Editing Cold War espionage (section)

== Background ==
[[History of Soviet espionage in the United States|Soviet espionage in the United States]] during the Cold War was an outgrowth of [[World War II]] [[nuclear espionage]], with both sides utilizing and evolving techniques and practices developed during World War II. Cold War espionage has been fictionally depicted in works such as the [[James Bond]] and [[Matt Helm]] books and movies.

The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II led by the United States (and the [[Western Bloc]]) and the [[Soviet Union]] (and the [[Eastern Bloc]]). After World War II, the victory of the Soviet Union over Germany granted them considerable territorial spoils; the Soviet Union banded together these states economically and politically creating a superpower challenging the might of the United States. Prior even to the United States' use of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union had been developing the technology to make similar devices.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Sulick|first=Michael|date=2015|title=Intelligence in the Cold War|url=https://www.afio.com/publications/SULICK_Michael_Guide_to_Intelligence_in_the_Cold_War_from_INTEL_WINTER2014-15_Vol21_No1.pdf|journal=The Intelligencer}}</ref> Although the two powers never engaged in a full-scale war, both countries were constantly preparing for an all-out nuclear war. Cold War espionage was focused on gaining an advantage in information about the enemies' capabilities, especially related to atomic weaponry.<ref name=":0" />

During the [[Cold War]], information was a key commodity. It was vital to know what the adversary was up to, and the possibility of using the hi-tech surveillance that is used today was not around. Instead of trusting technology, states relied on spies: people who infiltrated enemy territory and tried to discover information while staying undetected.

{{Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies}}

[[Espionage]] activities continued from prior to the beginning of the cold war in the late thirties- early forties, and all the way through the late 1960s and even continuing through today. Due to the nature of espionage, the information that we can gather about these activities is limited, equally as limited is the prosecutorial reach with regards to people who commit espionage are subjected to (especially in the United States). These spies were decoding encrypted information, and using many skills to gain an advantage over enemy countries.