaningless to the common man or spy even. For smiley nothing is trivial and his knowledge of human nature makes it almost all too easy for smiley to solve what no one else could perceive.

George at one point in the novel says "Treason is very much a matter of habit."

He starts with the only other living Circus members who could also in no way be suspects. Most notably of these members is none other than Jim Prideaux.

Almost immediately after getting Ricky Tarr’s news about the mole, Smiley reveals a suspicion that Prideaux’s mission was a ruse with only one purpose; to protect the Circus mole, code named Gerald, by eliminating the suspecting Control, and the ever dangerous Smiley. This is done by offering news of a mole to Control to deviate the attention from Gerald the real mole within the Circus with a sabotaged mission that forces retirement.

This is confirmed by Prideaux who now for the first time reveals the purpose of his sabotaged mission and Control’s suspicions about the mole to George Smiley.

There is an imprinting moment that this researcher feels was captured best in the film Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy that gives a real feel for just how dangerous and skillful Smiley is and it touches base with the anti-hero sentiment about Karla mentioned earlier in this paper.

After speaking with Prideaux, Smiley investigates the house of his dead friend, Control. As Smiley and Guillam look around the home that reveals paranoia (blacked out windows and trash everywhere as if Control was too scared to leave the home), and heavy drinking (empty alcohol bottles everywhere); they eventually come to the only well-kept area of the home.

This area consists of a small table bearing a chess board with all the pieces arranged in a specific manner as if to suggest that this may have been how Control was trying to solve the mystery of the mole himself. Each piece had a piece of paper with the names of the highest members of the Circus and their Soviet counterparts from the Moscow Central K.G.B.

Smiley seems to study the board for a bit and looks at how the pieces are arranged and reaches for the most dangerous and versatile piece on the board, for it can move any number of spaces in one direction of the players choosing, and the direction can be forward, back, left, right, or any diagonal. This piece is known as the queen. Smiley grabs the queen which the name on the paper is concealed by the camera angle until Smiley turns it to reveal his own name. This gives you an idea on how Smiley is perceived by the former head of the Circus. Smiley then looks across the way to the other side of the board and sees the piece directly in line with his. It is the opposing queen and the name upon it is Karla.

The names on the two queens, and their positions on the board may give a sense that all the other pieces are mere distractions in the real battle ensuing. To go a little further in depth with the queens’ positions on the chess board, they also happen to be in a straight line across from each other. This depicts that at any time one the queens could destroy the other because they can travel from one end of the board to the other in a straight line, or forward as described in the above paragraph. In the game of chess the players move one of their own chess pieces appropriate to it’s specific rules of movement. When a player moves one of their own pieces onto a space that the opponent has a piece on, the opponents piece is considered killed, or captured. This researcher found this to be added suspense to analytical mind. Though it is never said in the novel or film, an analytical mind may see this scenario as symbolic for either Karla or Smiley to fall. The only way to know the answer is have knowledge of one very important aspect. Whose move is it?

It’s at this pinnacle moment in the story that Smiley realizes that what this whole thing has been about the cat and mouse game carried out by both Smiley and Karla, both pushing their abilities to show the other what they can do. There is a sense of self-blame on the part of Smiley about everything that has befallen. He drinks scotch and begins talking to Guillam.

Smiley says, "I met him once, Karla, back in ‘55. Half their agents were jumping ship, and I traveled around signing them up. He had a 24-hour layover in Delhi, so I had 24 hours to convince him to come over to us instead of going home to be executed. I was so tired then. I had been working so long, and there were problems with Ann. But I went to meet him, and I saw the Americans had tortured him. He had no fingernails. I told him, come to the west, we’ll give you a comfortable life. I said think of your wife. I kept going on about the wife, telling more about myself than about him. I said we aren’t so different; we both spent our lives looking for the weaknesses in each other’s systems. Don’t you think it’s time you admitted there is as little worth on your side as on mine? He never said a word, not one word. The next morning he headed back to Russia to what he presumed would be his death. I had given him a pack of cigarettes, he didn’t touch them. But he kept the lighter, a gift from Ann. It had an inscription on it." Peter says, "That was Karla? He went back to die rather than give in?" Smiley says, "Yes, and that’s how I know he can be beaten. He’s a fanatic, and a fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt." Peter says, "What did he look like?" Smiley says, "I can’t remember."

