Date Thesis Awarded

4-2009

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

History

Advisor

Hiroshi Kitamura

Committee Members

David McCarthy

William Rennagel

Abstract

Allen Dulles is most famously known for his controversial operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This story of Dulles as CIA director is already well told and analyzed by historians. Less known is his central role in the Office of Strategic Service's (OSS) operation in Bern, Switzerland during the Second World War. Founded on June 13, 1942, the OSS was a key intelligence arm that assisted the United States' military and diplomatic mission following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Dulles became the leading spymaster for the OSS and one of the most, if not the most, influential intelligence officers of World War II. By studying Dulles' intelligence activities during the Second World War, we can learn a great deal about the foundations of the American intelligence community, various methods of intelligence collection, and how intelligence can be used as a tool to promote and/or achieve specific agendas. Historians have not adequately examined Dulles' World War II years and the impact his role as Station Chief in Bern had on developments in the war and in the postwar period.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Comments

Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.

On-Campus Access Only

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