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Quiz about I Spy With My Little Eye
Quiz about I Spy With My Little Eye

I Spy With My Little Eye Trivia Quiz


This is a quiz on possibly the worst spy to ever grace the world stage - the man who supplied British and American atomic bomb research secrets to the USSR for most of the 1940s.

A multiple-choice quiz by Creedy. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
Creedy
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
326,725
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
639
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Klaus Fuchs was born in 1911. Because of his espionage activities in later years, he was described by Hans Blethe as "The only physicist he knew who truly changed history". In which country was he born? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In which field did the father of Klaus Fuchs work? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Coming from a family of only four children, one of Fuchs' sisters, and his grandmother, and his mother all killed themselves. Another of his sisters was diagnosed with which mental illness? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Before fleeing his home country in 1933 (a momentous date in that country's history), which political party had Fuchs joined in 1932? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Fuchs commenced work in a teaching position at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Following the outbreak of the second world war, however, what happened to him? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Fuchs was next approached by the University of Birmingham to work on the British Atomic Project. Accordingly he did so and, by 1942, he had signed the Official Secrets Act. What was he then granted by the British authorities? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. By 1941, Fuchs was in contact with the spy Ruth Werner. This woman was a German communist and also a major in Russian military intelligence. What was her code name? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. And so Fuchs began ten years of betrayal of official military secrets to the enemies of the countries who had given him refuge. By late 1943, he was working on which high ranking American military project? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. After the Second World War was over, and the Cold War had begun, Fuchs continued to divulge as much information as he possessed to the Soviet authorities. In 1946, he returned to work in England and was investigated initially by intelligence authorities, who had been working on a project to break the Soviet cipher codes. By what name was their project known? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Fuchs continued to supply nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union up to 1949. It wasn't until 1950, following prolonged interrogation by specialist William Skardon, that he finally confessed. He was tried and convicted and given a sentence of how many years? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Klaus Fuchs was born in 1911. Because of his espionage activities in later years, he was described by Hans Blethe as "The only physicist he knew who truly changed history". In which country was he born?

Answer: Germany

Fuchs fled to the safety of Britain in the lead up to the second world war. He studied and was awarded his PhD in Physics from the Bristol University, followed by a DSc at the Edinburgh university. That didn't stop him however from betraying the country that had given him refuge.
2. In which field did the father of Klaus Fuchs work?

Answer: He was a Lutheran pastor

This would make the choices that Fuchs went on to follow even more puzzling. Their potential for destruction was at the opposite end of the spectrum to that of his father's work.
3. Coming from a family of only four children, one of Fuchs' sisters, and his grandmother, and his mother all killed themselves. Another of his sisters was diagnosed with which mental illness?

Answer: Schizophrenia

The tragedy of this illness was that so little was known of it until fairly recently. Yet, in spite of this, the suicide rate still remains high from sufferers of this cruel disease. One wonders, in an attempt to explain his actions, if Fuchs himself struggled with a mild form of it.
4. Before fleeing his home country in 1933 (a momentous date in that country's history), which political party had Fuchs joined in 1932?

Answer: The Communist Party

Before joining the hard line Communist Party of Germany, Fuchs had also been a member of the milder Social Democratic Party of Germany. It's no wonder he had to flee the country following a violent disagreement with the Nazi Party in 1933. The battles those two groups engaged in are notorious for their brutality and reprisals.
5. Fuchs commenced work in a teaching position at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Following the outbreak of the second world war, however, what happened to him?

Answer: He was interned by the British authorities

This, however, was only for a short period of six months. One of his professors intervened on his behalf and he was allowed to return to work.
6. Fuchs was next approached by the University of Birmingham to work on the British Atomic Project. Accordingly he did so and, by 1942, he had signed the Official Secrets Act. What was he then granted by the British authorities?

Answer: Full British Citizenship

If you ask me, I think the British authorities were a little dense - or very desperate - to have accorded such trust, in such a very dangerous area of work, to this man. With a family history of a mental illness that can affect more than one member of a family, and with his known membership in the German Communist Party, this was rather asking for trouble.
7. By 1941, Fuchs was in contact with the spy Ruth Werner. This woman was a German communist and also a major in Russian military intelligence. What was her code name?

Answer: Sonia

This woman's life makes fascinating reading. She is possibly the world's worst female spy and her utter ruthlessness and dedication to communism knew no bounds. She was terrifying in what she was capable of doing. Never brought to justice, she lived out the remainder of her life covered in communist awards and glory.
8. And so Fuchs began ten years of betrayal of official military secrets to the enemies of the countries who had given him refuge. By late 1943, he was working on which high ranking American military project?

Answer: The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was responsible for the development of the world's first atomic bomb. This was a combined project between the United States, Britain and Canada in an attempt to beat Nazi Germany scientists in their endeavours in the same field. The Manhattan Project eventually employed over 130,000 people - and the world rushed headlong into the era of the development of the first nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
9. After the Second World War was over, and the Cold War had begun, Fuchs continued to divulge as much information as he possessed to the Soviet authorities. In 1946, he returned to work in England and was investigated initially by intelligence authorities, who had been working on a project to break the Soviet cipher codes. By what name was their project known?

Answer: Venona

This project involved co-operation between British and American intelligence forces. Its thrust was analysing and decoding messages sent by the Russians during the Second World War. The project continued into the early stages of the cold war.
10. Fuchs continued to supply nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union up to 1949. It wasn't until 1950, following prolonged interrogation by specialist William Skardon, that he finally confessed. He was tried and convicted and given a sentence of how many years?

Answer: Fourteen

The reason for such a light sentence for Fuchs was that, at that stage in 1950, the Soviet Union was still considered a friendly nation because of its role as part of the Allied forces in World War II. The Cold War however lay just around the corner, when all this would change.
Source: Author Creedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Snowman before going online.
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