Zwei Imperien und ihr geheimes Wissen voneinander. Überlegungen zu einer Geschichte der militärischen Nachrichtendienste in Österreich-Ungarn und in Russland in den Jahren vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of studying intelligence when examining the history of foreign policy and international relations. Furthermore, the text addresses widespread scepticism among historians in dealing with intelligence because of either doubts about sources or about the topic as a whole. Nonetheless, several sensational spy cases affected the relationship between Austro-Hungary and the Tsarist Empire in the era before the First World War. Yet Russia and Austria-Hungary were not the only countries that monitored the development of espionage with increasing interest and fear. The age before 1914 in Europe saw a culmination of so-called spy mania or spy fever. Simultaneously, the relevance of military intelligence increased. Moreover, questions about what the headquarters knew about each other in Vienna and St. Petersburg influenced not only military affairs but also the relationship between the two empires. For instance spy cases were vividly discussed in the press and therefore had an influence on the development of public opinion towards Russia in the Habsburg Empire and conversely towards Austria-Hungary in the Tsarist Empire.