Name: Margaret Zelle

State: Netherlands, France, Germany

Field of activity: Dancer, spy

Greatest Achievement: Espionage activities during the First World War

Mata Hari was a professional oriental dancer and courtesan who made a dizzying career, first on stage and then in the bed of prominent military and political figures in Europe. Throughout, she became famous for conducting espionage activities for Germany. How it ended is not difficult to predict. At all times, spies faced one fate - execution.

Biography

Mata Hari was born Margaret Gertrude Zelle on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, to Adam Zelle, a hat merchant. Early in his career, he was very lucky, became wealthy, and was able to provide an excellent education for his four children. However, his luck soon turned away from him. He went bankrupt due to unsuccessful investments and very soon divorced his wife, Antje, who fell ill alone and died when the girl was 15 years old. After the death of her mother, Mata Hari and her three brothers were separated and sent to live with different relatives.

At an early age, Mata Hari decided that sexuality was her ticket to life, since the girl was very attractive. She became a wife very early - she found her husband through an advertisement in the newspaper. Captain Rudolph McLeod was looking for a life partner in this way. She sent a stunning photo, with raven hair and olive skin, to seduce him. Despite a 21-year age difference, they married on July 11, 1895, when Margaret was only 19 years old. The couple soon moved to the East East Indies (now Indonesia). In marriage, the girl gave birth to two children, a daughter and a son.

The marriage was not happy - the captain was an alcoholic, a loser who blamed his wife for all his troubles. Trying to escape from the failures in her family life, Margaret begins to study the traditions and customs of Indonesia, as well as folk dances. In 1897, in a letter to her family in the Netherlands, she first mentioned her new name - Mata Hari, which translated from Indonesian meant Eye of the Day. Soon McLeod fled with his daughter from Indonesia (the couple's son died in 1899), and Margaret moved to Paris. There she became the mistress of a French diplomat, who helped her become what she became famous for - a dancer.

At the beginning of the 20th century, all oriental themes were in vogue in Paris. With characteristic confidence, she seized the moment to make herself known. In one memorable garden performance, Mata Hari appeared almost naked on a white horse. Although she boldly exposed her buttocks (considered the height of shamelessness and recklessness), she was modest about her bust, covering it with a beaded bra. Soon all of Paris was talking about the exotic dancer.

After a few years, however, her fame and demand began to decline. As younger dancers replaced her, she was no longer a star. There was only one source of income left - sex with politicians and military personnel. Moreover, she made no difference between the nationality of her suitors - among her lovers there were also German officers, which subsequently attracted the attention of French and British intelligence.

After all, we should not forget that Europe at that time was in great fever before the First World War, and any connections with the enemy were regarded as betrayal and espionage.

Mata Hari - spy

In 1916, Mata Hari fell in love with the 21-year-old Russian captain Vladimir Maslov. Mata, who was already about 40 years old, had not shone on stage for a long time. During their romance, Maslov was sent to the front, where, as a result of a wound, he became blind in one eye. Deciding to earn money to support him, Mata Hari accepted an offer to spy for France from Georges Ladoux , an army captain who assumed that her contacts with the courtesans would be useful to French intelligence.

Mata later insisted on seducing the German high command, obtaining the secrets and passing them on to the French, but was never able to do so. She met the German attaché and began to feed him gossip, hoping to receive valuable information in return. Instead, she was named as a German spy.

Some historians believe that the Germans suspected Mata Hari of being a French spy and subsequently framed her by deliberately sending a false message calling her a German spy, which they knew would be easily deciphered by the French. Others believe she was a German double agent.

In any case, French authorities arrested Mata Hari for espionage in Paris on February 13, 1917. She was thrown into a rat-infested cell in the Saint-Lazare prison, where she was allowed to see only an elderly lawyer, who turned out to be her former lover.

During lengthy interrogations, Mata Hari, who had long lived a fabricated life, embellishing both her upbringing and her resume, did not reveal the facts about her whereabouts and activities.

Finally, she made a stunning confession: a German diplomat once paid her 20,000 francs to collect information about his frequent trips to Paris. But she swore to investigators that she never fulfilled the terms of the deal and always remained loyal to France.

Court

The trial of Mata Hari took place at a time when the Allies were unable to repulse the German advances. Real or imagined spies were convenient scapegoats to explain away military losses, and Mata Hari's arrest was one of many. Her main opponent, Captain Georges Ladoux, made sure that the evidence against her was constructed in the most terrible way - according to some reports, it was very successfully falsified.

The court-martial deliberated for less than 45 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.

“This is impossible, this is impossible,” Mata Hari exclaimed when she heard the decision.

Death and legacy

Mata Hari was executed on October 15, 1917. Dressed in a blue coat and a three-cornered hat, she arrived at the place of execution in Paris with the minister and two nuns and, having said goodbye to them, quickly headed to the appointed place. She then turned to face the firing squad, waved off her blindfold, and blew a kiss to the soldiers. She was killed in an instant when several shots sounded like one.

It was an incredible end for the exotic dancer and courtesan whose name became a metaphor for a spy, a siren who steals secrets from her lovers.

Mystery continues to surround the life of Mata Hari and her alleged double spying, and her story has become a legend that still arouses curiosity today. And undoubtedly, her name will be on the lips of historians and simply curious and caring people for a long time.

Mata Hari photo

Mata Hari. This woman became a legend during her lifetime. There is no consensus among historians about whether her activities as a double agent were a consequence of her moral weakness and cynicism or, conversely, the height of her acting talent, intelligence and ability to use people and situations for her own purposes.

Margaret Geertruida Zelle, who went down in history under the name Mata Hari, was born in August 1876 in Leeuwarden, the center of the northernmost Dutch province of Friesland, in the family of a hatmaker. She grew up to be a beautiful woman with an excellent figure, big eyes and black hair. She probably had a lot of problems in her youth if her parents sent the 17-year-old girl to The Hague, under the supervision of an uncle known for his severity.

Margaret soon became bored with the care of a relative, and she began to look for a way to live an independent life. For a girl of that time, the only way out was marriage. Looking through a newspaper with marriage advertisements, Margaret chose an officer from the Dutch East Indies who was on leave in his homeland as a possible groom. Margaret "writes him a letter. The very first meeting is encouraging for both sides. The name of her chosen one is Rudolf Maclead, he is almost 20 years older than Margaret and comes from an old Scottish family.

