Galip Türkmen
History has repeatedly shown that great empires collapse due to excessive expansionism; Rome, Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia, and the Soviet Union are all victims of this cycle. However, the United Kingdom, despite losing its global dominance after World War II, managed to reverse this fate with the power of British intellect. During the Cold War, it formed a secret solidarity with the Soviet Union, dragging the U.S. into quagmires, and from this chaos, it initiated a financial renaissance.
This article explores how the Kingdom, struggling to stay afloat after World War II, recovered through its pirates—focusing on Kim Philby and Victor Rothschild.
The Historical Strategy of the British Mind: The Pirate Tradition
Since the beginning of its imperial period, the British mind has refined the art of managing chaos pragmatically. Pirates like Francis Drake, while plundering Spanish gold, both enriched themselves and served the strategic goals of the British Empire. When pirates failed, the defeat was theirs alone. Their successes, however, belonged to the empire. They shared their loot with the King. England had learned this method from the Ottomans—Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha was succeeded by the Francis Drakes. After World War II, this tradition evolved, and direct hegemony gave the way to indirect influence. England had to hand over its global power to the United States, began acting jointly on every platform, but secretly formed an alliance with the Soviet Union to weaken the U.S. One of the most significant field agents of this strategy was Kim Philby; one of its architects of financial gain was Victor Rothschild, the pirate guiding from the captain’s cabin.
Philby’s Story: The Preparation
Kim Philby was born on January 1, 1912, in British India. His father, St. John Philby, was a Middle East expert in the British colonial administration; his mother, Dora Johnston, came from an aristocratic family. His childhood unfolded in the shadow of the British elite. His father’s connections in Arabia (he was a key British intelligence agent in the Middle East, had formed an alliance with Ibn Saud, and spied against the Ottomans) instilled in Kim an early sense of strategic vision. In 1929, at the age of 17, he enrolled at Cambridge’s Trinity College, where his father had also graduated. It was an incubator for the future pawns of British intelligence.
At Cambridge, he met Victor Rothschild, who was two years older. Victor, heir to the famous Rothschild family, was one of the most powerful and popular figures at the school. Philby became part of Victor’s circle, alongside names like Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess. They were close enough to visit each other’s homes. Victor, Kim Philby and their friends met British intelligence while they were at Cambridge, before they even graduated. The paths of Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, and Anthony Blunt—who would later be known as the “Cambridge Five”—crossed frequently. John Cairncross is also cited as the fifth member. At one point, Victor Rothschild was also accused as the fifth person. Their crime was being a Russian spy. Young people who had studied at the most prestigious school in the world and belonged to the elite families of the Empire had become Russian spies. Was this going to happen thing!..
Vienna – The First Mission
In 1933, Kim Philby graduated from Cambridge and was sent to Vienna. At just 21 years old, Philby was an idealistic elite who infiltrated leftist circles in Austria, where fascism was on the rise. Following MI6 instructions, he made contact with communist resistance fighters opposing the pro-Nazi Dollfuss regime and, in 1933, married Austrian communist activist Litzi Friedmann. At the time, Austria had become a refuge for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. Philby, alongside Litzi, assisted Jewish refugees. Through this marriage, he gathered intelligence on both Germany and leftist movements. The marriage also served as a protective shield for Litzi. As the repression of communists in Austria intensified, he and Litzi organized escape routes for dissidents. In Austria, Philby utilized connections from both the Rothschilds and his father.
Philby returned to London from Vienna in February 1934. He changed sails for a new mission aboard Victor’s pirate ship—he became a journalist. He started working as a correspondent at The Times, owned by the Astor family, close friends of the Rothschilds. In 1937, he was sent to cover the Spanish Civil War. His mission was to pose as a Franco supporter while gathering intelligence from fascist sources. In 1937, he infiltrated Franco’s headquarters in Málaga and collected information about Nazi-backed operations. He was so successful in his journalist role that he was even awarded a medal by Franco.
