The History of Hungarian Intelligence and Counterintelligence Agencies from 1918 until the End of World War II.

Abstract

Intelligence and counterintelligence are integral parts of the current activities of security organisations. Whether it is politics, war, economics, or law enforcement, those who are trying to do it try to learn as much as possible or to keep it a secret. Changes in political power, social relations, and the surrounding world have a powerful impact on the  transformation and work of organisations dedicated to this. The study intends to present the organisational development of domestic intelligence and counterintelligence in parallel with these external influences, in two parts. The first part presents the development and changes of these organisations from the development of independent  Hungarian intelligence and counterintelligence to the end of World War II. The formation of the military services, the structure of the political law  enforcement departments of the gendarmerie and the police, their leaders, and their continuous transformation arising from the social environment well reflect the vicissitudes of the age. The rise of Nazism and then the events of World War II also brought about constant changes in the state security  community. In addition to the presentation of the organisations, the further fate of each leader is also interesting, which information is less known. There were those who were executed, there were those who fled abroad, but there were those who turned their backs on the services and lived a long life as a simple retiree.