Queer Places:
Zentralfriedhof
Vienna, Wien Stadt, Vienna (Wien), Austria
Alfred
Redl (14 March 1864 – 25 May 1913) was an
Austrian military officer who rose to head the
Evidenzbureau, the
counter-intelligence wing of the
General Staff of the
Austro-Hungarian Army. One of the leading figures of pre-World
War I
espionage, Redl's term in office was marked by radical innovations and the
use of advanced technology to ensnare foreign spies. The item on
‘Homosexuality’ in Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen’s generally reliable
Encyclopedia of Espionage (1998) names just nine homosexual men and one
bisexual: Alfred Redl,
Guy Burgess, the bisexual
Donald Maclean,
Anthony Blunt,
Alan Turing, James A.
Mintkenbaugh, William Martin,
Bernon Mitchell,
John Vassall and
Maurice Oldfield. The
last-named had to resign his position as co-ordinator of UK security and
intelligence in Northern Ireland after he was found to be homosexual; there
was no suggestion that in his previous incarnation as Director General of MI6
he ever spied for anyone but his own Whitehall masters.
Due to the innovations he introduced, Redl's successor, Major
Maximilian Ronge ultimately learned in 1913 that Redl was himself a
lavishly paid spy for the intelligence services of the
Imperial Russian Army. Soon after his exposure, Redl committed suicide.
Although his motivations remain mysterious, some historians believe that
Redl may have been blackmailed by Russian intelligence with evidence of his
homosexuality. Other possible reasons may have been greed, career
frustrations, or even a narcissistic desire to outsmart his superiors and
subordinates.
Although the full extent of his disclosures to Russian intelligence also
remain unknown, Col. Redl is believed to have been largely responsible for
Austria-Hungary's catastrophic military defeats and devastating combat losses
during the
First World War and even for the subsequent collapse of the Empire in
1918. For this reason, many historians of the
Habsburg Empire, as well as espionage historians such as
CIA's
Allen Dulles and
Soviet General
Mikhail Milstein, agree in calling Redl an arch-traitor.[1]
My published books:
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Redl
- Woods, Gregory. Homintern . Yale University Press. Edizione del
Kindle.