A year and a half after the wedding, Margaret is blessed with a son. Soon the family moved to the Dutch Indies, to the place of service of Maclead the Elder. Life in a new place does not work out. The husband's constant jealousy, the death of his son, the tropical climate - everything accelerates the gap between the spouses. Paris becomes a waking dream for a young woman disillusioned with her family life. Several years will pass, and Margaret, who has become a famous dancer, when asked by a correspondent why she ended up in Paris, will answer:

“I don’t know, but I think that all wives who run away from their husbands are drawn to Paris.”

After a divorce, without a means of support, with a daughter born in Java in her arms, Margaret actually goes to the capital of France, where she intends to become a model. But a month later she returns to Holland. Her career as a model did not succeed for the reason that her breasts were... too small. However, she did not give up and in 1904 she made a second attempt. Now fate is more merciful to her: in Paris she finds a job at a riding school at famous circus Mollier, here she came in handy with the ability to handle horses, acquired in the East Indies. Monsieur Mollier advised her to take advantage of her beauty and try her luck as a performer of oriental dances. Margaret, who speaks Malay well and in the East Indies often watched the local dancers, listened to unexpected advice, and this brought her worldwide fame.

The debut took place at the end of January 1905 at a charity evening in the salon of the Russian singer Mrs. Kireyevskaya. The audience received Margaret with delight. She loved to tell a secret story, like in Buddhist temples Far East she was introduced to sacred dance rituals. Perhaps these fantasies also contributed to her success, but Margaret did have innate talent.

Best of the day

At first, she performs under the name Lady Maclead. Her success is growing. The Courier Français newspaper wrote that even while remaining motionless, she bewitches the viewer, and when she dances, her spell works magically.

One of her most devoted admirers was Monsieur Guimet, a wealthy industrialist and great connoisseur of art. To house his private collection, he built the famous museum of oriental art - Musée Guimet. He comes up with an extravagant idea: he arranges a performance of a Javanese dancer among the exhibition in his museum. The names Lady Maclead or Margaret Zelle seem to him unsuitable for such an extravagant atmosphere, so he comes up with the name Mata Hari for the eccentric dancer, which means “eye of the morning” in Javanese. She appeared before the audience in luxurious oriental attire, taken from the collection of Monsieur Guimet, but during the dance she gradually took off her clothes, leaving only strings of pearls and sparkling bracelets.

This day, March 13, 1905, changes Margaret's entire future life. Among the selected guests at the performance are the ambassadors of Japan and Germany. At that time, the performance of a naked dancer was a sensation. Soon all of Paris lay at the feet of the lovely Mata Hari.

Margaret: “I never knew how to dance. And if people came to my performances, then I owe this only to the fact that I was the first to dare to appear in front of them without clothes.”

On March 18, 1905, the newspaper La Presse wrote: “Mata Hari influences you not only with the movements of her legs, arms, eyes, lips. Unconstrained by clothes, Mata Hari influences you with the play of her body.” And here’s what her ex-husband said: “She has flat feet and she absolutely can’t dance.”

In 1905, Mata Hari performed 30 times in the most luxurious salons of Paris, including 3 times in the mansion of Baron Rothschild. She experienced one of her greatest triumphs in August 1905 at the famous Olympia Theater. Mata Hari conquered Paris. Here is what the Paris edition of the New York Herald wrote on May 2, 1905: “It is impossible to imagine a nobler production of an Indian religious mystery than has been done here.”

In January 1906, she received a two-week engagement in Madrid. This was her first foreign tour. Then Mata Hari goes to the Cote d'Azur - the Monte Carlo Opera invited her to dance in Massenet's ballet "The King of La Mountain". This was a very important moment “in her career, because the Monte Carlo opera, along with the Paris opera, was one of the leading musical theaters in France. The premiere of the ballet was a huge success. Puccini, who was in Monte Carlo at that time, sends her to the hotel flowers, and Massenet writes: “I was happy when I watched her dance!" In August 1906, Mata Hari goes to Berlin. There she becomes the mistress of the richest landowner, Lieutenant Alfred Kiepert. He invites her to Silesia, where from 9 to The Kaiser's army maneuvers take place on September 12. At the end of 1906, Mata Hari dances in Vienna's Secession Hall and then at the Apollo Theater, yielding to persistent protests from the church, she is forced to wear tight-fitting tights.

A certain enterprising Dutch cigarette magnate produces Mata Hari cigarettes, widely advertising them as follows: “The newest Indian cigarettes, meeting the most demanding tastes, are made from the best varieties of tobacco from the island of Sumatra.”

Having parted with Kiepert, Mata Hari returned to Paris in early December 1907, where she rented a room at the fashionable Maurice Hotel. She became rich and now performs only in performances organized for charitable purposes. Her fame rivals that of the unsurpassed American dancer Isadora Duncan. In January 1910, Mata Hari again toured Monte Carlo. From June 1910 until the end of 1911, she was completely immersed in her personal life. She has an affair with the Parisian stockbroker Rousseau, with whom she lives in a castle on the Loire. Margaret fell madly in love with this man and is ready to give up triumphant performances for his sake. But when Rousseau's affairs began to deteriorate, she left him and rented a villa in the picturesque Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

At this time, her long-time dream comes true - the famous Milan opera house "La Scala" engages her to winter season 1911/12 The authoritative newspaper "Corriere de la Serra" calls her a master of dance art, endowed with the gift of mimic inventiveness, inexhaustible creative imagination and extraordinary expressiveness. However, despite her triumph on the best stages of the world, the spoiled dancer is experiencing financial difficulties. In the summer season of 1913. Mata Hari performs again in Paris, in a new play staged on the stage of the Folies Bergere. There she dances the habanera. The performances are again being sold out to full houses. In the spring of 1914, she again travels to Berlin, where she again meets Lieutenant Kiepert. March 23, 1914 she signs a contract with the Berlin Metropol Theater to participate in the ballet “The Thief of Millions”, the premiere of which is scheduled for September 1,

But a month before the scheduled premiere date, war begins. The fact that on the eve of the war, July 31, 1914, Mata Hari was in Berlin, and also dined in a restaurant with a high-ranking police officer, would later be used as evidence of her espionage activities in favor of Germany, Mata Hari: “One evening, in At the end of July 1914, I was having dinner in the office of a restaurant with one of my admirers, one of the leaders of the police, von Griebal (he was in charge of the foreign department). Suddenly the noise of some kind of manifestation reached us. Gribal, who knew nothing about it, came out with me to the square. A huge crowd gathered in front of the imperial palace. Everyone shouted: “Germany above all!”

