Русская морская разведка против Австро-Венгрии накануне Первой мировой войны
Russian Naval Intelligence against Austria-Hungary on the eve of World War I

Summary/Abstract: The Russian Naval Intelligence Service was established in 1906. One of the few examples of its activities in Austria-Hungary, which attracted attention only in 1912, was a trip to the cities of naval officer L. B. Kerber. Russian Russian Naval intelligence destroyed the bulk of its archives in March 1918, so it is impossible to fully assess the effectiveness and volume of information that Russian intelligence was gathering. Nevertheless, according to the surviving documents, it is possible to reconstruct several episodes of the work of Russian naval intelligence, to establish which of the officers of the Imperial Navy served in it and at what time, and to characterize the stages of its development. Russian Russian officer’s reconnaissance trip to Austria-Hungary in December 1912 can be judged from the surviving report of Captain 1st Rank L. B. Kerber. Germany was the main target of Russian naval intelligence activity on the eve of the First World War.Austria-Hungary aroused interest only in connection with the crisis caused by the First Balkan War, as well as the threat of the transfer of the Austro-Hungarian fleet to the Black Sea. The methods used by the Russian intelligence officers were quite primitive and consisted mainly of personal surveillance. There were only a few illegal agents. The main intelligence activities were carried out by naval attaches and a few officers of the MGSH Special Office, as well as officers who did not formally hold positions in naval intelligence, like L. B. Kerber. Russian Russian Navy officials were aware of the political risks associated with the exposure of a high-ranking Russian intelligence officer, and it remains an open question.

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