 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(April 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thek.u.k. Evidenzbureau (lit."Imperial and Royal Evidence Bureau")[1] was thecommonmilitary intelligence service of theAustro-Hungarian Empire.
It was subordinated to theChief of the General Staff under the commonImperial and Royal Ministry of War. It was headquartered inVienna,Cisleithania (empire's Austrian half).
Founded in 1850 as the first permanent military intelligence service in the world, the Evidenzbureau became active in the 1859Austro-Sardinian War and the 1866Austro-Prussian War, albeit with little success.
The Evidenzbureau initially reported to the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry, but was reassigned to theGeneral Staff at the outbreak ofWorld War I. It existed until theend of the monarchy in 1918.
TheKundschaftsbüro, tasked with monitoring foreign states, was subordinate to the Evidenzbureau.[citation needed]
Towards the end of the 19th century, tensions among the major European powers were rising, leading to increased activities of intelligence services. Mirroring political interests, attention of Austro-Hungarian services was primarily directed east- and southward (Russia and theBalkans); conversely, Russia was chiefly interested in affairs of Austria-Hungary and theGerman Reich.
The bureau collected intelligence of military relevance from various sources into daily reports to the Chief of Staff(Generalstabschef) and weekly reports toEmperor Franz Joseph; until 1913, the reports to the Emperor had to be submitted in longhand.[citation needed]
The core Bureau at the time consisted of 20 officers, a fraction of the numbers employed in the German or Russian services. This shortage was primarily because the service was part of the Foreign Ministry, which, as anImperial institution, customarily received only the minimum acceptable amount of financing from the Hungarian side (see alsoAusgleich).
In 1903, the agencies of theRussian Empire succeeded in enlisting ColonelAlfred Redl, a General Staff officer and later head ofcounterintelligence and deputy director (1908-1912) of the Evidenzbureau, as adouble agent. His unmasking in May 1913 led to a severe political and military crisis[2]in Austria on the eve of World War I.
During that war, the Bureau increased in importance; the relatively new task ofintercepting radio transmissions was added to its traditional functions (such as mail censorship).
In the last year of the war (1918), the Evidenzbureau – then led by ColonelMaximilian Ronge – along with the domestic intelligence service(Staatspolizei [de]) allegedly[citation needed] employed 300 officers, 50 officials, 400 police agents, 600 soldiers and 600informants.
Notable officers
The fictional biography ofRex Stout's detectiveNero Wolfe includes a reference to Wolfe - originally a Montenegrin - having acted as an agent of the Evidenzbureau in the years of increasing Balkan tensions leading to the outbreak of World War I.
Most serious of the scandals – and a[n] [...] existential crisis for Austria-Hungary – emerged in 1913 [...]. [...] In the biggest spy scandal in Austrian history, it emerged that Redl committed treason with the Russians [...].