With Germany and France now at war, Margaret decided to return to Paris via neutral Switzerland. On August 6, 1914, she departs for Basel. But at the Swiss border she faces an unexpected obstacle: only her luggage is allowed to cross the border, but she herself cannot enter Switzerland because she does not have the necessary documents. She has to return to Berlin. August 14, 1914 She goes to Frankfurt am Main to obtain a document at the Dutch consulate there for the right to travel to neutral Holland. Upon arriving in Amsterdam, she finds herself in quite a predicament, as her wardrobe is either still in Switzerland or is traveling rather slowly to Paris. She has no friends in Amsterdam and very little money. All her wealthy friends and patrons were drafted into the army, and she couldn’t even dream of getting a theatrical engagement. Despite this, Mata Hari settles in the expensive Victoria Hotel.

Mata Hari: “When I found myself back in my homeland, I felt simply terrible. I had absolutely no money. True, one very rich admirer of mine lived in The Hague, his last name was van der Capellen. But I knew well the importance of clothes for him , so I did not look for him until I had updated my wardrobe. The situation was difficult, so one day, leaving a church in Amsterdam, I allowed a certain stranger to talk to me. He turned out to be a banker named Heinrich van der Schelk. He became my lover "He was kind and extremely generous. I pretended to be Russian, so he considered it his duty to introduce me to the sights of the country, which I knew better than him."

Van der Schelk pays the hotel and bills. Mata Hari spends several cloudless weeks with the banker. Now she can think about resuming contacts with her longtime admirer Baron van der Capellen. But first, van der Schelk introduces her to a certain Mr. Werflein, who will play a decisive role in her fate. Living in Brussels, he conducts extensive business with the German occupation authorities and is a close friend of the new German Governor-General, Baron von Bissing. Through Werflein, Mata Hari at the beginning of 1915 met Consul Karl G. Cramer, the head of the official German information service in Amsterdam, under whose roof the German intelligence department 111-b is hidden. Mata Hari temporarily resumed contacts with Baron van der Capellen, who helps a 39-year-old dancer overcome her financial difficulties. Thanks to his help, at the end of September 1914. She rents a small house in The Hague, and after a few weeks she manages to get an engagement at the Royal Theatre. But the habit of living large leads to the fact that she constantly lacks money. At the end of autumn 1915 The German secret service 111-b recruits Mata Hari.

More than a quarter of a century later, when the next world war was already underway, retired Major von Repel, who in the first world war headed the military intelligence center "West", it is admitted that he was the curator of Mata Hari. This happened on November 24, 1941. In a letter to a former employee of Colonel Nikolai, and later the head of counterintelligence of the Reichswehr, retired Major General Gemp, he wrote: "Get out Mata Hari was succeeded through Baron von Mirbach, who, being a knight of the Order of St. John, was assigned to an intelligence officer. The latter just recommended N-21 (Mata Hari's code number) to the chief of service III-b. At that time I was still working at the military intelligence center " West" in Dusseldorf and was called by telephone to Colonel Nikolai in Cologne, where the first conversation took place between N-21 and Colonel Nikolai. Both Mirbach and I advised not to allow N-21, who then lived in The Hague, into Germany. But Chief III-b insisted on his own.

Werner von Mirbach, a longtime admirer of the dancer, served on the headquarters of the 3rd Army, which fought in Champagne in 1915. He became aware of Mata Hari's plight and decided to recruit her and make her an agent of Section III-b, given that she moved in the highest circles of Paris. His intelligence officer, Captain Goffman, immediately reported this to the head of the intelligence service, Major Nicolai. Now Consul Kramer, who is already familiar with Mata Hari, is involved in the matter. In his opinion, she will not refuse a well-paid secret service, and Nikolai gives instructions to call her to Cologne. The situation at the front at that time was difficult, and the Germans were afraid of an imminent enemy attack, so they had to hurry. Mata Hari managed to win over the secret service officers, and Nikolai orders an immediate start to her training in an accelerated program.

Major von Repel later recalled: “Later, Mata Hari often told me that she was noticed already when crossing the border in Zevenaar. Among the people accompanying her was a mulatto maid from India, who, perhaps, also played a double role. Chief 111-b sent N-21 from Cologne to Frankfurt am Main, where she was accommodated in the Frankfurt hotel? Hoff." And Fraulein Dr. Schragmuller and I stayed at the Carlton Hotel. I had to instruct N-21 several days in advance on political and military issues. Fraulein Doctor was supposed to determine the time of N-21's trip, and also instruct her regarding the conduct of observations and methods of transmitting information. When we began training in the use of special chemical inks, Mr. Habersack was sent from the intelligence center in Antwerp to help me. Subsequently, the two of us began to teach her the chemical correspondence of texts and tables. At the same time, a conversation took place with the head of III- b. It took place at the Domhotel, not far from the Cologne Cathedral. Only Fräulein Doctor and I were present during the conversation. Having received new assignments, we returned to Frankfurt am Main. The head waiter of the Frankfurt Hoff Hotel had previously worked as a head waiter in the Paris hotel "Ritz". He immediately recognized Mata Hari and, as we found out the next day, in the evening he invited her to visit his home. If possible, I had to instruct Mata Hari outside the city, under the guise of walks, when no one was watching us . During one of these walks, she said that she probably shouldn’t have gone to visit the head waiter and that this man’s interest in her generally filled her with strong fears. It seems that she owed him some money since her Parisian days: I saw with my own eyes how she handed him the check."

At the end of the briefing, Mata Hari went back to The Hague. Her first task was to find out in Paris the immediate plans of the Allied offensive. In addition, while traveling and staying in areas of military interest, she had to record where troop movements were occurring. She was obliged to maintain constant contact with two coordination centers of German intelligence against France: the West Center in Düsseldorf, led by Major von Repel, and the intelligence center of the German Embassy in Madrid, headed by Major Arnold Kaple.