Official Duty in London
Leaving his journalism cover behind, Kim Philby officially joined MI6 in 1940. He was recruited based on an official recommendation from Victor Rothschild. He served in Section V (counterintelligence), tasked with monitoring Soviet intelligence. When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941, monitoring turned into concrete cooperation—they were now allies. Philby established contact with the Soviet Embassy in London, coordinating intelligence sharing against Nazi spies. For instance, he provided Moscow with plans of German Abwehr agents, indirectly aiding the defense of Stalingrad. At the same time, Victor was running anti-sabotage operations at MI5. His explosive analyses and Nazi sabotage reports were presented to Churchill and later shared with the Soviets via Philby.
A New Vision, A New Mission
World War II ended in 1945. The U.S. took center stage. Although the UK was among the victors of the war, in reality, it had lost the most. Its economy had collapsed, and it had suffered massive human losses. Most importantly, it had lost its role as global hegemon to the United States. The U.S. provided significant aid to help Britain recover. While the UK had turned into a wreck, the Rothschild family continued to shine like a diamond in the rubble. Compared to the pre-war era, they were relatively stronger and wealthier. They had always been the most powerful across Europe, though they had never reached that level of influence in the Americas—nor did it seem likely. British elites were in shock over their loss of hegemonic status. They had been saved from German domination with U.S. help, but they hadn’t expected America to become permanent. Had they jump out of the frying pan into the fire?
The Piracy Mission Begins
Victor Rothschild, Philby, and the rest of the Cambridge Five team stepped onto the stage for a larger and more complex mission. The new vision was to stand by the U.S. while secretly undermining it, to prevent the entrenchment of American hegemony—or at least delay it until Britain could recover. Philby became a key tool in this transition. After the war, he was officially assigned to counter-Soviet duties within MI6. Victor’s vision was to secretly maintain Anglo-Russian solidarity. Philby played out this double game. Even before the Cold War had officially begun, Philby had experience in leaking information.
Istanbul: The Beginning of the Leaks
The Erich Vermehren Case: Vermehren, an agent of the German intelligence Abwehr, had declared that he was ready to offer all the secret information he had to the Allies in exchange for asylum in England with his wife. Vermehren’s defection dealt a major blow to German intelligence; the Abwehr network in Türkiye collapsed and the British were able to expose many Nazi agents. The information was not shared with the Soviets, but Philby did pass on to Moscow a list of anti-communist activists in Germany. When the Russians entered Germany, they executed everyone on that list. Was this leak made with Nicholas Elliot’s knowledge? Or Victor Rothschild’s? Who knows…
The Konstantin Volkov Incident: Before Philby arrived in Istanbul, in 1945, a Soviet NKVD agent named Konstantin Volkov working at the Soviet consulate attempted to defect to the British. Volkov was ready to reveal the identities of Soviet spies to the British. When Philby learned of the situation, he informed Moscow. He then secured a mission from MI6 to interrogate Volkov and departed for Istanbul. However, before he arrived, Volkov was taken back to Moscow and executed.
Between 1947 and 1948, Philby served in Istanbul on behalf of MI6—although his official title was “First Secretary of the British Consulate,” in reality, he coordinated British intelligence operations in the region. During the early years of the Cold War, Istanbul was a strategic hub. Türkiye, having remained neutral during World War II, was of great importance for Western integration. With its proximity to the Soviet Union, control over the straits, and bustling espionage traffic, Istanbul became a key base. Philby was tasked with organizing operations against the Soviets.
He led MI6 sabotage and intelligence-gathering missions targeting the Soviet Union. The goal was to train and place anti-communist resistance fighters in the Caucasus. Working in cooperation with Turkish intelligence (then known as MAH), he provided logistical support for cross-border operations. Under the guise of a consular official, he gathered information in Istanbul’s cosmopolitan environment (regarding diplomats, refugees, and spies). While tracking Soviet spy networks, he simultaneously helped strengthen British-Russian communication. For instance, he reported Soviet activities in the Black Sea, and this intelligence was indirectly shared with Moscow as well.
The Georgia and Armenia Incidents: In Istanbul, Philby managed MI6’s infiltration plans into the Soviet Caucasus. For example, he organized the crossing of opposition groups from the Turkish border. However, he leaked the details of these operations (timing, coordinates, names) to the KGB. As a result, infiltrating groups were either captured or killed immediately upon crossing the border. Philby’s leaks from Istanbul helped solidify Soviet control in the Caucasus and undermined the West’s early Cold War initiatives.
