Presentation

Against the current context and an emerging new kind of armed conflict, this exhibition shows how secret wars are one of the modes of action open to contemporary States, from a political, diplomatic and military point of view.
The period covered begins with the French Second Empire, during which the first intelligence institutions were created, ending with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Second World War and the Cold War occupy an essential part of the exhibition. Although the focus is mainly on France, Great Britain, Germany, the United States and the Soviet Union are also represented.

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Comparing fiction with reality

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Comparing fiction with reality Often seen as a fantasy world, the secret world of intelligence and clandestine action is known to the general public through fiction. Rather than ignoring this, the exhibition uses images and clichés that are part of the collective imagination to help visitors understand this essential mode of action for contemporary States.
Although the objective is not to lift the veil on major affairs of espionage, the itinerary offers keys to understanding the topic, untangling reality from fiction through the use of audiovisual archives and extracts from fictional films. By contrasting light and shadow, visible and invisible, transparency and opacity, it promotes understanding of the complex reality of intelligence and clandestine action.

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Context, objectives, people and methods of secret wars

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The first part reminds us how secret services were created and organised, and how the role of agents and their methods was developed. Designed like a «user manual», it explains the context and conception of secret wars, acting as an intermediary instrument between open war and the diplomacy carried out by Governments. The organisation and development of the French secret services, and also the British, American and Soviet secret services, are explained by reference to the people in charge and to iconic intelligence locations such as the CIA offices in Washington, then in Langley, Virginia; the SOE at Baker Street, the private detectives’ street in London; MI6 in Vauxhall on the banks of the Thames, and so on.
It also describes the different types of agents, detailing their recruitment, training and the resources given to them to carry out their missions. Unlike the image portrayed in fiction, agents do not take on numerous roles, but each has their own speciality.

Read more about the visitor itinerary

Download the exhibition booklet (PDF - 7,3Mo)

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How secret wars are implemented: forms and mechanisms

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The second part focuses on action, presenting the diversity of confidential, secret and clandestine operations, explaining the two main roles assigned to secret services, intelligence and counter-espionage on the one hand, and special operations, misinformation and destabilisation on the other.
Clandestine and subversive operations consist in «seeing the invisible», in being invisible, in surprising the enemy without being surprised yourself, acting in the shadows, using human or technical methods: intelligence, counterespionage, sabotage, attacks, elimination operations, kidnapping, misinformation and propaganda.
These actions, which by their nature are illegal abroad, come under a specific framework of control, sometimes not without tension between the governmental order giver and the services responsible for executing the order.
The final part of the itinerary shines the light on certain operations that were revealed by the media. Very often a sign of failure, this eruption into the public sphere of the affairs and sometimes their protagonists can also cause collateral damage.

Read more about the visitor itinerary

Download the exhibition booklet (PDF - 7,3Mo)

Specific aids for young visitors

For young people, there are 12 presentation texts designed to decode the objects on display, a games booklet to carry out a Sherlock Holmes type investigation and fun tours..

Additional information on specific aids for young visitors

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Around 400 artefacts

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For the first time, the exhibition brings together over 400 objects and archive documents, most of which have never been shown before.
It has benefited from major loans from French, British and German national and private institutions, in particular the French General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), the Combined Military Museum in the UK (Maldon, Essex), MM Park (La Wantzenau), due to open to the public in late 2016, the Defence Historical Service (Vincennes), and also the French General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), the National Archives (Pierrefittesur-Seine), the Mémorial de Caen, the British Library (London), the National Archives (Kew), the Museum in der «Runden Ecke» (Leipzig), and the Alliertenmuseum (Berlin).

Many objects also come from remarkable private collections.
For the fictional aspects, EON Productions (London), the historical producer of James Bond, the Gaumont museum (Neuilly-sur-Seine), producer of OSS 117 by Michel Hazanavicius and Mandarin Productions, producer of the series Au Service de la France have exceptionally agreed to loan artefacts from their collections.