The World’s First Permanent Military Intelligence Service
Where does the modern intelligence agency come from? One is always tempted to think of the Russians, especially with the Tsar having employed a secret police service in the 19th Century called the Okhrana, which attacked workers’ rights movements abroad and monitored dissidents at home.
The likely oldest modern, permanent intelligence service may have been established in Hungary. The earliest formal intelligence structure in Hungary emerged under the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Evidenzbureau, established in 1850 as the world’s first permanent military intelligence service.
Headquartered in Vienna, it operated under the Imperial and Royal Ministry of War, focusing on military intelligence, particularly against Russia and the Balkans.
The Evidenzbureau collected intelligence through daily and weekly reports, but its effectiveness was limited by underfunding and a small staff (only 20 officers by the late 19th century).
A notable scandal involved Colonel Alfred Redl, a high-ranking officer who spied for Russia and France, exposing weaknesses in the system.
Redl was born into a poor family but traveled widely as a young man and learned many languages. His ability and cognitive prowess got him a commission in the Austrian army, where he worked under the command of General von Giesl. In 1900, Redl was promoted to chief of the counterintelligence corps. Then, in 1902, Redl became a spy for Russia, and for the next 11 years he gave his paymasters codes, ciphers, letters, maps, photographs, army orders, mobilization plans, and reports on the conditions of roads and railways within Austria.
While engaged in treason, Redl established a brilliant reputation for counterintelligence work by falsifying evidence against fellow officers and by exposing low-level Russian agents. In 1912 von Giesl was promoted to the command of the 8th Army Corps in Prague, and Redl went with him as chief of staff. He was succeeded in the intelligence post by Maximilian Ronge, whose postal censors intercepted in March 1913 two envelopes containing a substantial amount of cash and nothing else. A check of the registration receipts identified their point of origin as addresses known to be those of the Russian and French intelligence organizations in another country. Redl was eventually caught with the dead drop of cash, confront, and then asked to be left alone with his pistol, with which he ended his own life.
The Evidenzbureau was dissolved in 1918 with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
The Hungarian intelligence services continue their operations to this day, and should not be assumed to be moribund!
