The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851-1945

A vital instrument of power, telecommunications is and has always been a political technology. In this book, Headrick examines the political history of telecommunications from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of World War II. He argues that this technology gave society new options. In times of peace, the telegraph and radio were, as many predicted, instruments of peace; in times of tension, they became instruments of politics, tools for rival interests, and weapons of war. Writing in a lively, accessible style, Headrick illuminates the political aspects of information technology, showing how in both World Wars, the use of radio led to a shadowy war of disinformation, cryptography, and communications intelligence, with decisive consequences.

Table of Contents:
Contents 1 Telecommunications and International Relations Characteristics of Electrical Communications Telecommunications and World History International Telecommunications as a Field of Study 2 New Technology Origins of the Telegraph International Telegraphic Cooperation The First Submarine Telegraph Cables The Mediterranean Cables The First Atlantic Cables The Red Sea Cable Telegraphs to India Conclusion 3 The Expansion of the World Cable Network, 1866-1895 The Technology of Cables The Atlantic Cables The Cable Companies Cables to India and Australia Cable Rivalries in the West Indies and Latin America Across Russia to Japan Commercial Codes and the International Telegraph Union Conclusion 4 Telegraphy and Imperialism in the Late Nineteenth Century The Telegraph in India The Telegraph in Indochina Cables and News in the French West Indies The Telegraph in China The East African Cables The West African Cables Cables and Colonial Control Conclusion 5 Crisis at the Turn of the Century, 1895-1901 Telegraphy and Diplomacy British Cable Strategy to 1898 Telegraphic Delays and French Imperialism Germany and the Azores Affair The Spanish-American War The Fashoda Incident The British Strategic Cable Report of 1898 The Boer War 6 The Great Powers and the Cable Crisis, 1900-1913 The British Pacific Cable and the "All-Red" Routes British Cable Strategy, 1902-1914 The American Cables France and the Cable Crisis Germany and the Cable Crisis Conclusion 7 The Beginnings of Radio, 1895-1914 Marconi and the Birth of Wireless Telegraphy The Marconi Monopoly and the Reaction of the Powers Technological Change and Commercial Rivalries The U.S. Navy and Radio to 1908 The Continuous Ware, 1908-1914 French Colonial Wireless German Long-Distance and Colonial Radio The British Imperial Wireless Chain Conclusion 8 Cables and Radio in World War I The Jitters of July 1914 Allied Attacks on German Communications German Attacks on Allied Communications Allied Communications during the War Censorship Propaganda Conclusion 9 Communications Intelligence in World War I Government Cryptology before 1914 Communications Intelligence on Land British Naval Interception and Direction-Finding German Codes and British Cryptanalysis in 1914 British Naval Intelligence, 1915-1916 The U-Boat War, 1917-1918 German Communications Intelligence The Zimmerman Telegram 10 Conflicts and Settlements, 1919-1923 The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 The Washington Conferences of 1920-1922 The Struggle over Cables to Latin America The Radio Corporation of America British Radio, 1919~1924 German and French Radio to 1924 Radio in Latin America and China Conclusion 11 Technological Upheavals and Commercial Rivalries, 1924-1939 The Distribution of Cables in the World in 1923 Cable Technology in the 1920s The New Cables, 1924-1929 ITT and the Telephones The British Reaction French Colonial Shortwave The International Impact of Shortwave The British Communications Merger Responses to the British Merger The British Dilemma: Profits versus Security Conclusion 12 Communications Intelligence in World War II British and German Communications Intelligence to 1936 Cipher Machines The Approach of War, 1936-1939 The Outbreak of War, 1939-1940 British Communications Intelligence in Wartime German Communications Intelligence in Wartime The Battles of Britain and North Africa German Spies and Allied Radio Deception Funkspiele, Resistance, and the Normandy Landing The Soviet Rings Conclusion 13 The War at Sea The Cable War Communications and Naval Warfare in the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1944 American Communications Intelligence before Pearl Harbor From Pearl Harbor to Midway After Midway 14 The Changing of the Guard The American Expansion Strategic Cables to North Africa and Europe The Retreat of Britain The Organization of Postwar Communications Conclusion 15 Telecommunications, Information, and Security Bibliography Essay Books on Submarine Telegraph Cables Books on Radio and Telecommunications Communications Intelligence Primary Sources Index

About the Author :
Daniel R. Headrick is Professor Emeritus of Social Science and History at Roosevelt University and author of numerous books on world history, including Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present, Technology: A World History (OUP, 2009), When Information Came of Age (OUP, 2000), The Tentacles of Progress (OUP, 1988), and The Tools of Empire (OUP, 1981).

Review :
"A mine of useful information for communication researchers....The data presented here represent a major contribution to the field and will be of immense value to scholars interested in the historical linkages between mass media and communication technology."-- ournal of Communication "This is a well-balanced book that presents the growth of telecommunications techologies within a global context."--Journal of World History "Headrick's broad-ranging study of the connections between international communications and world politics from the rise of the submarine cable to the end of World War II makes a major contribution."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History "The value of Headrick's book to communication historians is primarily in its compilation of a wealth of examples and minute details about Western cable development and politics the world over....A good resource for anyone interested in the early global development of telecommunications."--Journalism History "With The Invisible Weapon Daniel Headrick puts the capstone on a decade of solid research centered on technology and global politics during the nineteenth and twentieth century....A work that furture historians will turn to repeatedly as the study of information and communications takes on increasing intellectual and social importance."--Business History Review "We should thank Daniel Headrick for working through, step by step, the impact of the plethora of technological changes that have radically transformed all aspects of international relations and diplomacy."--The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science "A fascinating study of the relationship between the ability to communicate and the balance of power....A rare and welcome contribution to the underdeveloped literature on technology and international relations."--Foreign Affairs "A fascinating study of the impact of one particular ingredi ent of the nineteenth century scientific and technological revolution which is still transforming our modern world."--European History Quarterly "Well worth reading."--Communications Booknotes