Soon after Mata's return, Consul Kramer visits Mata Hari. Later, during interrogation, she spoke about this meeting as if it had occurred in May 1916, that is, before her second trip to France: “The Consul learned that I had requested an entry visa to France. He began the conversation like this: “I know that you are going to go to France. Would you agree to provide us with certain services? We would like you to collect information for us there that, in our opinion, might interest us. In the event With your consent, I am authorized to pay you 20,000 francs." I told him that the amount was quite modest. He agreed and added the following: “To get more, you must first prove what you are capable of.” I asked for some time to think. When he left, I thought about my 6 expensive fur coats, detained by the Germans in Berlin, and decided that it would be fair if I get the most out of them that I can. So I wrote to Kramer: "I've thought it over. You can bring the money." The consul came slowly and paid the promised amount in French currency. He told me to write to him in cryptographic ink. I objected that this would be inconvenient for me, since now I would have to sign with my real name. He replied that there is such ink , which no one can read, and added that I should sign my letters N-21. Then he handed me three small bottles, marked with the numbers 1, 2, 3. Having received 20,000 francs from Monsieur Cramer, I politely sent him away. I assure you you that from Paris I never wrote to them even half a word. By the way, these three bottles, having poured out their contents, I threw into the water as soon as our ship approached the canal going from Amsterdam to the North Sea."

British agents are aware of Kramer's activities within III-b and are literally following his every move. They reported to the London center about the consul's visit to Mata Hari. In December 1915 she arrives in France. She had to travel through England, since Belgium was occupied by the Germans. Having arrived in Paris, she rents a room at the Grand Hotel and begins to fulfill her mission. Meeting with old acquaintances, she tries in small talk to find out from them all kinds of information of interest to German intelligence. Among her friends are the former Minister of War Adolphe Messimy, and Lieutenant Jean Allor, who serves in the Ministry of War, and finally, Jules Cambon, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At night, she also wastes no time meeting many French and British officers. She soon develops a fairly complete picture of the Allies' intentions on the German front. At the end of the year, she informs the German agent that, at least in the near future, the French are not planning offensive operations. This report confirms information received from other sources. Therefore, the German command is preparing the next offensive only at the beginning of 1916.

The German secret service, meanwhile, begins a disinformation operation. She spreads all sorts of rumors and fakes troop movements, creating the impression that the German command is preparing a major offensive simultaneously in Alsace and Flanders. With the help of these diversionary maneuvers, the leadership of the German army manages to hide the preparations for the attack on Verdun, scheduled for February 1916.

From Paris Mata Hari goes to Spain. This trip was of a reconnaissance nature - she received the task of conducting observations at the railway junctions of Central and Southern France of the movement of military echelons and of troop concentrations. January 11, 1916 Mata Hari reaches the Franco-Spanish border station of Hendaye, and a day later she arrives in Madrid. Mata Hari stays at the Palace Hotel and contacts the military attache of the German embassy, ​​Major Calle, to convey information about what she saw and heard during the trip. This information apparently seemed so important to the major that he ordered it to be immediately transferred to Consul Kramer in Amsterdam. The radiogram, as always, is encrypted with the code of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

No one realizes that the British radio eavesdropping service intercepts his report and transmits it to Room 40. Deciphering German radiograms is now not particularly difficult for the British, since Alexander Stsek from the German radio center in Brussels between November 1914 and April 1915. gradually rewrote and handed over to British intelligence the entire code book of the German Foreign Ministry. The British intelligence service MIB can easily determine which agent traveled from Paris via Hendaye to Madrid to report his observations to military attaché Calle. In fact, the intercepted radiogram only confirms the conclusions made by the MIB service that Mata Hari was recruited by German intelligence. After a conversation in Madrid, she returns through Portugal to The Hague, where her old friend, Baron van der Capellen, is eagerly awaiting her.

But Mata Hari wants to return to Paris. Therefore, she applies for a new Dutch passport, addressed to Margaret Zelle-Maklid. On May 15, 1916, she was issued a passport. She also receives an entry visa to France without delay. However, the British consulate refuses her a visa for a short stay in England. In response to a request from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, London telegraphed that the Foreign Office has its own reasons why the admission of this lady to England is undesirable. They don't tell her anything about the telegraph response from London. Therefore, she still decides to go to France, but not through England, but through Spain. May 24, 1916 Mata lari boards the ship Zealand in The Hague and proceeds to the Spanish port of Vigo. It is unknown whether she will meet this time in

Madrid with Major Calle. In any case, June 16, 1916 Anday tries to enter France through the border station. But the French border guards, despite her vigorous protest, unexpectedly refuse to let her through. They say the reason for her ban on entry into France is unknown to them. Then she writes a letter to her old friend Monsieur Jules Cambon, Secretary General of the French Foreign Ministry, the second person in this ministry. But the very next day, without even having time to send the letter, she learns that she can freely enter France. This behavior of the French authorities did not alarm her, and she happily went to Paris.

Intending to stay in the French capital for quite a long time, she rents an apartment on the fashionable Avenue Henri Martin. She accidentally learns that her friend, an officer of the tsarist army, staff captain Vadim Maslov, is undergoing treatment at the Vittel resort in the Vosges. This resort is located in a restricted front-line zone, so Mata Hari is trying, through Lieutenant Jean Allor from the War Ministry, to obtain a special pass giving the right to enter there. The lieutenant advised her to contact his friend at the military bureau for foreigners.

The bureau was located at 282 Boulevard Saint-Germain. What follows is a very significant event. It is unknown whether by pure chance, or the French deliberately gave her the wrong room number, or whether she herself did so on the orders of the German secret service, but, one way or another, she finds herself face to face with Captain Ladoux, the chief of French counterintelligence. He asks Mata Hari about her relationship with Lieutenant Allor and Staff Captain Maslov. This turn of events was clearly unexpected for her. She asked: “So you have a case against me?” In response, Ladu said: “I don’t believe the British report that you are a spy.” Moreover, he promised to help with obtaining a pass to the restricted area. Mata Hari was about to say goodbye, but then Captain Ladoux invites her to become a French agent and asks how much she would like to receive for such cooperation. She asks for time to think. Two days later, Mata Hari receives a pass to Vittel. Then she visits one of her friends, the diplomat Henri de Margery, who holds a high position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and asks for his advice regarding Ladoux's proposal.

