Les activités de la Sûreté de l'Etat belge dans la péninsule ibérique, 1940-1944

Details

Supervisors

Debruyne, Emmanuel

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire, à finalité didactique

Abstract

enThis work analyzes the way in which the “Sûreté de l’Etat belge”, a secret service reconstituted in London in November 1940 following the May debacle, managed to establish itself in the Iberian Peninsula and to carry out the missions assigned to it. The main sources consulted are the archives of the “Sûreté de l'Etat”, the “Fonds William Ugeux”, the archives of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as interviews. This service operates in a space that is not neutral, especially with regard to Franco's Spain, an ally of the Axis powers, with whom it collaborates to dismantle the networks of the Allied on its territory, including those of the Sûreté. In order to carry out its missions, the Belgian service relied on the diplomatic services, which served as a cover for its missions in the Iberian area. However, there are many tensions in this relationship. The relationship is better between the Sûreté and the British secret services, which exchange many services in the peninsula. Finally, if the service managed to fulfil its missions of circulation of mail and clandestine people, between the Belgian services in the South of France and "London", it also suffered two major setbacks from the Spanish authorities.