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The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général ("Second Bureau of the General Staff") was France's external
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...
from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. However the term "Deuxième Bureau" (), like " MI6" and " KGB", outlived the original organization as a general label for the country's intelligence service. French military intelligence was composed of two separate bureaus prior to World War II. The Premier Bureau was charged with informing the high command about the state of French, allied and friendly troops, while the Deuxième Bureau developed intelligence concerning enemy troops. The Deuxième Bureau was celebrated for its cryptanalytical work, but it was criticized for its involvement in the
Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
and its consistent overestimation of German military formations prior to World War II. Its final director was
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...
Louis Rivet.


History


19th century

On June 8, 1871, the French Ministry of War authorized the creation of a service charged with performing "research on enemy plans and operations".Anciens des Services Spéciaux de la Défense Nationale
(France) In 1872, the Ministry authorized the creation of a military
counter-espionage Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...
service. In 1876, a ''Statistiques et de reconnaissances militaires'' ("Military Statistics and Recognition") section was added to the Deuxième Bureau. In 1886, a law was passed penalizing espionage activity (another would be passed in 1934). In October 1894 the Dreyfus affair occurred and proved so politically divisive that, in May 1899, the government shifted responsibility for counter-espionage to the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
. A small intelligence section remained within the General Staff, but the Service de surveillance du territoire (''Territorial Surveillance Service'', SST), an agency of the
Sûreté (; , but usually translated as afety" or "security)"Security" in French is ''sécurité''. The ''sûreté'' was originally called ''Brigade de Sûreté'' ("Surety Brigade"). is, in many French-speaking countries or regions, the organizational ...
générale, became responsible for the pursuit of foreign spies on French soil. Counter-espionage was to be handled by special Sûreté police chiefs. The Deuxième Bureau's statistical section remained in operation until 1 September 1899, when it was disbanded. The name (literally, Second Desk) refers to the organization of the French general staff in four desks: 1st for personnel, 2nd for intelligence, 3rd for operations, 4th for logistics. This numerical designation survives in the first four staff numbers of the
continental staff system A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...
practiced by most NATO armies: S1 for personnel, S2 for intelligence, S3 for operations, S4 for logistics. (See also the French version of this page.)


1900s–1920

In 1906,
Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...
became Président du Conseil. With complete control of
Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
funding, he created special counter-espionage units, the "brigades du Tigre", a reference to Clemenceau's nickname. Commanded by police commissioner
Célestin Hennion Célestin Hennion CVO (8 September 1862 – 14 March 1915) was a French police officer who rose to head the Prefecture of Police (french: Préfecture de Police). He was responsible for the reorganisation of the Préfecture and the introducti ...
, the mobile brigades were to handle special operations of the judicial police related to counter-espionage. In February 1907, the Deuxième Bureau was reactivated and was reassigned some of the contre-espionnage responsibilities it had had prior to the Dreyfus affair. Commanded by General , the Deuxième Bureau worked with the Interior Ministry, and especially Commissioner Hennion's mobile counter-espionage brigades, which worked closely with France's border patrols. In August 1911, the oversight of counter-espionage activities was assigned to the administration of the judiciary police that supervised the mobile brigades. In 1913, the government officially assigned counter-espionage operations on foreign soil to the Ministry of War, with the Ministry of the Interior being responsible for border security and prosecution. In May 1915, the ''Section de Centralisation du Renseignement'' ("Central Intelligence Section", SCR) was created and assigned to Commandant Ladoux. It was attached to the 2ème Bureau, which also administered the operations of the Bureaux centraux de renseignement (BCR). Altogether the organization was known as the 5ème Bureau. The SCR was attached to the ''Section de renseignements'' (''Intelligence Section'', SR) in April 1917. In February 1917, the Président du Conseil put a commissioner of the Sûreté Nationale in charge of the criminal police, general intelligence, and counter-espionage. His command included a filing and archiving section, a section devoted to
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
(''propagande révolutionnaire'', PR) and the SR and SCR. The SR provided a clearinghouse for centralized intelligence-gathering while the SCR was a small team of specialized counter-intelligence officers reporting to the Ministry of War, while a team of police officers were in charge of the arrest of suspects and judicial enquiries.


1930s

In April 1934, the ''Direction Générale de la Sûreté Générale'' was changed to the ''Direction Générale de la Sûreté nationale'', with a post of Controller-General in command of Counter-Intelligence. In March 1935, the position was given authority over the territorial police, the ''Police de l’Air'', the TSF and the police carrier pigeon service. In June 1936, Colonel Louis Rivet succeeded Colonel Roux as head of the intelligence service and of a new organization, the ''Service de centralisation des renseignements'' ("Central Intelligence Service", SCR). The SCR, headquartered at 2 bis avenue de Tourville, Paris, was run by
Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
Guy Schlesser. In March 1937, the government decreed that territorial surveillance was the responsibility of the police alone, to be executed by strictly legal means. A new organization, the ''Bureau central de Renseignements'' ("Central Intelligence Bureau", BCR) was established the same month and a special section devoted to "preventative defence" was created within the SCR. In July 1939, at the prompting of military intelligence, a counter-intelligence charter was established and the National Council amended the
penal code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
(article 75 and following) to integrate all 1810, 1886, and 1934 counter-intelligence laws.


