Fisch Silvie - Spy of the Century

Spy of the Century

A man may commit a disloyal or base act, even the worst, even murder, and yet remain blameless. The act does not constitute the whole truth, it is always and only a consequence. (Sndor Mrai, Embers)

Alfred Redl and the Betrayal of Austria-Hungary

John Sadler and Silvie Fisch

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

PEN AND SWORD HISTORY

an imprint of

Pen and Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright John Sadler and Silvie Fisch, 2016

ISBN 978 1 47384 870 2

eISBN 978 1 47384 871 9

Mobi ISBN 978 1 47384 872 6

The right of John Sadler and Silvie Fisch to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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The Imperial Hofburg Palace in Vienna (Michaeler Wing), between 1890 and 1900

Habsburg Castle, Topographia Helvetiae (Matthus Merian, 1642)

Lemberg around 1900

Emperor Franz Joseph I, c.1880

Political cartoon depicting the Afghan Emir Sher Ali with his friends the Russian Bear and British Lion. Text: Save me from my friends. Sir John Tenniel, Punch Magazine , 30 November 1878

Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal

Guy Percy Wyndham and his brother George

K.u.k. Infantry, Galicia, 1898

Galician Infantry Regiment, Lemberg, 1884: Alfred Redl is listed under Cadets

Threat of war in the Balkans

The seal of the Evidenzbureau

The blood-stained uniform of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, c.1909

Railway Map Austria Hungary 1911 ( Encyclopaedia Britannica )

Cover of the Petit Journal , 20 January 1895 (illustration by Lionel Royer and Fortun Maulle)

Austrian War Ministry Building, Am Hof (demolished in 1913)

Former Imperial and Royal Ministry of War

Military Directory from 1905, Alfred Redl is now listed as general staff/Evidenzbureau

Roth, Joseph, Radetzkymarsch , 1st edn, Berlin, 1932 (photo H-P. Haack)

Kaiser Wilhelm II and Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg, 1890

Franz Conrad von Hoetzendorf in 1915

Oscar Wildes trial, Police News , 4 May 1895

Egon Erwin Kisch, GDR stamp 1985

Photo-Notebook camera by Rudolph Krgener, 1888 (Muse des Arts et Mtiers)

Alfred Redl and Baron von Giesl in an open carriage in Prague ( NB)

Marianna (May) Trk de Szendr

A 20-crown banknote of the Dual Monarchy

Vienna Central Cemetery (Find A Grave). Nothing survives of Alfred Redl. His remains are buried under the wooden boards (which were used during the digging of a recent grave).

Klaus Maria Brandauer as Colonel Redl in Istvn Szabs 1985 film

A Patriot for Me at the Scala Theatre, Vienna, 2015 (photo Bettina Frenzel)

Hotel Klomser, Vienna, c.1910 ( NB)

If you involve yourself in history and get excited by real spy stories, its quite likely that you have come across the man who has been nicknamed spy of the century. When we first heard of Alfred Redl, we were fascinated by the alleged scale of his betrayal and its consequences. But the deeper we looked into his case, the more doubts arose: was he really the evil, reckless man who was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of men in the First World War? It soon became clear that fact and fiction had become inextricably entangled. The history of the scandal and attempts to sweep the dirt under the carpet turned out to be even more fascinating than that of the betrayal itself. A story of human tragedy emerged, of a man who was forced to hide his homosexuality, and attempted to use his position and wealth to satisfy his needs.

This book could not have been written without outstanding research by two Austrian historians, Verena Moritz and Hannes Leidinger. Right after Redls death some of the compromising documents and photographs were burnt. In tandem with the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, many archive materials were destroyed in 1918 to avoid them falling into enemy hands. Many more got lost during the Second World War. But worst of all, what had been left in the Austrian State Archives was misplaced, most probably deliberately, to safeguard the armys reputation. Many years later, in 1994, the German historian Guenther Kronenbitter rediscovered the lost files in the Vienna archives. Also in the 1990s, relevant material in Moscow became accessible.

Moritz and Leidinger, who also used archive materials from the UK, France and Italy, set out to fill in the gaps and to separate true from false. They published their research in 2012 in Austria ( Oberst Redl: Der Spionagefall, der Skandal, die Fakten ). Together with the wealth of digital resources available from the Austrian State Archives, their findings provided the ideal starting point for our own project. Despite the many films, plays and novels and despite the importance of the scandal in the run-up to the First World War, the Redl case will never be 100 per cent demystified. Up to now Alfred Redl has not had a factual English biography. Yet, as Moritz and Leidinger put it: If youre looking for definitive truth, youd better stop reading now.

Quotations at the start of some of the chapters are taken from a remarkable polemic Is Austria Doomed by Countess Zanardi Landi and published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1916, at the height of the Great War. Her real name was Caroline Kaiser-Kuhnott and she claimed to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth.

As ever, the authors remain responsible for any and all errors or omissions and whilst every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to give credits accordingly, the authors would always be grateful to hear from anyone who detects any deficiencies and will make due amends.

Silvie Fisch and John Sadler
Newcastle upon Tyne, December 2015

The enormous weight of the trunks used by some travellers not infrequently inflicts serious injury on the hotel and railway porters who have to handle them. Travellers are therefore urged to place their heavy articles in the smaller packages and thus minimize the evil as far as possible. (Baedeker, Austria-Hungary , 1911)