Mata Hari: “Monsieur de Margery said that tasks of this kind are very dangerous. However, from his point of view and in general from the position of a Frenchman, if anyone is able to provide such a service to his country, it is, of course, me.”

Mata Hari goes to Vittel, where she stays from September 1 to 15, 1916. She spends time in the company of her Russian friend. She understands that in France she will hardly be able to act further without being noticed. The agents assigned to her by Lada do not notice any suspicious actions on her part, in particular, not the slightest interest in the French air force base of Contrexville, located near the resort. There is also nothing suspicious in her carefully illustrated mail. After returning to Paris, she informs Lad of her willingness to be his agent. Ladoux intends to send her to Belgium, so she tells him about her good relations with a certain Monsieur Werflein, a close friend of the Governor General of Belgium.

Mata Hari: “I will write to Werflein and go to Brussels, taking my most beautiful dresses. I will often visit the German High Command. That is all I can promise you. I am not going to stay there for several months in a row and fritter away on trifles. I have there is only one big plan that I would like to carry out. Only one."

She means that by any means she will try to obtain the plans of the German High Command regarding the upcoming offensive. When asked directly why she wants to help France, she replies: “I have only one reason for this - I want to marry the man I love and I want to be independent.” Without undue modesty, she demands a million francs for her work! But he says that this amount should be paid after Ladu is convinced of the value of the information provided. Ladu agrees to her terms, but refuses to pay even a small advance. He recommends that she return through Spain to The Hague and await further orders there.

November 5, 1916 Mata Hari travels from Paris to Vigo. Ladu reserved a cabin for her on the ship "Holland", which went to sea on November 9, 1916. Along the way, the ship calls at the English port of Falmouth. Here, Scotland Yard officers, after a thorough interrogation, arrest her and take her to London on the morning of November 13th. The British arrested Mata Hari, mistaking her for a long-wanted German secret agent,

Clara Bendix. Sir Basil Thomson, head of Scotland Yard, personally investigates her case. Three days later Thomson sends a letter to the Dutch Minister in London with the following content: “Sir, I have the honor to inform you” that a woman with a false passport in the name of Margaret Zelle-Maclead, 2063”, issued in The Hague on May 12, 1916, is being detained by us under arrest on suspicion that she is in fact a German agent of German nationality, namely Clara Bendix from Hamburg. She denies her identity with the said person. We have taken steps to establish the crime. The passport shows signs of possible forgery. She has expressed her desire write to Your Excellency why she was provided with writing materials." After some time, Thomson became convinced that the arrested person was indeed not Clara Bendix. Now he wants to find out why she absolutely needs to get to Holland. Mata Hari astounds the chief of Scotland Yard by declaring that she is on a secret mission from the French intelligence services. Thus, Thomson learns that his colleague in Paris, despite a confidential warning given to him, has recruited a woman who is listed in the British intelligence files as a German spy.

Ladoux, having learned from Thomson that the dancer had told him about her mission, was extremely annoyed and telegraphed to London: “Completely incomprehensible, stop, send Mata Hari back to Spain.” They say that Ladu additionally told Scotland Yard that, according to his information, Mata Hari was traveling to Holland on instructions from the Germans. It goes without saying that Mata Hari knows nothing about these telegrams and, on the advice of Thomson, goes back to Spain. Here, on December 1916, she is noted at the Dutch consulate, and then resumes her contact with Major Calle and reports her adventures in Ang-itoi. Although she again has financial difficulties, Major Calle this time refuses to help her at his own expense. He radios Consul Kramer in Amsterdam and asks to transfer money for the N-21 to Paris.

Here is what Major Repel, already familiar to us, says about this: “When Kramer read this telegram, he fell into despair and said that all this would end badly.”

Meanwhile, Mata Hari received a special assignment from Major Calle. He wanted her to devote the time she still had to spend in Madrid to the French senior officers stationed in the Spanish capital. The next day, Mata Hari meets Colonel Dunvin from the French embassy at the Palace Hotel. He holds the position of military attaché and “part-time” heads the espionage department in Madrid. She frankly tells him about her adventures in Falmouth, about her visit to Major Calle and reports that she is still waiting for instructions from Paris from Captain Ladoux. In response, the colonel demands that she obtain information about German submarines off the coast of Morocco as soon as possible. Danvin has to leave for Paris on official business, and on the day of his departure, Major Calle sends a note to the double spy at the hotel.

Mata Hari: “In the note he asked if I would agree to have tea with him at three o’clock in the afternoon. He was colder than usual, as if he had learned about my meetings with the colonel.”

From Calle she learns that the French sent a radiogram from Madrid about German submarines off the Moroccan coast. “We know their code,” Calle added. This information and other information from Major Calle, which Mata Hari transmits to the French secret service, does not correspond to reality and is designed only to strengthen her position in the eyes of the enemy. Throughout the war, the Germans had no plans to conduct any operations off the coast of Morocco.

Meanwhile, MatyaHari receives a letter from one of his Spanish friends, Senator Hunoy. He warns her that a certain French agent advised him to end his friendship with her. Three weeks later, when she had nothing left to do in Madrid, she prepared to leave for Paris. Meanwhile, the French radio interception service, which has at its disposal a powerful radio station on Eiffel Tower, deciphered the radiograms exchanged between Major Calle and Amsterdam: “Agent N-21 arrived Madrid, was recruited by the French, but sent back to Spain by the British and asks for money and further instructions.” Kramer responds: "Instruct her to return to France and continue the mission." From Kramer, agent N-21 receives a check for 5 thousand francs.

Mata Hari leaves Madrid on January 2, 1917. At the hour of her train's arrival in Paris, Colonel Danvigne must leave from there for Madrid. At the Austerlitz Station, she barely has time to exchange a few phrases with him. The colonel answers her questions reluctantly and rather evasively. Captain Ladoux and her old friend Jules Cambon, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, behave extremely carefully and weigh every word. From her lover Vadim Maslov, who arrived on a short vacation in Paris, Mata Hari learns that the Russian embassy in Paris warned him against continuing any relationship with the “dangerous spy.” After Maslov’s departure, Mata Hari begins to lead a hectic life full of entertainment, as if she wants to forget all the disappointments of the last weeks...

