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Alfred Redl (* 14. March 1864 in Lemberg, Galizien (today Ukraine), "† 25. May 1913 in Vienna) was last Colonel of the Austria-Hungarian army and general staff boss 8. Corps. During the largest part of its previous service in the counter-espionage it was one of the most important feeler gauges of the Russian Zarenreichs.
Redl was born 1864 in Lemberg as a son of a railway upper supervisor. In the age of 15 years it occurred the Lemberger cadet school and received to 1887 with 23 years its officer patent.
1894 to 1895 were Redl in the railway office actively, one for the diverging k.u.k. - Monarchy of Austria Hungary also militarily expressed important institution. Since 1900 it was responsible in the general staff for the counter-espionage (evidence office), until 1905 in the Russian group and from 1907 to 1911 as a deputy office boss. Its work was coined/shaped of innovations, he used for the time at that time very progressive techniques, around hostile secret agents "to turn ". After its transport to the Colonel in May 1912 Redl was shifted on 18 October of the same yearly as a general staff boss of the VIIITH army corps to Prague.
From 1903 to its death in the year 1913 Redl worked as a feeler gauge for Russia. Its motives for it are today unclear until, because he briefly committed suicide after his unmasking. It is gemutmasst, the Russians were found out that Redl was homosexual - this information could have terminated its career.
The Russian Martschenko characterized Redl in October 1907 as
Redl received a high financial remuneration and led a life-style, which was far more than it would have its officer content certified - among other things it possessed two cars and several riding horses.
One assumes that that Redl passed much information on to the Russian secret police Ochrana, among them plans for a future Austria-Hungarian offensive against Serbia. Probably he betrayed also Russian officers, who had turned to the Austria-Hungarian secret service, whereby these could be arrested.
Redls unmasking is to be owed to several coincidences. The sheath of a Taschenmessers, which it lost in Prague, was found calculated by an agent trained by him. This agent became distrustful and observed more and more anomalies with Redl. Redl received for example messages from Eydtkuhnen in East Prussia, at that time a border crossing frequently used by agents.
At the beginning of of April 1913 had been sent back a postlagernder letter on "Nikon Nizetas "by the Viennese main post office to its sender in Berlin. Probably in order to be able to tighten the sender, the envelope in Berlin was opened, whereby 6,000 crowns into notes and two Prussia and Austrians well-known Spionagedressen came into Paris and Geneva to day. Prussian major Walter Nicolai informed the Austrian major i.G. Maximilian Ronge of the evidence office, which let the switch for postlagernde letters in the Viennese main post office at the meat market observe together with the boss of the state police Edmund von Gayer. To 25. May 1913 fetched Colonels Redl further letters arrived for it and was then pursued. On the basis torn handwritten filled out fetching and task lights, which he had thrown away, Redl was identified.
The boss k.u.k. General staff, Franz Conrad of instructed thereupon Redls arrest. Its room in the hotel Klomser became surrounded from an officer commission. Redl a short cross-examine submitted, in which it confessed Ronge, "in the years 1910 and 1911 stranger states to have generally speaking served ". Redl stated, without accomplices to have worked.
After Redls confession withdrew itself the commission, in order to then give "to the criminal the possibility of preparing for its life a rapid end ". Redl shot itself with him handed over a pistol, which was very much regretted by the emperor Franz Joseph, because he worried himself around the soul welfare Redls. In the morning a detective was set in march, in order "checks "in the guarded hotel to hold.
When the Austrian defense had to state that Redls registered account with the new Viennese savings bank since at the beginning of of 1907 in remarkably fast consequence inserts, which amounted from 1905 to 1913 to altogether 116,700 crowns, one would gladly more near have cross-examined Redl, in order to get to know the extent of the betrayal.
After one in its deduction "Kriegsordre de Bataille ", who instructions for mobilization for all contingencies, who had found "reservation manual "among other things, measures of the counter-espionage in Galizien, cover addresses of strange general staffs, espionage correspondences, documents over the customers nature, one proceeded from the largest damage - the betrayal of Austrian marching-up planning against Russia -, which can be accepted. The found documents represented the necessary forces for the opening of martial operations and their distribution in the area. This acceptance was in the meantime confirmed by Russian historians.
Since the affair could not be hushed up despite Redls suicide and to the light came - allegedly because the fitter chatted, who had provided admission to Redls dwelling in Prague for the investigators - strove the Austrian secret service after forces to play the affair down in the public. Of a first trace of the espionage in March 1912, set Redls increased financial requirement was spoken "in connection with its fatal passion "and stated by a published autopsy report a diseased change of its brain. Parallel was tried to revise as fast as possible marching-up planning to suggest to the Russian side however the betrayed plan still was in validity.
It is accepted that Redls betrayal contributed to the defeats of Austria Hungary during the first months of the First World War, since the plans betrayed by him were very extensive and could not so easily in the time between its suicide and the outbreak of the war be changed. Since Redl in addition Austrian and German feeler gauges in Russia let fly up and after forces shielded so the solid armament of the Russian army, Austria Hungary received a much to optimistic conception of the balances of power. The Austrian delegate to the realm advice count Adalbert star mountain expressed itself after the First World War for this (and in view to the betrayal Redls at Russian general staff Colonel Kyrill Petrowitsch Laikow, which is not to have offered Austria less than the entire Russian marching-up plan) as follows:
From star mountain goes so far analyzing the consequences of the case as follows Redl: "We would have clear-seen, then our generals would not have driven the yard dignitary to the declaration of war. "
On the other hand the tsarist general staff trusted obviously likewise in the unchanged validity of the marching-up plan bought by him and was surprised, when Austria-Hungarian main power 100 to 200 km west than accepted continued to penetrate, what to the painful impacts with the battles of Krasnik and Komarow led.
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