Episode 5: The Austrian Spy Chief Who Was Russia’s Double Agent

Founded in 1879, the Austro-Hungarian Evidenzbureau was the first permanent military intelligence service in the world. In 1901 Colonel Alfred Redl was appointed head of counter espionage. Redl’s reign saw a burst of innovation, helping propel Austro-Hungary to the forefront of the espionage world. What nobody knew was that Redl was a double-agent, also working as a spy for the Russian Empire. His exposure, in the run up to the First World War, created a huge intelligence and political scandal in Austro-Hungary and led to Redl’s suicide. In this episode we’re going to discuss this often forgotten spy scandal and why it deserves to be better remembered today. Guest: Jesse Alexander https://bsky.app/profile/jessealexander.bsky.social/ Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Host: Gareth Edwards More about Gareth Edwards: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host⁠⁠⁠⁠ To comment and ask questions, please join our community:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://untitled-history.com/supporters⁠⁠⁠ Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member. Support via Paypal:⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merchandise and Shop: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://untitled-history.com/collections/all⁠⁠⁠ Our WW1 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://listen.not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listen.both-sides-of-the-wire.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ Gareth socials BlueSky: ⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠ Mastodon: ⁠⁠⁠https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius⁠⁠⁠ Battle Guide Twitter:⁠⁠⁠ https://x.com/BattleguideVT⁠⁠⁠ General Enquiries: ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits: - Host: Gareth Edwards - Editing: Hunter Christensen - Production: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices