The Political Intelligence Department (1918–1920) was a department of the British
Foreign Office created towards the end of
World War I. It was created on 11 March 1918 by
Permanent Under-Secretary
A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior civil servant of a department or ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are the non-political civil s ...
Lord Hardinge. It gathered political, economic, and military conditions in both allied and enemy countries and prepared reports for the cabinet, the Foreign Office, and other departments. The director of the department was
William Tyrrell, with
James Headlam-Morley serving as assistant director. Most of the staff were drawn from the Department of Information's Intelligence Bureau, including historians
Arnold Toynbee,
Lewis Namier, and
Alfred Zimmern
Sir Alfred Eckhard Zimmern (26 January 1879–24 November 1957) was an English classical scholar, historian, and political scientist writing on international relations. A British policymaker during World War I and a prominent liberal thinker, Zi ...
.
A major function of the department was to prepare reports on all subjects and countries which might be of importance at the anticipated peace conference following the war.
A similar department was created in 1939 at the outbreak of
World War II, also called the
Political Intelligence Department.
See also
*
Political Intelligence Department (1939–1943)
The Political Intelligence Department was a department of the British Foreign Office during World War II. Established in 1939, its main function was the production of weekly intelligence summaries. It was originally headed by Foreign Office dip ...
References
Defunct United Kingdom intelligence agencies
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
1918 establishments in the United Kingdom
1920 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
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