5. Entrapment and Blackmail
Alfred Redl had a secret: he was gay, in an era when homosexuality was a taboo fatal to both social standing and career prospects. Russian intelligence learned of Redl’s homosexuality, entrapped him in a compromising position, and caught it on camera. They then blackmailed him into turning traitor, and sweetened the extortion with the offer of money in exchange for secrets. Redl accepted, and in his first major act of treason, handed the Russians Austria-Hungary’s war plans in 1902.
When word reached the Austrians that the Russians had a copy of their war plans, General von Geislingen tasked Redl with finding the traitor. Redl covered his tracks by unmasking minor Russian agents who were fed him by his Tsarist spymasters, and by framing innocent Austro-Hungarian officers with falsified evidence. That enhanced his reputation within the Austro-Hungarian establishment as a brilliant head of counterintelligence.
