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Nazi Germany used the Enigma before and during World War II to send messages about its military maneuvers.  But in 1932 a 27-year-old Polish mathematician (cryptologist) named Marian Rejewski had used advanced mathematics (permutation theory with some group theory) to secretly break ("crack") the Enigma codes.  He then helped design working "doubles" of the Enigmas that could find the keys necessary for decryption.  By 1938 the Poles were decrypting most of the German messages, and the Poles shared their marvelous discovery with Great Britain and France.

Nazi Germany used the Enigma before and during World War II to send messages about its military maneuvers.  But in 1932 a 27-year-old Polish mathematician (cryptologist) named Marian Rejewski had used advanced mathematics (permutation theory with some group theory) to secretly break ("crack") the Enigma codes.  He then helped design working "doubles" of the Enigmas that could find the keys necessary for decryption.  By 1938 the Poles were decrypting most of the German messages, and the Poles shared their marvelous discovery with Great Britain and France.

The breakthrough enabled the Allies to anticipate German military maneuvers, although sometimes the Allies would allow an attack to occur successfully in order to avoid signaling to the Germans that their code had been broken.  The Allied code-breaking effort was known as "Ultra", as in "ultra-secret".

The breakthrough enabled the Allies to anticipate German military maneuvers, although sometimes the Allies would allow an attack to occur successfully in order to avoid signaling to the Germans that their code had been broken.  The [[Allied]] code-breaking effort was known as "Ultra", as in "ultra-secret".

At the end of the war, Allied General Dwight Eisenhower said that Ultra was "decisive" to the Allied victory over Germany. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also declared, "It was thanks to Ultra that we won the war."  The breaking of the German codes prevented it from completely blockading Britain with U-boats and enabled the Allied forces to make key strategic decisions throughout the war.

At the end of the war, Allied General Dwight Eisenhower said that Ultra was "decisive" to the Allied victory over Germany. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also declared, "It was thanks to Ultra that we won the war."  The breaking of the German codes prevented it from completely blockading Britain with U-boats and enabled the Allied forces to make key strategic decisions throughout the war.

[[category:technology]]

[[category:technology]]