Colonel Alfred Redl was chief of intelligence for Austro-Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century. He also was a double-agent for Russia, France and Italy. There is a direct connection between his actions and the start of World War I. This article is his story.

Background

Alfred Redl was born on 14 March 1864 in what is now Lviv, Ukraine^{1 2}. His family wasn’t well off, but he still learnt many languages and was well-travelled^{1 2}. His aptitude and skills meant he gained a commission in the army, working for counter-intelligence from 1900¹.

In 1907 he became the chief of intelligence for the Austrian army¹.

In 1912 he followed his mentor, General von Giesl, to a posting in Prague, as his chief of staff^{1 2}.

Spy

Between 1902 and 1907², he became a double agent working for Russia in Austria-Hungary¹. This was not because of some misplaced loyalty; the Russians blackmailed Redl with his homosexuality^{2 3}. Redl knew that he would never advance in the army, especially since the Russians also had photos of him with his lovers³. Over the course of the next 8 years he provided tsarist Russia with^{1 2 3}:

• Names of Austrian agents in Russia
• Plans of fortresses and fortifications
• Codes and ciphers
• Letters
• Maps
• Photos
• Army orders and mobilisation plans.
• Reports on transport infrastructure
• Information about war preparations against Italy

While doing this, he hid his tracks well. Redl developed a fierce reputation for counter-intelligence by “finding” many low-level Russian agents¹.

World War I

In 1908, he leaked information about Austria-Hungary’s plans to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina. This motivated Russia to sign a defensive treaty with Serbia³.

If Russia hadn’t had that treaty in place, then it would not have come to Serbia’s defense when Austria-Hungary declared war over the assassination of the Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand. Without Russia, European alliances would have still kicked in but at a much later stage, and certainly nowhere near the global conflict which we ended up having.

Franz Ferdinand lived close to Prague at Konopište castle.

In total, Redl was responsible for the death of 500 000 Austrian soldiers at the beginning of the war³.

Capture

In March 1913, two envelopes containing a huge amount of cash arrived in Vienna¹ addressed to a non-existant person^{2 3}. Riedl’s successor as chief of intelligence, Maximillien Ronge, investigated the money¹. Postmarks showed it came from French and Russian operatives in other countries¹.

Ronge made sure to trace the envelopes.

On Saturday 24 May Redl set off from Prague to Vienna in a luxurious Daimler car he had purchased a few years before³. This car cost CZK 18 000, which was about 2 years’ salary³. He arrived in Vienna and went straight to the Klomser hotel where he claimed the money³. Ronge arrested him on the spot¹.

Redl confessed his treason, admitting to spying for Russia and France¹. The military had been aware of leaks for years, but no one suspected their Chief of Intelligence³.

After questioning, the interrogators left him with his service revolver¹ and a suggestion to use it³.

After his death

His servant found him on Sunday morning covered in blood, lying on a chaise longe³. Czech news sources speculated that he drove himself to suicide by working too hard³. The authorities started to make plans for an elaborate military funeral in Vienna, but then dropped the plans after a few days³.

Prague-based investigative journalist Egon Kisch started looking into the story^{2 3}. He spoke to a locksmith acquaintance of his who admitted helping Austrian military espionage to open the door to Redl’s apartment³. Investigators found incriminating evidence in Redl’s luxury apartment on Malostranské náměstí (The Lesser town square). This included military documents marked as top secret.

Kisch’s reported the whole story, exposing Austrian military shortcomings.

It was not enough to make a difference.

References

1. Redl; Encyclopedia Brittanica; 2022-05-21[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Redl, Alfred; German Biography; (Article retrieved 2023-01-04) (Article in German) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Ruský špion v Praze plukovník Redl se zastřelil; tyden.cz; 2013-05-27 (Article in Czech) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.