Primary Reasons For The Austrian Czernin Failure

The Czernin case is categorized as a failure by Austrian Counterintelligence to detect and halt a “femme fatale” operation implemented by the Gestapo and foreign office of Nazi Germany with the goal of targeting the Austrian chancellor in pursuit of documents that would have dealt a fatal blow to the Third Reich and Hitler himself (Koehler, 1940). There were many reasons for the failure of Austrian CI, however, the primary reasons can be chalked up to capabilities and failure to recognize indications and warnings of German infiltration, and motives. These indications and warnings are evident in the many of the strategic moves implemented by the Germans. The first being the appointment of von Papen to ambassador and recognizing that he was a German espionage
Based on the fact that her family had lost money and influence this made her an easy target for the Germans to recruit (Shirer, 1960). She had the illustrious name and high rank, but was poor due to the war. She possessed the desire to re-gild the glory of the Czernins all of these factors are evident in her behavior and should have raised flags when she approached Schuschnigg (Koehler, 1940). The Austrian CI community could have actively thwarted the infiltration of Schuschnigg’s inner circle by both von Papen and Countess Czernin by properly vetting the staff of the Chancellor such as tracking irregular movements and vetting new comers such as von Papen and Countess Czernin. Furthermore, on a more routine basis the Austrian CI community should have implemented better security for the Chancellor as well as conduct regular sweeps of his home office. Lastly, a better understanding of the personality characteristics of double agents and agents of espionage would have largely led to the identification of von Papen, his associates and their intentions for getting close to the