The Ultra Secret: Enigma Used By Germany During World War II
The Ultra Secret (Enigma)
During World War II, it was essential to try and obtain secret high-value information from the Nazis. Such information was normally written in ciphers – secret methods of writing in code so that enemies cannot decrypt the information. The cipher used by Germany during World War II was a very complex polyalphabetic cipher, which was a code that alternated between multiple alphabets to write messages, making the message appear to be random letter combinations. The alphabets were switched at random throughout the message, thus increasing the difficulty of cracking the cipher. The cipher that the Germans primarily utilized during World War II was known as Enigma, with was also the name of the machine which was used to encrypt the German messages. Enigma expanded on the idea of a polyalphabetic cipher, switching alphabets with each letter typed. The fact that the patterns were always changing made Enigma extremely difficult to break. During the 20s, ciphers such as Enigma were thought to be unbreakable.
The Allies focused a lot of time and effort into cracking Enigma. The data that could be gathered from decrypted Enigma messages was of such …show more content…
However, the intelligence often included the locations of German troops and vehicles. In June 1940, decrypted messages showed that the Germans were developing radio guidance systems for their bomber planes. Ultra provided a significant contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic, which gave away the positions of German U-boats, which were highly advanced and dangerous submarines. Ultra also helped against German bombings and surprise attacks. Without Ultra, the Allies would have suffered much greater losses and had a much harder time winning World War II. Without the assistance of Ultra, it is theorized that the European War would have continued for two more years than it
During World War II, it was essential to try and obtain secret high-value information from the Nazis. Such information was normally written in ciphers – secret methods of writing in code so that enemies cannot decrypt the information. The cipher used by Germany during World War II was a very complex polyalphabetic cipher, which was a code that alternated between multiple alphabets to write messages, making the message appear to be random letter combinations. The alphabets were switched at random throughout the message, thus increasing the difficulty of cracking the cipher. The cipher that the Germans primarily utilized during World War II was known as Enigma, with was also the name of the machine which was used to encrypt the German messages. Enigma expanded on the idea of a polyalphabetic cipher, switching alphabets with each letter typed. The fact that the patterns were always changing made Enigma extremely difficult to break. During the 20s, ciphers such as Enigma were thought to be unbreakable.
The Allies focused a lot of time and effort into cracking Enigma. The data that could be gathered from decrypted Enigma messages was of such …show more content…
However, the intelligence often included the locations of German troops and vehicles. In June 1940, decrypted messages showed that the Germans were developing radio guidance systems for their bomber planes. Ultra provided a significant contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic, which gave away the positions of German U-boats, which were highly advanced and dangerous submarines. Ultra also helped against German bombings and surprise attacks. Without Ultra, the Allies would have suffered much greater losses and had a much harder time winning World War II. Without the assistance of Ultra, it is theorized that the European War would have continued for two more years than it