23. Entrapment Into Treason
Alfred Redl impressed General Arthur Freiherr Giesl von Gieslingen, the chief of Austria’s military intelligence, who made the young officer his protégé. In 1900, Giesl promoted Redl, made him his deputy, and put him in charge of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s counterintelligence corps. Redl quickly gained a reputation for innovation in what had been a disorganized and backward branch. He streamlined the system, and introduced new technologies such as the use of recording devices and cameras. Redl had a secret, however: he was gay, at a time when homosexuality was a taboo fatal to social standing and career prospects.
Russian intelligence learned of Redl’s homosexuality, and entrapped him in a compromising position. They caught it on camera, and used it to blackmail him into turning into a traitor. They sweetened the extortion with the offer of money in exchange for secrets. Redl accepted, and in his first major act of treason, in 1902 he passed on to the Russians Austria-Hungary’s war plans. When word reached the Austrians that the Russians had a copy of their war plans, General von Giesl ordered Redl to find the traitor.