Popescu Nicoleta Andreea

Espionage
and
counterespionage
Strategii, discurs i practice identitare n Europa
premodern. O introducere n studiul identitii
religioase, politice i de gen

Table of contents

Putere = Informaie.................................................................................... 2

The interwar period journalist agents....................................... 3

Counterespionage .. 4

Bibliography .............................................................................................. 5

3. Gh. Buzatu, Din istoriasecret a celui de-al DoileaRzboiMondial , pg.103

4. Source - http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-denoticias/german-nazi-party-leader-martin-bormann-one-of-fotograf%C3%ADade-noticias/3062464

Espionage and counterespionage

Power = Information
We can say that, in politics, information is power. On the political stage, priority goes to the one
who has access to information. He can place himself in a better position, if he knows his
opponents secrets and thus manages to influence the government and public opinions decisionmaking capacity.
He can be placed in a better position, if the opponent knows secrets and, thus, manages to
influence the decision-making capacity of the government or the public opinion. Political
systems come and go, ideologies and concepts are collapsing and such changes are caused by
clashes of opinion in politics or in religion. We can say that the only thing that remains
unchanged is the fact that man is always in search of information.
Sometimes obtaining information is only possible with the help of specialists: spies. The people
forming an information service office are not at all similar to James Bond who, whatever job he
receives, always gets into trouble, managing, however, in the end, to obtain top secret
information and data for which he was sent on the mission, with the help of sophisticated
equipment.
A spy can be a doorman or a driver. He can be a photographer or even a politician, enjoying a
providential immunity in the country in which he activates. The agents who act internally or
externally have two types of disguises: the official one, which refers to the disguise of an
information officer into another type of government official, and the unofficial one, in which the
agent takes on different identities (driver, tourist, etc.) The spies are expected to have vast
knowledge in the fields of radio transmissions, autodefense, foreign languages, politics, natural
science, arts, etc.
The hardest battle takes place between spies and counterspies.
Being an undercover agent marks the whole history of information activities. This activity has
evolved with the passing of time, triggering mass-media and specialists concern and resulting in
political mass manipulation. In general, the employed persons are already part of the concerned
organisations and structures, without their real status being recognized, but there are cases in
which a subsequent infiltration action takes place, which consists of creating a new identity,
legend and fictional biography for future undercover agents. Unofficial undercover agents act
inside the country through different political parties or associations to influence public opinion
with the help of mass-media.
1. Gh. Buzatu, Din istoriasecret a celui de-al DoileaRzboiMondial , pg.103
2. Source - http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-denoticias/german-nazi-party-leader-martin-bormann-one-of-fotograf%C3%ADade-noticias/3062464

The category of undercover agents, although it faces more difficulty, is considered as one of the
most important information and manipulation ressources, both internally and externally, and
even in states with counterintelligence services with the highest chances of influencing major
politicians. Throughout history, we can also notice the cases of elite political personalities, state
presidents, prime-ministers who have spied for other countries. We will further exemplify some
of the most famous cases of espionage and counterespionage.
The activity of the agents has awoken the interest of specialists, resulting in vast volumes written
about the activity of the agents, in which they are considered a necessary evil. There are some
occasions in which people are called to perform great services, which are exempted from the
common laws of morality.
The interwar period - journalist agents
The technique of undercover and influence journalists spread especially during the Cold War.
Undercover agents were sometimes even press magnates. Here we find the example of Robert
Maxwell (1923-1991), who allegedly worked as a double agent for both England (MI6) and the
USSR (KGB). He manages to build a huge media empire through various financial speculation:
"Maxwell Communications". MI6 began to be suspected him when he was making numerous
trips to the USSR and was accused of being a Soviet agent. However the KGB suspects that he's
a MI6 agent provocateur. Other assumptions say that he actually worked for Mossad. Maxwell
had an important role as an agent of influence and as discrete mediator between the Eastern and
Western leaders, as Margaret Thatcher also confesses. Ronald Reagan says that the one who
persuaded the good intentions of Mikhail Gorbachev was Maxwell. This influence proved fatal
in the end: in November 1991 Maxwell disappears from his luxury yacht for ever.
There have also been a series of undercover journalist agents during the interwar period, but also
during the Second World War, because of the geostrategic importance of our country. These
agents have operated for both the Allies and the Axis powers. In Germany the one who operated
was Charles Philippe Gyr, but especially Edith von Coler, correspondant of the newspaper
Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, who worked as a Gestapo undercover agent.
Undercover journalist agents who worked for the Allies, such as the reporter F. Brunea Fox who
worked for the Second French Office were also quite active. We could also take for example the
correspondant Mac Larrencarea, who worked for the English agency Reuters, agent of the
Intelligence Service.

1. Gh. Buzatu, Din istoriasecret a celui de-al DoileaRzboiMondial , pg.103

2. Source - http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-denoticias/german-nazi-party-leader-martin-bormann-one-of-fotograf%C3%ADade-noticias/3062464

Romania is among the countries that used undercover journalist agents. Here there is the
example of Camil Ring and Ion Florin Begnescu, who worked for the Secret Information Service
(SSI). 1
Counterespionage
Did the Soviets act like Hitlers right hand?
Martin Bormann (1900-1945)is considered to be among Hitlers closest collaborators. Although
he remained in the shadows for a long time, not being part of any state organization, he managed
to influence politicians and he was appreciated at the highest levels, being the one who
controlled all the laws and decrees. He was put in charge of the Nazi Party Chancellery
(Parteikanzlei), having the position of Minister of State, as well as the executor of Hitlers will.
He can be considered the right hand of the Fhrer.
But, long after his death in suspicious circumstances which are, up to this date, not clearly
understood, it was said that he had worked in Russian Intelligence services, together with
Heinrich Mller, head of the Gestapo. One of the abjections made against this accusation is that,
during the collapse of the Third Reich and Berlins isolation, Martin Bormann had no possibility
of communicating with Russia Moscow, not being familiar with the Morse code. Even though
it would seem that, in 1998, Bormanns remains were found, there are many doubts to whether
they were his or not. There is a speculation saying that he continued his existence in South
America for a while afterward.

1. Gh. Buzatu, Din istoriasecret a celui de-al DoileaRzboiMondial , pg.103

2. Source - http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-denoticias/german-nazi-party-leader-martin-bormann-one-of-fotograf%C3%ADade-noticias/3062464

Bibliography
Lang, Jochen von, The Secretary. Martin Bormann: The Man Who Manipulated Hitler. New
York: Random House, 1979
Tnase, Stelian, Portretulunui spion,13ianuarie 2003, Revista 22
Popescu, Alexandru, Dicionar universal al spionilor, Ed. Meronia, Bucureti, 2010
Sursa web: http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraspionaj

1. Gh. Buzatu, Din istoriasecret a celui de-al DoileaRzboiMondial , pg.103

2. Source - http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-denoticias/german-nazi-party-leader-martin-bormann-one-of-fotograf%C3%ADade-noticias/3062464