ITISM.) Military Espionage or Espionage Proper.—Military espio nage differs to some extent in the methods which it employs, according to whether a state of war or of peace prevails. In mod ern times it is, therefore, usual to set up two central departments to organize the collection of information and to supervise the agents employed; a police department (such as the Okhrana, the Surete Generale, etc.) and a military department (Intelligence Service, Bureau d'Etat Major, etc.) . The two, of course, maintain the necessary liaison with one another. It may happen at certain times, as in France after the Dreyfus affair, that the functions of the military intelligence department are, to some extent, handed over to the police authorities. On the other hand it is inevitable that in time of war the military department which acts in liaison with the police authorities should be predominant.
Acts of espionage are recorded in the Bible and by classical authors such as Xenophon and Caesar. Organized espionage did not however exist until the 17th century under Cromwell in Eng land and Richelieu in France. Richelieu had a complete system of espionage, the head of which was Pere Joseph, l'eminence grise. It was mainly diplomatic in character; military espionage was until much later left in the hands of the military authorities. Frederick the Great made great use of spies. It was he who said "Marshal de Soubise is always followed by a hundred cooks; I am always preceded by a hundred spies." Napoleon's spy service was as efficient as his police service. In peace time the marshals who were in command of the forces stationed near the frontiers employed spies paid out of the secret funds. In war time the spy service was placed under the control of Gen. Savary. One of his most famous agents was Schulmeister, who played an impor tant part in the campaign of 1805. He acted for both sides, con veying information both to Mack and to Savary. By supplying false intelligence, he fostered the irresolution and inertia of the Austrian general, who finally capitulated at Ulm.
In Germany the development of the espionage system dates from the middle of the 19th century. The secret police of the kingdom of Prussia was made into an independent, modern and specialized organization with a chief of its own, and had to keep watch over the internal and external safety of the country. Under the direction of Stieber the German espionage organization pre pared the way for the campaigns which preceded the estab lishment of German unity: the Bohemian campaign of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war of 187o-71. Stieber himself, disguised in various ways, visited Bohemia and facilitated the triumphal march of the Prussian forces to Sadowa. The preparations for the French campaign were made on a still more extensive and sys tematic scale. It was estimated that there were about 30,000 German spies in France in 1870. There was a complete system of local agents, travelling supervisors and regional commissioners. When the army was mobilized, Stieber was appointed head of the military intelligence. His duties included keeping watch over the army headquarters and over the personal safety of important personages, the supervision of correspondence, and above all the collection of information on the movements and strength of the enemy forces, and the state of public opinion and the available resources in the districts through which the German army passed. Zerniki, Stieber's lieutenant, made the preparations for the king of Prussia's entry into Versailles, and organized a system of espio nage in that town. It has been proved that what took place in Paris during the siege was accurately known to the German staff ; references to this state of affairs may be found in Alphonse Daudet's Contes du Lundi.
The Japanese made equally careful preparations for their cam paign in Manchuria in 1904-05. Thus, although the Japanese army was relatively ill provided with cavalry, it was always well informed of the movements of the Russians, while its own changes of position were masked by a screen of Chinese spies who were accepted by the Russians as inhabitants of the country.
Germany took as careful precautions for the World War of 1914-18 as for that of 1870. Espionage was facilitated by the large number of German nationals who were settled in foreign countries, and by the wide extension of German trade. The eastern depart ments of France in particular were riddled with German agents— agricultural workers, domestic servants, hairdressers, commercial travellers, German teachers, etc., many of whom gave themselves out as Belgians, Swiss or Luxembourgeois. The number of espio nage and treason cases tried during the war shows how widespread was the German espionage system. The most famous trial was that of Mata-Hari, a Dutchwoman posing in Paris as an Indian dancer, who was shot at Vincennes. The Governments of various countries found it necessary to put up posters in public places drawing attention to the necessity of discretion in conversation. "Be silent, be on your guard, enemy ears are listening" said the French post ers. A part somewhat similar to that of the military intelligence departments was played by the inhabitants in the occupied areas, who endeavoured to help their own government and embarrass the armies of occupation. A number of French, Belgian and British of both sexes paid with their lives for acts of patriotic espionage. Two conspicuous instances are Nurse Cavell, who was shot by the Germans for having assisted escaped allied prisoners and helped them to make their way to neutral countries, and Louise de Bettignies, a Frenchwoman who was sentenced on similar grounds and died in prison.
Neutral countries, particularly those adjoining the belligerent countries, were important centres of espionage : witness Italy up to Greece, the Netherlands, the United States and Argentina. Nor did espionage end with the war, and there are many facts to prove that it still goes on, even between countries which are in close alliance with each other.
Methods of espionage vary with the object in view. Two things have to be done : information has to be obtained, and it then has to be communicated to the authority which requires it. In obtain ing information, spies either act for themselves or bribe other per sons who have access to the information which they require. In this, money and women's wiles both play an important part, as is shown by all the spy trials which have taken place at various times. In communicating the information received, when this cannot be done by word of mouth, all possible means are used, from ciphers and codes to the various signals employed in war time. In this matter great inventiveness has been shown by spies, their employ ers, and counter-espionage agents.
Many methods are employed to combat espionage. They may be classified as follows : (1) Violent reactions of public opinion. The crowd suddenly turns on the spy or suspected spy, and there is a spontaneous out break of lynching. Incidents of this kind often occur during times of war or revolution, and spy-mania leads to terrible scenes of brutality and to gross miscarriages of justice.
(2) Technical protection in the form of counter-espionage. This exists in private as well as in diplomatic and military espionage. Its object is to discover and foil the ruses of the other side, and to neutralize its successes. The military and police departments responsible for espionage also carry out counter-espionage, and it sometimes happens that the same agents are employed for both purposes, and are thus in the pay of both sides.
(3) Diplomatic action to combat diplomatic espionage. A gov ernment which discovers that the diplomatic agents of a foreign Power have been guilty of incorrect behaviour towards it can demand their recall, although the agents in question are protected by diplomatic immunity. This may result in the breaking off of diplomatic relations, as occurred in Great Britain as a result of the activities of the agents of Soviet Russia which led to the police raid on Arcos ltd. in (4) Penal measures against military espionage. The authorities responsible for action of this kind and also the severity of the penalties differ according as the countries concerned may be at peace or at war. Even in peace time heavy penalties of fine and imprisonment are imposed for espionage. Cases are tried by the ordinary courts, in camera if necessary. In war time, spies are court-martialled; and death becomes the normal penalty. Attempts have been made at several international conferences to arrive at uniform rules for the repression of espionage, e.g., the Brussels Conference of 1874, and the Hague Conference which adopted the Convention of 1907. These conferences defined the distinctive character of espionage as residing in its clandestine nature, settled questions relating to guides, aeronauts, and the inhabitants of dis tricts occupied by an invader, and dealt with the trial of spies. Unfortunately, not all countries have accepted the rules laid down, or have observed them in time of war.
(5) It may be hoped that the League of Nations may render mutual espionage less and less necessary since, with a view to preparing the way for a future limitation of armaments, it has undertaken the publication of extremely detailed annual statistics of the military and naval strength of the various states which are members of the league.