MI2 facts for kids
MI2 was a special department within the British military. Its full name was the British Military Intelligence Section 2. It was part of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, which itself was part of the War Office. The War Office was a government department that managed the British Army.
What Was MI2?
MI2 was first created to handle information about different places, like maps and geographical details. This was very important for military planning.
MI2's Early Focus
When it was first set up, MI2 had two main parts, each looking after different parts of the world:
- MI2a focused on countries in the Americas (except Canada), along with Spain, Portugal, Italy, Liberia, Tangier, and the Balkan region.
- MI2b looked after the Ottoman Empire (a large empire that existed for many centuries), the Trans-Caucasus area, Arabia, Sinai, Abyssinia, and parts of North Africa (but not areas controlled by France or Spain), Egypt, and Sudan.
Changes After World War I
After the First World War, MI2's job changed. Instead of focusing on geography, it started gathering intelligence (secret information) about Russia and the countries in Scandinavia (like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark).
When MI2 Ended
In 1941, during the Second World War, the tasks that MI2 handled were moved to another department called MI3. This meant that MI2 stopped existing as a separate section.