"On the morning of February 13, 1917, there was a knock on the door of her room at the Eliza Palace Hotel. Opening the door, she saw six men in uniform. It was the police chief Priole and his subordinates. He presents Mata Hari with an arrest warrant on charges of espionage. She is placed in the Faubourg-Saint-Denis prison in Saint-Lazare. She immediately submits a petition to the prison authorities: “I am innocent and have never" engaged in any espionage activities against France. In view of this, I ask for the necessary instructions to be released from here ".

During interrogations with investigator Bouchardon, which lasted for four whole months, only the clerk, soldier Baudouin, was present. Lawyer Mata Hari Clune is allowed only to the first and last of 14 interrogations, respectively on February 13 and June 21, 1917. In the case materials, in addition to intercepted radiograms, there is information about the results of observations of Captain Ladu’s agents, confirmation from the Discount Bank that Mata Hari received money, sent from abroad, her personal documents and evidence of her attempts to return to the Netherlands, as well as the results of an analysis of the contents of a suspicious tube and a bottle of secret writing ink, which can only be purchased in Spain.

Mata Hari: “It’s just an alkaline solution, it’s used for intimate purposes. Last December a doctor in Madrid prescribed it to me.”

The money she received through Discount Bank, according to her testimony, was sent by Baron van der Capellen. The investigator asks: “When you first came to our counterintelligence bureau at 282 Boulevard Saint-Germain, were you a German spy at that time?”

Mata Hari replies: “The fact that I was in close relations with certain people does not in any way mean that I was engaged in espionage. I never engaged in espionage for Germany. With the exception of France, I did not spy for any other country. Being a professional dancer, I naturally could communicate with some people in Berlin, but without the motives that you apparently associate with this. Besides, I myself told you the names of these people."

In the second half of April 1917. The French manage to decipher several German radio messages intercepted by a listening station on the Eiffel Tower and related to the activities of agent N-21.

Investigator Bouchardon: “Suddenly the whole matter seemed absolutely clear to me: Margaret Zelle provided Major Calle with a number of messages. Which ones exactly? I think I can’t make them public, since I’m still bound by the oath of office. I can only say one thing: they were regarded, especially by ours center, as information, partly containing important facts. For me, they served as confirmation that this spy was somehow connected with a certain number of officers and that she had the cunning to ask them some very specific, and, moreover, insidious, questions. Her connections in other circles allowed her to receive information about the political situation in our country."

But Mata Hari continues to insist that in Madrid she worked only for France and lured important information from the German Major Calle.

Captain Bouchardon, investigator: “After all, you could not act otherwise. It became difficult for you to continue living in Madrid and still meeting with Major Calle. Since you knew that at any time you could come to the attention of our agents, you were forced to to wonder how you could explain all this if necessary. Thus, in order to motivate your visits to the Major and dispel our suspicions, you inevitably had to pretend that you were feeding certain information to the French. This is the basic principle of any spy game. You are too smart, not to take this into account."

The trial began on July 24, 1917, and the very next day the jury sentenced Margaret Geertruida Zelle to death. Hearing the verdict, Mata Hari shouted: “This is impossible! This is impossible!” Clunet, her lawyer, falls to his knees before President Poincaré and unsuccessfully begs the head of state to pardon his client.

Correspondent Henry J. Wales of the International News Service witnessed the last hours of the famous dancer's life on October 15, 1917: "She learned of the rejection of her petition for clemency only at dawn, when she was led from her prison cell at Saint-Lazare to the standing a car at the gate and taken to the barracks, where a team of shooters was waiting to carry out the sentence."

When the car with the condemned woman arrived at the Vincennes barracks, the military unit had already been built. While Father Arboz was speaking to the condemned woman, a French officer approached. “Bandage,” he whispered to the nuns standing nearby and handed them a piece of cloth. But Mata Hari refused to wear the bandage.

She stood up straight and fearlessly looked at the soldiers as the priest, nuns and lawyer left... On command, the soldiers clicked the bolts of their rifles. One more command and they took aim at the chest beautiful woman. Mata Hari remained calm, not a single muscle moved on her face. She saw the officer giving the orders from the side. The saber flew into the air and then fell down. At the same moment a volley rang out. At that moment, when the shots rang out, Mata Hari leaned forward a little. She began to slowly settle. Slowly, as if lazily, she knelt down, still holding her head high and with the same calm expression on her face. Then she fell back and, crouching, with her face turned to the sky, froze on the sand. Some sergeant major approached her, took out a revolver and shot her in the left temple...

Major von Repel: “As for the successes that N-21 achieved, opinions differ greatly on this score. I believe that she knew how to observe and write reports very well, since she was one of the most intelligent women I have ever met ". Two or three letters that I received from her contained, as far as I remember, not very significant messages, written in sympathetic ink. But I fully admit that her really important reports were intercepted and not delivered further at all. She was probably engaged in espionage for Germany , and I believe that her execution by the French, unfortunately, was justified."

Does anyone know who Mata Hari is? There is something oriental in this stage name, isn’t there? At least, that’s what Mata Hari’s fans thought and believed in those days. Her pseudonym has far from eastern roots: from ordinary spoken Malay, “Mata Hari” is translated as “eye of the day” (“mata” - eye, “hari” - day), or more simply “sun”.

What are your associations with the East now? Of course, oriental dancing. Mata Hari is none other than an oriental dancer who managed to conquer the whole of Paris with her movements, beauty and grace. The oriental dancer Mata Hari is nothing more than part of the stage image. In fact, she had nothing to do with the East, and her dances could hardly be called oriental.

The future star Mata Hari, daughter of Adam Zelle and Antje Zelle (maiden name Van der Meulen) Margareta Gertrude Zelle (that was her real name) was born on August 7, 1876 in Holland in Leeuwarden (northern Dutch province of Friesland). Since childhood, Margaretha had a great imagination and loved to intertwine reality and fiction. Her past remained a mystery for many years. Being a dancer recognized in Paris, Mata Hari came up with a biography for herself. Moreover, in different interviews there were different biographies: either she was born in India, or in Java.

Margaretha's father was the owner of a hat shop. His business flourished. And after a profitable investment in shares of an oil company, the family allowed themselves to buy a house. Margareta was a very beautiful child. She studied at one of the best schools in the city and was the only girl who attended school in bold, revealing dresses. She studied well, knew French, German and English well, and was interested in drama. She liked to surprise her friends, dress extravagantly, be the center of attention and admiration - she lived for it.

