Foreign Armies East
Foreign Armies East, or Fremde Heere Ost (FHO), was a military intelligence organization of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the Supreme High Command of the German Army during World War II.[1] It focused on analyzing the Soviet Union and other East European countries before and during the war.[2][3]
Establishment
Fremde Heere Ost was established on 10 November 1938 as 12 Department of the General Staff of the Army, attached to the section Senior Quatermaster IV (Template:Lang-de) It was commanded by Oberstleutnant Eberhard Kinzel from November 1938 to March 1942. Oberstleutnant Reinhard Gehlen replaced Kinzel on 1 April 1942 on the orders of Chief of the General Staff, General Franz Halder, with an initial staffing of about 35 people.[4] Foreign Armies East was the successor organisation Department IIIb of the German General Staff, a section since 1889, and only became a department during World War I.[5] During World War I, the department was heavily involved in military intelligence, counter-intelligence and sabotage. Later as it developed, it became involved in propaganda as well. Its main rival and competitor was the Naval Intelligence Department, (Template:Lang-de, a department of the Imperial German Navy.[5]
With the Treaty of Versailles, military intelligence was officially dissolved. However, a troop office, called Department T 3 (Template:Lang-de) also referred to the Army Statistical Department Template:Lang-de} was the new military intelligence department, essentially a continuation of the old department. In 1935, the department was renamed to Abteilung Fremde Here or Department of Foreign Armies, and it was finally renamed in 1938 to Fremde Heere Ost and Fremde Heere West.[5] The offices of both organizations were located at 76 Tirpitzufer in Berlin, which was later renamed Bendlerblock.[5]
The FHO initial task was the collection of statistical and technical data on the armies that Germany saw as its main opponents including Poland, Scandinavia,Balkans, the Soviet Union, China, Japan and the United States.[1]
1942
Gehlen predicted the downfall of the Nazi state, and the coming Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. He planned to preserve his office of the FHO and then present it to the US as a sort of gift.[6]
End of World War II
As the war ended, Gehlen hid himself, his staff and his microfilmed files in the chaos of the downfall of Hitler's government. General William Wilson Quinn of the US Seventh Army, recognized Gehlen's name from a report by Allen Dulles of the OSS. He ensured Gehlen and his material were brought to the attention of the US government.[7]
Gehlen revealed his plan for Foreign Armies East to Captain John Boker of US Military Intelligence, who persuaded General Edwin Sibert of USFET to listen to Gehlen.[8] The J-2 staff of the Pentagon was also involved. These operations eventually led to the formation of Operation X, Operation Rusty, 'the Organization', 'the Org', and finally, the 'Gehlen Organization'.[9]
The Gehlen Organization became a powerful spy ring during the early years of the Cold War. Eventually, this organization was transformed into the Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND, West Germany's intelligence service.[10]
Many of the controversial aspects of Gehlen and his organization, such as its links to old Nazis, and its infiltration by Eastern bloc agents, were later described by Heinz Höhne & Hermann Zolling, in articles and a book, The General Was a Spy.[2]
See also
- Sicherheitsdienst (intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party)
- Ostministerium (Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories)
- Abwehr (German military intelligence organization)
References
- ^ a b Thomas, David (April 1987). "Foreign Armies East and German Military Intelligence in Russia 1941-45". Journal of Contemporary History. 22 (2). Sage Publications, Ltd.: 261–301.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b The General was a Spy, The Truth about General Gehlen - 20th Century Superspy. Höhne, Heinz & Zolling, Hermann, New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. 1972.
- ^ Critchfield, p 24
- ^ a b c d Doerries, Reinhard (1 October 2009). Hitler's Intelligence Chief: Walter Schellenberg. Enigma Books. p. 371. ISBN 978-1-936274-13-0. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ Critchfield, p 24-27
- ^ Critchfield, p 29
- ^ Critchfield, p 30
- ^ Critchfield, p 32
- ^ Critchfield, p 21, 22, et al
Further reading
- Pahl, Magnus: Fremde Heere Ost. Hitlers militärische Feindaufklärung. Berlin 20124
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