This talk is so crucial in being able to perceive Karla as the major force that he is, for in Smiley’s eyes this is happening because Smiley failed to anticipate that anyone could be as good as he is in the spy business. He had underestimated this stranger that for some reason he was immediately drawn to. Karla’s ability to spot the vulnerability in Smiley and capitalize on it with no effort at all set him apart from anyone Smiley has ever faced in his career. Say little or nothing to learn allot from someone who will habitually continue speaking to avoid uncomfortable silence, especially if their job is to get people to talk.

Karla has arranged the game, and now it’s time for Smiley to show him how it’s played.

John Le Carre’s novel is so well written that it’s hard to believe that it isn’t a non-fictional story. On the author’s own account, the main characters of the novel are in fact modeled after real people while the story is purely fictitious. Be that as it may have been intended to be fictitious, the novel’s plot centers around five extremely high ranking intelligence officers suspected of possibly being traitors.

A most alarming event took place during the Cold War, and during Le Carre’s years as an intelligence operative in MI-5 and MI-6. The event was a massive infiltration of Britain’s secret services, and the American CIA service by its opponent, the Soviet Union. This was done by successfully planting five moles at the highest levels of British intelligence. These men once finally discovered would come to be known in history as The Cambridge five or the Cambridge Spies. The effect of this event will send ripples that effect even president day intelligence, knowledge or illusions of knowledge of history ranging from the mysterious death of General George S. Patton during WWII and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. So many secrets and acts of treachery are revealed with the final declassification of the true story behind the Cambridge five after the fall of communism in the 1990’s.

As unbelievable as the news of the Cambridge Spies may have been in 1950’s and 1960’s, it’s almost overwhelming nowadays in its full revelation or disclosure. These moles were not just successful at reaching the top of the intelligence ladder, but they were successful in remaining anonymous for 20-30 years all the while feeding the Soviet Union information on British and American intelligence and counter intelligence operatives and operations. The concept is so inconceivable even today that Cold War KGB spies were planted in the early 1930’s. The Cold War was a result of WW2 and WW2 didn’t start until 1939.

The Soviet Union KGB foresaw the Cold War before it began. The Russians had the jump on the Allies before the war even began. According to history there is only one other man that outspokenly prophesized the Cold War with the Russians before it started. Not only did this man actively protest being allies with the Russians, but he planned to go to Washington to stop the U.S. from signing a treaty that would award the Soviets Eastern Europe, and was already prepared to start WWIII with the Soviets to prevent the Cold War. Reading the above paragraph there is irony to be found that the only man to publicly prophesize the Cold War was none other than George S. Patton. "We're going to have to fight the Russians eventually anyway. It might as well be now while we've already got the army here to do it." (General George S. Patton)

Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean, and Guy Burgess are the men known as the Cambridge Spies or four of the members of the Cambridge five. The fifth man to this day has never been definitively named and as the mayhem caused by these Cambridge Spies ensued, the Head of the American CIA, John Jesus Angleton would transform from an extremely respected Intelligence and Counterintelligence master into what in Le Carre’s novel, Control becomes after his dismissal. Control is obsessed with finding the mole (depicted with the chess board), Paranoid that anybody could be the mole (blacked out windows and too afraid to go outside even to take out the garbage).

Angleton will becomes so obsessed and paranoid that he will spend the rest of his career until finally being fired, hunting for the mole aka the fifth man, and accuse everyone from members of his own staff, the president Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, CIA spymaster William Colby, members of Congress, and even himself as he told others that even he wasn’t above suspicion.

Real history, real spies, double agents working within the British Secret Services to feed information to the Soviet Union. This took place during Le Carre’s employment and he voiced his distaste of Philby, and had warmth for Blunt. Le Carre will also note that his distaste for Philby was because everything about Philby reminded Le Carre about displeasing characteristics of his own as well as the similar upbringing. Le Carre also notes in several interviews that Philby shows the road that he could very well have gone down as well. Ironically there was always tension between Philby and Le Carre with irony being that they never met each other but knew a lot about each other while they worked for British intelligence. Philby before his death had said in an interview with Phil Knightly that he felt John Le Carre always knew something incriminating about him.

There is overwhelming evidence that not only is John Le Carre’s novel an accurate portrayal of espionage in the Cold War, but it is based on an actual event that not only allowed the Soviets to infiltrate National Security of Allied Forces, but inevitably forced the Cold War into existence in the first place.