Her childhood gave the impression of being quite cloudless. But everything is never good. After many years of financial success for the Zelle family, their financial situation suddenly deteriorated sharply. In 1889, Margaretha's father became bankrupt. This was followed by the complete collapse of the Zelle family: the divorce of the parents, the death of Margaret's mother.

The first love in Margareta’s life was the love of “the uniform,” which led to an imminent wedding. On July 11, 1895, she married Colonial Army officer Rudolph McLeod and was now officially Mrs. McLeod. Margaretha was not yet 19 years old at that time, and her husband was already 39 years old. Their living together was not smooth, even the birth of children (son Norman John and daughter Jeanne Louise or simply Non) could not smooth out the conflicts and disputes between the spouses that were growing every day. Constant moving, the complex character of her husband, his jealousy, because Margareta became more and more attractive every year and aroused the admiration of men - all this aggravated the situation in the family. McLeod's third wife describes her husband as "a cruel, unsentimental man who always called a spade a spade, a rough but honest soldier with a heart of gold."

Rudolph loved his son very much, he was a good father. Norman's death put a decisive end to the issue of the couple's divorce. Daughter Non remained to live with her father, and Margareta went to conquer Paris. Since then, she will not see her daughter again. As a school friend stated: “Margaret was a person, not a motherly woman.”

The first attempt to settle in Paris was unsuccessful. Margaretha didn't know how to do anything. Her first job as a model for artists brought very little income, and the artists' studios were not so attractive. Therefore, she returned back to her homeland in Holland. But even there, not everything was so perfect, because she had no friends here to turn to, no money to live on, and no financial support from her husband. Margaretha is thinking about going to Paris again.

The second attempt was more successful than the first. Margaretha got a job at Monsieur Mollier's riding school. While still in East India, she gained experience with horses. However, Monsieur Mollier was able to convince her that with a figure like hers, she would achieve greater success by dancing rather than working with horses. During the First World War, Margareta admitted to one of her friends that she had never been distinguished by the ability to dance beautifully, and people came to her performances only because she decided to show herself to the audience without clothes.

1905 - the time of the “Belle Epoque”: theaters, exhibitions, museums, concerts were available, but the Parisian public was waiting for the embodiment of unbridled desires, a life that is full of frivolity and charm. Before us is the same Paris in which husbands led double lives: they paid compliments to their wives and at the same time managed to care for other people's wives. In such conditions, Margareta simply blossomed.

Her debut as an oriental dancer took place in the salon of the famous singer Madame Kireevskaya, who at that time was also involved in charity work. The debut was an immediate huge success.

After this, the famous collector Emile Guimet became interested in Margareta, who invited her to perform at his museum of oriental art, where his private collection was housed. Emile Guimet was considered a great specialist in Eastern cultures. It is unlikely that he actually was, but one thing is certain - he was fascinated by the Dutch dancer. At the Guimet Museum, Margareta performed under the name Mata Hari, since this pseudonym fit much more into the image of an oriental dancer. After this speech, all of Paris talked about Mata Hari.

In 1905, she performed a total of about 40 times: these were performances in fashionable salons, famous theaters in Paris, where an atmosphere similar to that of the Guimet Museum was specially created for her, participating in the same program with the stars of that time - soprano singer Lina Cavalieri, the classical dancer who personifies Greece, Isadora Duncan. In general, Paris recognized Mata Hari.

Although some critics were unhappy with her such bold dances. Of course, by today's standards, her dancing is generally difficult to classify as frank. And if you believe the memoirs of the prison doctor Mata Hari Leon Bizar, she could not boast of the beauty of her breasts, since, firstly, they were small in size, and secondly, they had some defects. Therefore, it was not in her interests to show herself completely naked to the public.

Mata Hari did not limit herself to Paris alone, she won the hearts of the Austrians, Spaniards, and Germans. Images of Mata Hari adorned postcards, cigarette packs, and tins of Dutch cookies.

The decline in Mata Hari's fame turned out to be as rapid as her rise. She never managed to conquer any classical European stage, with the exception of a couple of performances in Monte Carlo and a performance in Milan. Her main drawback remained her frivolous and fickle lifestyle, her thirst for change and frivolous attitude towards money, leading to an eternal lack of it, which pushed her to constantly search for rich and generous men who could finance her luxurious life. She had already had many years of love affairs with rich men in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Madrid, but her extravagance and painful fear of poverty led to more and more, usually fleeting, sexual relationships with men who generously paid for it.

At the height of the First World War, Mata Hari was in Berlin with another German lover. German services, mistaking her for a Russian spy, arrest her several times. Finally she manages to travel to the neutral Netherlands. The start of the war was a disaster for Mata Hari in every way.

Since the first days of the war, there have been mass unrest, protests against foreign citizens and against persons considered by the authorities as unreliable for the nation. The so-called spy mania spread across all countries participating in the war. Any habitual action was regarded by the authorities as suspicious. Especially in Europe, women came under suspicion.

In December 1915, Mata Hari returned to France again. The war greatly changed Paris and the people living in it. Continuing her career as a dancer was now out of the question. At this time, the French police pay attention to her.

Then Mata Hari's espionage activities begin. She became a double agent. She passed on the most secret information to France, and supplied the Germans with outdated information that could easily be found in newspapers. Unfortunately, the French authorities did not appreciate the importance of the information she obtained and accused her of spying for Germany. The charges brought against her were based on guesswork; there were no facts as such.

The trial of Margaretha Zelle began on July 24, 1917 and took place in an atmosphere closed from public eyes. She was never able to find a way to resolve the contradictions in her testimony about the brief but well-thought-out and financially profitable meetings and convince the court of her innocence. No matter how she assured that her meetings with the Germans were of a loving nature, the opinion of the accused party and the jury remained unshakable.

Early in the morning of October 15, 1917, Mata Hari was shot near the Vincennes fortress in Paris. She never fully wanted to believe the verdict she heard at the trial. Attempts to appeal, as well as a petition for clemency to President Poincaré, were unsuccessful. The request for clemency was rejected, because the death of one foreign spy against the backdrop of hundreds of thousands of deaths of French soldiers was not a great loss.