In 1948, he returned to London and continued working in MI6’s Soviet section. As cooperation with the newly formed CIA increased, Philby, under Victor’s orders, continued leaking sensitive information to the USSR; the major breaches had not yet begun, but the groundwork was being laid. In 1949, he was appointed MI6-CIA liaison officer in Washington. The grand game had begun.
With the Marshall Plan, the US spent $13.7 billion to help Europe recover—the UK got 24%, but 5% of that aid was channeled to the CIA and used against the Soviets. In this process, Britain reduced its own burden by putting the United States forward and established a secret solidarity with the Soviets. This solidarity aimed to lure the U.S. into the trap of overexpansion and exhaust it in a quagmire. Philby was a key player in this strategy. The operation to shoot the bird of the river with the stone of the river had begun.
Operation Valuable and the Albania Fiasco (1949–1951)
While serving as the MI6–CIA liaison officer in Washington in 1949, Philby learned of a covert CIA operation aimed at destabilizing the Soviet Bloc through Albania. Operation Valuable aimed to overthrow the communist regime by infiltrating agents into the country. Philby leaked the plans to Moscow. The operation collapsed entirely—hundreds of agents were either captured or killed.
The CIA spent millions of dollars, with training, equipment, and logistics all wasted. The failure of the operation raised serious doubts about the CIA’s credibility. The Soviets identified a major weakness in the U.S. The failure in Albania shattered hopes of triggering a domino effect in Eastern Europe. The U.S. suffered an early blow in the Cold War.
The Korean War and Strategic Blindness (1950–1953)
During his tenure in Washington, Philby withheld intelligence from the U.S. regarding the Korean War (such as China’s intervention plans) and passed it to Moscow. Another Victor Rothschild operative, Donald Maclean, leaked U.S. nuclear strategy and military plans in Korea from the Ministry of the Foreign Relations.
China’s surprise intervention forced the U.S. and its allies to retreat. The clashes around the 38th parallel resulted in the deaths of 36,000 American soldiers. The prolonged war cost the U.S. $67 billion (hundreds of billions in actual value of today), triggering economic strain. The American public became divided, asking, “Why can’t we win?”—a preview of the Vietnam scenario in the early Cold War.
The Venona Ciphers and Intelligence Chaos (1940s–1950s)
The U.S. Venona Project aimed to identify Soviet spies by decoding encrypted communications. Philby relayed details of the project (such as which messages were decrypted) to Moscow. Maclean also leaked nuclear secrets from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, including information from the Manhattan Project. The Soviets learned of U.S. intelligence efforts in advance.
Venona failed to fully uncover Philby and his team. The US realized there was a hole in its intelligence network, but it was unable to close it. The Soviet Union’s successful testing of an atomic bomb in 1949 led to the loss of America’s nuclear monopoly—a development accelerated in part by Maclean’s leaks. Coordination between the CIA and FBI broke down. Philby’s presence pushed U.S. intelligence into a paranoid internal conflict. His Venona leaks were part of MI6’s broader strategy to weaken the U.S. both militarily and psychologically. Under Rothschild’s shadow, the British mind orchestrated this chaos. During Philby’s time in the U.S., the most significant espionage case was that of the Rosenbergs, who transferred U.S. nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
The U.S. traced the source of the leaks by 1951 but failed to prevent Burgess and Maclean from fleeing to Moscow. Philby came under suspicion but was not formally charged due to lack of evidence. Unable to work under suspicion, he resigned from MI6. In 1955, he was publicly “cleared” by British Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan. U.S. anger subsided. His friend Elliot quietly brought him back “on duty.”
