Tuesday 27 July 2021: Plotting for Peace: American Peacemakers and British Codebreakers, 1914-1917
Early in the First World War, Britain began systematically breaking American codes and reading the most secret American communications. Yet for a century, this crucial intelligence dimension has been all but completely ignored. Rather than being used to help manipulate the Americans as one might imagine, British political leaders weaponised this intelligence in their fights against each other–and this great secret was nearly betrayed to the Americans in the process. This talk shares exciting, newly published findings showing how this intelligence was misused within a grave battle within the British leadership over whether to allow the Americans to pursue a negotiated settlement to end the war in 1916.
Daniel Larsen holds a fixed-term College Lectureship in History at Trinity College, Cambridge. Previously within the University of Cambridge he held a Junior Research Fellowship (Trinity College), a fixed-term University Lectureship in International Relations (Department of Politics and International Studies), and completed his PhD (Christ’s College). He is originally from Omaha, Nebraska, and his main area of research is British and American foreign policy and intelligence in the early twentieth century.
The event is free to members but guests are welcome to attend for £5 (+ booking fee) per head. The £5 ticket price will be refundable against the cost of membership. Please log in as a member to see the booking link on ‘The Talks Programme’ page.
