P. Costello
Career
Redl had started out as the officer behind the reorganisation of
the Austro-Hungarian intelligence service. He revamped its foreign
branch and made the internal security service his own. As part of
this he encouraged the use of hidden cameras for surveillance and
bugged interrogation rooms with gramophone disks. On the external
front he used secretly gathered fingerprints to apprehend a network
of Russian spies. Added to this he organised an intelligence sharing
pact with Germany. Indeed Redl was a formidable operator.
However Redl had expensive habits which an officer’s pay packet could
never hope to cover. He had an appetite for Daimler limousines,
exquisitely tailored clothes, parties and luxury apartments. On top
of this he was a hidden homosexual who lavished gifts upon a young
lieutenant. It was this that was to be his undoing
Recruitment
The Russians used his homosexuality as blackmail against Redl. As
such Austria’s Master Spy became a mole in his own intelligence
agency. The Russians also paid Redl well so as to sweeten the pill.
From 1903 to 1913 Redl served the Russian Empire. He diverted
suspicion form Russian spies in Austria while betraying Austrian
spies on missions abroad. In order to hide their mole the Russians
sometimes offered the odd expendable spy to Redl so as to upkeep his
plausibility.
It was around this time that Plan III was devised. This was a
contingency plan drawn up by the Austrians. It involved the invasion
of Serbia. Redl passed this on to his Russian contacts. They, in
turn, informed the Serbians. When Austria did attack they had heavy
losses, up to half a million, as the Serbians were waiting for them.
Uncovered
Ironically Redl was discovered by the very man he had hand picked
to succeed him, Major Maximilian Ronge. Redl was caught while
picking up his money from a post office. Ronge compared the writing
on the post office box application with a top secret monograph
written by Redl. They proved to be the same. Redl revealed the
location of several top secret documents then asked for a revolver
and a single bullet. He took the only honourable path an officer
could and committed suicide.
From
PAGEWISE
<
BACK