Directors

* Colonel
Jean Sandherr Colonel Nicolas Jean Robert Conrad Auguste Sandherr (6 June 1846 – 24 May 1897) was a French military officer involved in the Dreyfus Affair. Early life and career Sandherr was born in Mulhouse, in Alsace, then a part of France and also the ho ...
, between 1886 and 1895 *
Georges Picquart Marie-Georges Picquart (6 September 1854 – 19 January 1914) was a French Army officer and Minister of War. He is best known for his role in the Dreyfus affair, in which he played a key role in uncovering the real culprit. Early career Picqua ...
, between 1895 and 1896 * Hubert-Joseph Henry, from 1897 to 1898 * Colonel from 1911 to 1918 * Colonel Maurice-Henri Gauché, from 1937 to 1940 * Colonel Louis Rivet, 1940


20th century operations and agents

The Deuxième Bureau developed a reputation as Europe's top cryptoanalytical service in the early 20th century. It scored a notable success at the outbreak of World War I when it cracked the German diplomatic cryptographic system. The French cryptoanalysts were able to decipher the lengthy telegram containing the German declaration of war before the German Ambassador in Paris could decipher it. In June 1918, Captain
Georges Painvin Georges Jean Painvin (; 28 January 1886 – 21 January 1980) was a French geologist and industrialist, best known as the cryptanalyst who broke the ADFGX/ADFGVX cipher used by the Germans during the First World War. Early life Painvin was born ...
, a DB cryptoanalyst, was able to crack part of the Germans' ADFGVX
cipher In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is ''encipherment''. To encipher or encode ...
. These intercepts allowed an effective response to the movements of the German Army's 15 division-strong advances under Ludendorff at Montdidier and
Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with ...
, about 50 miles north of Paris. Prior to World War II, a Deuxième Bureau agent codenamed 'Rex' made contact with
Hans-Thilo Schmidt Hans-Thilo Schmidt (13 May 1888 – 19 September 1943) codenamed Asché or Source D, was a spy who, during the 1930s, sold secrets about the Germans' Enigma machine to the French. The materials he provided facilitated Polish mathematician Marian ...
, a German cipher clerk, in the Grand Hotel of the
Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
town of
Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...
. Schmidt, who worked at Defence Ministry Cipher Office in Berlin, sold the French the manuals explaining how to operate the top secret Enigma cipher machine being used by the German Army. Schmidt ultimately provided all the information necessary to crack the complex ciphers, which would play a key role in the Allied victory. In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in response to Germany's
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...
,
Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...
was recruited by the Bureau and provided them with information as an "honorable correspondent". Raymond Arthur Schuhl, a French propagandist who had served in the 6th Section of the Deuxieme Bureau until the fall of France, became the
OSS OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...
Chief of Morale Operations in Switzerland and was its principal forger through the war. Schuhl operated for the OSS under the cover name Robert Salembier (code name "Mutt"). He oversaw a prolific print shop in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
that produced millions of white and black pamphlets, leaflets, cards,
postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
, and other forms of printed
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
.


World War II reorganization

Following the defeat of France in 1940, the
Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
regime's intelligence service was organized within the ''Centre d’information gouvernemental'' (CIG), under the direction of Admiral
François Darlan Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (7 August 1881 – 24 December 1942) was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the ''École navale'' in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his service d ...
. Under the command of Colonel Louis Rivet, head of the Deuxième Bureau since 1936, they set up the '' Bureau des Menées Antinationales'' (BMA, the "Bureau of Anti-national Activities"), officially an organization opposing
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
activities and resistance efforts and accepted by the Germans under the terms of the armistice. Meanwhile, on 1 July 1940, the
Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile u ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
created its own intelligence service. Under the leadership of General
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
, Major
André Dewavrin André Dewavrin DSO, MC (9 June 1911 – 20 December 1998) was a French officer who served with Free French Forces intelligence services during World War II. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of a businessman. He graduated as an ar ...
was assigned to command the organization. Initially known as the ''Service de Renseignements (SR)'', the agency changed its name to ''Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action Militaire (BCRAM)'' in April 1941, and again in January 1942 to '' Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action'' (BCRA) the name by which it was best known. At the end of the war, in 1945, this became the modern French counter-espionage service, the ''
Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
'' (SDECE, "Foreign Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service").


References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deuxieme Bureau 1871 establishments in France 1940 disestablishments in France Service de Documentation Exterieure et de Contre-Espionnage Military history of France Military intelligence agencies