Philby’s Work in Lebanon: Victor’s Middle Eastern Stage
After the leak storm in Washington, Kim Philby set sail for Lebanon in 1956. He re-entered the scene in the Middle East aboard Victor Rothschild’s pirate ship. In Beirut, he worked under the cover of a journalist for The Observer and The Economist. Lebanon was the Cold War’s Middle Eastern front. From there, Philby leaked U.S. regional plans to Moscow. For example, during the 1958 Lebanon Crisis, he informed the Soviets of the U.S. intervention plan involving 15,000 troops under the Eisenhower Doctrine. This leak damaged U.S. prestige and caused the loss of millions of dollars (billions in actual value of today).
Similarly, in 1957–1958, he exposed CIA operations against Nasser in Egypt and Syria, as well as U.S. plans to support the monarchy in Iraq. In 1958, Iraq’s monarchy collapsed in a coup, and Syria joined the United Arab Republic; despite spending billions, the U.S. lost its influence. During Philby’s time in Lebanon, the U.S. was forced to abandon Syria, Iraq, and Egypt to Soviet influence. Philby became the invisible hand that tipped the balance in the U.S.–Soviet rivalry.
Philby’s Escape to Russia: Victor’s Final Theater Act
In 1963, Philby made a dramatic escape from Beirut to Moscow. Victor’s pirate ship played its final act—this was the grand finale of British–Russian solidarity. The story began in 1961, when Soviet agent Anatoliy Golitsyn defected to the West and told MI5 that he suspected Philby. In 1962, Flora Solomon (a Jewish activist and old friend of Victor, with Rothschild ties) reported Philby’s former leftist leanings. This was no coincidence—it was a move staged by Victor. In January 1963, MI6 agent Nicholas Elliott interrogated Philby in Beirut. Philby was offered immunity, but he refused. On the night of January 23, he escaped from the Port of Beirut aboard the Soviet ship Dolmatova. In full view of MI5, he vanished as if in a theater performance.
In Moscow, he was received as a hero. He was applauded in Red Square and granted the rank of colonel by the KGB. Victor fabricated a backstory, portraying Philby as a Soviet agent since 1934. His escape supposedly confirmed this narrative. The Soviets made statements to support it. By “sacrificing” Philby, Victor deflected American suspicions and concealed British–Russian solidarity. Philby’s escape to Moscow was a peace operation designed to protect him and deflect U.S. scrutiny. He wrote his memoirs in My Silent War, but of course, kept the true story hidden. He died in Moscow in 1988. Those who were exposed lost the war and personally bore the blame, but the victory belonged to London, where Victor sat at the helm. Pirate Victor Rothschild and his family became wealthier, but more importantly, they had saved the King’s land from sunset. As the U.S. and the UK became the world’s most indebted nations, the pirates continued to amass wealth.
The Road to Vietnam and Long-Term Attrition
Philby’s leaks fueled the U.S. Cold War reflex to “crush every threat.” The failure in Korea intensified the desire for intervention in Vietnam. The position the U.S. was pushed into—thanks to Philby and the others—was one of “hunger for victory.” This culminated in the 1965 intervention in Vietnam, which turned out to be an even greater loss. The U.S. spent $168 billion (trillions in actual value of today). The economy collapsed, inflation and debt rose. The death of 58,000 soldiers sparked public outrage. The U.S. suffered serious loss of prestige. The more it expanded, the more it fell into the trap. Its debts grew—and much of the borrowing was from London bankers (i.e., the Rothschilds). War consumed resources like a bottomless pit.
The Role of the Rothschilds: Financial Gains from Crises
The Rothschild family has long mastered the art of turning crises into opportunities. While Philby’s leaks wore down the U.S. in a mire of conflict, the Rothschilds profited from the chaos. N. M. Rothschild & Sons benefited from the Marshall Plan funds flowing into Europe, managing British bonds and expanding investments in railways, mining, and energy across the continent. As the U.S. spent billions, the Rothschilds recovered and grew. To finance the expenses of the Korean and Vietnam wars, the U.S. issued bonds and turned to the Rothschild financial network. The resulting debt enabled the Rothschilds to profit in the bond markets. As America’s debt grew, so did Rothschild capital.
