NATO’s First Spies: The Case of the Disappearing Diplomats — Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean

Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean were the first ideologically motivated spies to defect to the Soviet Union after the Second World War; moreover, they were the first Soviet spies with access to NATO secrets. During the 1950s their names became synonymous with the Cold War. The publicity given to their treachery increased public anxiety about the Soviet Union, which had proved itself a formidable adversary. When it became apparent in 1955 that the British Government had lied to the public about the Burgess and Maclean case, it also became a symbol for the inadequacies of the British political system. This chapter will explore government reactions to the defection in Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and assess its impact on British domestic politics, the ‘special’ Anglo— American relationship, and East-West relations in the Cold War.