cially known as MI-8, for Military Intelligence–8, and was actually a
joint operation between the army and the Department of Stateto
break the diplomatic codes of several different nations. Cryptologists
of the Black Chamber were responsible for breaking Japan’s “Pur-
ple” codes in 1919. The intercepted communications gave the United
States an enormous advantage in diplomatic negotiations and strate-
gic matters. For example, one set of decrypts were used by U.S. sec-
retary of state Charles Evans Hughes to improve his diplomatic posi-
tion during the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922. He was
actually reading Japanese diplomatic traffic on Tokyo’s negotiating
positions every day before he went into the bargaining sessions. De-
spite its apparent usefulness, the State Department closed down the
Black Chamber in 1929, although the army Signals Intelligence
Corpscontinued cryptologic work in secret. See alsoCRYPTOL-
OGY; YARDLEY, HERBERTO.BLACK PROPAGANDA.See PROPAGANDA.BLAKE, GEORGE (1922– ). George Blake was a British intelligence
officer who spied for the Soviet Unionin the 1950s. Blake became
involved with intelligence work during World War II, first as a
courier for Dutch resistance in Nazi-occupied Holland, but he es-
caped to Britain in 1942, joining the British navy. After the war,
Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) recruited Blake into its
ranks and sent him for a short time to West Germany to run agents in
the Soviet zone. In the late 1940s, SIS sent Blake to Korea, where he
was captured by North Korean forces on 24 June 1950. During his in-
carceration, he became a communist.
North Korea repatriated Blake in 1953, and SIS assigned him to
work on intercepted Soviet communications. In 1955, Blake was as-
signed to Berlin to recruit Soviet officers, and while there, he gave
the Soviets the names of British intelligence officers. He also gave
Moscow operational details, including those of Operation Gold, the
Berlin tunnel caper. On his return to Britain in 1959, Blake came un-
der suspicion from tips provided by a defectorand was eventually ar-
rested for espionage. He received a 42-year jail sentence in 1961.
However, he escaped from prison on 22 October 1966 and fled to the
Soviet Union.BLAKE, GEORGE•1305-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 13