Victor Rothschild: The Architect of Strategic Vision
Victor Rothschild was not merely a banker; he was a deep figure within British intelligence. His anti-sabotage work in MI5, ties to MI6, and advisory role to Margaret Thatcher made him the mastermind of the British strategic mind. His connection with Philby dating back to Cambridge, his recommendation of Blunt to MI5, his offering of refuge to Burgess, and his collaborations with Philby were no coincidence. Victor Rothschild was accused of being the “fifth man” in the spy network, but Prime Minister Thatcher dismissed the allegations due to lack of evidence. Philby had been sacrificed—but Victor was far too valuable to be given up.
Soros, an ordinary financial speculator, started piracy in line with British interests with billions of dollars of resources loaded onto his sailboat with the “Black Friday” rudder through the Bank of England, in the neoliberal wave triggered by the Washington Consensus. His first targets were the fragmented post-Soviet states. Alongside chaos-driven speculation, Soros turned into a pirate capable of overthrowing governments via civil society coups and seizing control of target nations through transparency institutions. When he won, both British influence and his personal fortune grew; when he lost, only he lost. Just like Kim Philby, Soros set out as the Crown’s pirates, and during the era of globalization, he made significant contributions to the Kingdom.
Conclusion
History has repeatedly shown that great empires collapse due to excessive expansionism; however, the British mind managed to defy this fate through the art of proxy governance. Victor Rothschild, with his pirate vision, kept the collapsing post-WWII Kingdom afloat. Kim Philby was the most brilliant field operative aboard this ship: from Cambridge to Vienna, Spain to Lebanon, Istanbul to Moscow—Philby secretly wove the threads of Anglo-Russian solidarity. He dragged the U.S. into quagmires from Albania to Korea, Vietnam to the Middle East, forcing it to spend trillions and eroding its prestige. The strategy, crafted from Victor’s captain’s quarters, delivered the Kingdom and the Rothschilds out of chaos into a financial renaissance. From Marshall Plan bonds to Vietnam debts, every crisis grew their wealth. Philby’s 1963 escape to Moscow was the final act of the play; Victor sacrificed him to hide the alliance. The Soviet Union’s inevitable collapse in 1991 became profitable thanks to the rise of a new British pirate: Soros. Though Russia responded with Putin’s (in essence, the KGB’s) intellect, it lost much of its sphere of influence. The pirate tradition that began with Francis Drake’s plundering of gold evolved through Philby and Rothschild in the Cold War, saving the Kingdom from sunset. Philby died in Moscow—but the victory glistened in London, in Victor’s shadow.
Britain, which had a mandate over Palestine after World War I, could have established Israel until 1939, but did not. Rather than spending its strength in the Middle East, it supported Jewish migration but denied statehood, leaving the issue for the U.S. to handle. The US, which founded Israel in 1948, has been skidding aimlessly in the region ever since. It spends trillions on Israel’s security, struggles with diplomatic crises and struggles in a swamp under the shadow of Britain.
After the fall of the Soviets, the U.S. needed a new global enemy. It found one in the form of Islamic terrorism—organized it, used it as a pretext. NATO’s enemy color shifted from red to green. The quagmire of Afghanistan was born from this strategy. When Afghanistan was eventually brought under control, ISIS was created in Syria and Iraq, dragging the U.S. into another mire. When some stability was achieved there, the Ukraine war broke out—draining more U.S. resources. The U.S. kept borrowing to finance these operations. It was worn out and in debt, and for the final blow it needed to find an enemy worthy of its own, and it had been preparing for a global collapse for a long time: China was targeted.
In the 19th century, England subdued China through the Opium Wars. When it handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, it instead opened the doors to the world. Global capital flowed into China. London-based elites like the Rothschilds were among the architects of this shift. Today, China is the nation occupying most of America’s attention. Trump is now forced to confront a giant raised by global capital.
Although Britain lost its direct hegemony, it preserved its imperial spirit through its ability to manage chaos. While the U.S. shaped world history in the First and Second World Wars, it has lost every conflict it entered over the last 80 years—from Korea to Syria—thanks to its friend. That friend manipulated its financial power via the Democrats and its military power via the Republicans. In every economic crisis and war, the winner has always been the global elites—symbolized by the Rothschilds—who are centered in Britain, yet control even that state through debt.
Trump is fighting the 7-headed creature, let’s see who will win!…
