Conservative domination 1951-1964 - scandals

Question 1

John Vassall - year

Answer 1

1962, Macmillan

Question 2

Vassal Affair

Answer 2

• Vassal was caught in a soviet ‘honey trap’
• At a party his wine was drugged and he was taken to a room were he was photographed naked with 3 men in his bed
• The soviets used this to blackmail him into spying, threatening to otherwise cause an international scandal and reveal his homosexuality.
• At the admiralty he passed 1000s of documents to the USSR

Question 3

What did the Vassal affair show

Answer 3

Showed a lack of security in the government and undermined the idea that Tories would be effective opposition to the threat of the USSR (one of the reasons they were voted in during the context of the cold war)

Question 4

Kim Philby - when

Answer 4

1963, Macmillan

Question 5

Philby

Answer 5

Jan 1963: it was revealed that Philby (senior official at the foreign office) had been passing info to the USSR for decades

• he had been a member of the cambridge 5 - a spy ring which passed info to the USSR during WW2 and the early stages of the Cold War
• he had worked with M16 during WW2 and by 1945 was a high-ranking intelligence official
• He had tipped off 2 other spies who fled to the USSR - this caused suspicion to turn to Philby and he was forced to resign from M16 in July
• Fled to Moscow in 1963

Question 6

Philby impact

Answer 6

-showed a lack of security and trust during the cold war –> government failed to identify a traitor for DECADES

Question 7

Profumo Affair - year

Answer 7

1963, Macmillan

Question 8

what happened in Profumo

Answer 8

• Profumo, minister of war, had an affair with a model Christine Keeler in 1961, who had relations with Soviet embassy workers as she had also been having an affair with a Soviet naval attaché
• When the story broke out Profumo initially denied the accusations and Macmillan was quick to believe him
• He later admitted he lied 3 months later

Question 9

Profumo Affair - impact

Answer 9

• considered the most significant of the affairs
• suggested lack of security _ undermined the tory party leading to a mistrust of the whole institution giving the increasing occurrence of these incidents
• Macmillan’s readiness to accept Profumo’s word suggested the PM was losing his political grip