''Abteilung III b'' was the domestic

counterintelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering informati ...

branch of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

from 1889 until the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Initially created as a section in the

Prussian General Staff The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuous study of all aspects of ...

in 1889 and named ''Sektion III b'', it was upgraded to a department and renamed ''Abteilung III b'' in June 1915.

History

The initial responsibilities of ''Sektion III b'' consisted of foreign

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

and counterintelligence. Its counter-espionage efforts focused on France and Russia while the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

was responsible for intelligence in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. During the First World War, ''III b'' acquired additional roles in media censorship and propaganda. In 1917 ''Abteilung III b'' gained authorization to operate domestic counterintelligence (). The secret activities of ''III b'' developed under the head of ''Abteilung III b'', Colonel

Walter Nicolai General Walter Nicolai (August 1, 1873 – May 4, 1947) was the first senior IC (intelligence) officer in the Imperial German Army. He came to run the German military intelligence service, Abteilung IIIb, and became an important pro-war pr ...

(in office: 1913–1918), as war made the need for counter-espionage more pressing. Never before had a German intelligence group held such influence in the German Reich. When the war began, the network of agents in enemy countries quickly evaporated as belligerent nations arrested the agents. The Secret Service could not provide information about enemy intentions and operational-deployment plans. At the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

, within the News Department, the 'enemy editor' grew more suspicious of information delivered as facts, as the intelligence service's reports often proved to be false. In the assessment of the enemy situation, there was one mishap after another. The fundamental error lay in the separation of news gathering and analysis. As the war progressed, ''Abteilung III b'' increasingly established itself as a counterintelligence and ultra-nationalist propaganda organization. The

Far-Left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

press often referred to Colonel Nicolai, the head of the Abteilung, as the "father of lies", among many other things. In addition, ''Abteilung III b'' also expanded as the agents of the intelligence arm of the Imperial German Navy under

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

ic cover in the

German Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-leve ...

were exposed in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. At the end of the war, the division was disbanded.

Outline

During the

, the division was significantly upgraded and divided into press, propaganda, intelligence and defense: ; Mobile Division III b (attached to the OHL) : Counterintelligence in operational territory : Counterintelligence in occupied territory : News service / press : Neutral military attaché quarters ; Deputy Division III b (Berlin) : Counterintelligence in Germany : News service / press : Politics ; War press office (Berlin) : Information centre : Censorship office : Foreign office : Domestic office

Bibliography

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References

{{Authority control Disinformation operations German Army (German Empire) Defunct German intelligence agencies Military intelligence agencies