The importance of the use of espionage during the Cold War During the Cold War there was an increase in the amount of funding and resources devoted to espionage which was helpful for both USA and USSR. Since there was no possibility of fighting, spies became the main use in the battle for supremacy. The definition of espionage is the act or practice of spying or using spies to obtain secret information, such as about another government. obtain military or political secrets. It was used to gain intelligence about the enemy and to increase influence in areas where ideological conflicts were being fought. Soviet espionage was organized by the KGB, founded in 1954, the KGB had half a million employees and their main role was to collect information material on Western technology and military operations. Soviet spies were the most influential in securing the information needed to make the atomic bombs. The amount of information gathered was said to have been "enormous, invaluable and significant to our state and science". Famous spies such as Julius Rosenberg and Harry Gold were said to have provided atomic secrets to the US communists, which would reach the Kremlin. British spies Burgess, Philby and Maclean were recruited by the Soviets while studying at Cambridge and later passed important British secrets to the Soviets. On the American side, the CIA was founded in 1947 and was ordered to collect and analyze information on threats to the security of the United States, as well as perform other functions, namely, weaken the enemy by covert means. During the Truman presidency the CIA's powers were rarely used, but once Eisenhower took office this attitude changed and the CIA greatly expanded its operations under Eisenhower's influence. The CIA's greatest success is said to have been the overthrow of the leftist government in Guatemala, in 1954, and also the overthrow of Allende's leftist government in Chile., 1973.