After the war, the life story of Mata Hari became the plot of many novels and films (with the participation of Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jeanne Moreau). Hollywood saw in Mata Hari a vamp woman, chillingly cold, selfish, prone to insidious intrigues, regarding a man as an object of exploitation, but at the same time charming men's hearts with incredible demonic power. But in the life of Mata Hari there was a place true love– love for the young Russian officer Vadim Maslov, who never appeared at the trial as a witness.

The fictional character in Hollywood films has practically nothing in common with a historical figure. The image of the “erotic spy” Mata Hari, which the secret services so skillfully invented, finds greater plausibility different countries. After all, it was the alleged espionage activities and, of course, dancing that made Mata Hari famous not only in those days, but also in our days.

A. Kuznetsov: The great fame of Mata Hari begins in 1905. No, she is not yet a spy or intelligence officer, but an “oriental style” dancer who charmed the entire audience gathered in Mrs. Kireyevskaya’s salon with her exotic movements.

In fact, our heroine was not an outstanding dancer, which she herself admitted. She simply managed to be in the right place at the right time, and, moreover, caught the secret desires of the audience. At this time, striptease was taking its first steps in Europe, and Mata Hari used its elements in her performances. At the end of the number, she found herself almost completely naked, which amazed the men on the spot.

Mata Hari skillfully created a legend around herself, saying that she was the daughter of an Indian princess who died in childbirth. Her youth, according to this legend, was spent in remote temples of the East, where she was taught the most mysterious and mystical dances.

Soon all of Europe was at her feet. The exotic diva was invited to the best theaters; the powers that be considered it necessary to attend her performances.

S. Buntman: But there were also those who criticized Mata Hari and accused her of lack of talent?

A. Kuznetsov: Certainly. The main shortcomings of our heroine (this is about the question of why she was not suitable as a scout) were inconstancy, wastefulness, and passion for gambling. The desire to live supported by men forced her to get involved in dubious connections, which, naturally, society did not like at all.

S. Buntman: Oh, by the way, our beautiful nymph was actually named Margaretha Gertrude Zelle.

A. Kuznetsov: Yes. She was born in 1876 and was the only girl in the family. Until the age of 13, Margareta went to an upper-class school: her father was a successful hatter and also made successful investments in the oil industry, which allowed him not to skimp on his beloved daughter. But in 1889 he went bankrupt, then divorced his wife. As a result, the impoverished parent was forced to send the young daughter to her godfather in the city of Sneek. There our heroine went to school in the southern Dutch city of Leiden, where she began studying to become a kindergarten teacher. However, her training did not continue for long: through an advertisement through a newspaper, she met 38-year-old officer Rudolf McLeod and soon married him.

S. Buntman: But the marriage, as far as I know, did not last long.

A. Kuznetsov: Yes. Some time after the marriage and moving to the island of Java, Margareta became disillusioned with her chosen one: a Dutchman of Scottish origin, McLeod, suffered from alcoholism, took out all his anger and lack of fulfillment in military affairs on his wife and two children, and also kept mistresses. However, our heroine also had affairs with other Dutch officers.

Margaretha Gertrude Zelle. (wikipedia.org)

In 1899, the couple’s son died, according to one version, from illness, according to another, as a result of poisoning organized by servants who were offended by their parents.

S. Buntman: That is, a marriage that was already bursting at the seams is also overshadowed by such a terrible tragedy.

A. Kuznetsov: Yes. And Margareta decides to concentrate on studying Indonesian traditions, in particular local national dances. She even comes up with a pseudonym for herself - “Mata Hari”, which translated from Malay means “eye of the day”.

S. Buntman: Short, but at the same time sonorous, memorable name. In a word, a successful pseudonym.

A. Kuznetsov: Agree. In March 1902, Margaretha and her husband returned to the Netherlands, and in August of the same year the court officially registered their divorce. At the same time, Major McLeod, already retired at that time, refuses to pay alimony to our heroine, who was left with the child in her arms, and subsequently does everything to separate mother and daughter forever.

Well, then the absolutely enchanting career of Margareta Zelle, or rather Mata Hari, begins. At one of her performances, she is noticed by the most famous impresario of Paris, Gabriel Astruc, the same one who, a few years later, would bring the singer Fyodor Chaliapin and the Russian ballet Sergei Diaghilev to France on tour. Astruc arranges performances for our heroine in the best theaters, and she is applauded by the most sophisticated audiences in the world. Mata Hari was even compared to the rising star Isadora Duncan, and Yesenin’s muse, according to contemporaries, was clearly losing.

S. Buntman: Mata Hari probably had a lot of fans at that time?

A. Kuznetsov: Still would. She was credited with having affairs with a number of high-ranking officials in France and Germany - military men (she always loved officers), politicians, bankers.

Mata Hari was not picky about her relationships. So, before the war, she contacted a German officer and went with him to maneuvers. Someone believes that it was then that the Germans “set their eyes” on the pretty dancer and decided to use her for surveillance.

S. Buntman: But there is no exact evidence?

A. Kuznetsov: No.

During the First World War, the Netherlands remained neutral, and, as a Dutch citizen, Mata Hari was able to travel from France to her homeland and back. The countries were separated by a front line, and our heroine’s road ran through Spain and Great Britain. The frequent movements of the famous dancer interested French counterintelligence, since during the war years a German spy station was active in Spain...

Mata Hari, 1900s. (wikipedia.org)

S. Buntman: Perhaps getting ahead of ourselves a little, is it true that Mata Hari had an affair with a captured Russian officer?

A. Kuznetsov: Yes, but not with a prisoner. Vadim Maslov is quite an active officer who underwent rehabilitation on the waters in Vittel (he became blind after a gas attack). This was not a fleeting connection. Our heroine fell in love and began to dream of a family. But this required money.

So, in order to visit her beloved (remember that Mata Hari is a Dutch citizen), she goes for a pass to the head of the Second Bureau (intelligence and counterintelligence) Georges Ladoux. All their conversations are known only from his memoirs. From there, a version emerged that Mata Hari asked for a million francs in response to an offer to serve France.

Ladu, naturally, was shocked by the amount mentioned, but our heroine assured him that her services would be worth it. Either way, she knows a lot different people, including in Belgium, in Brussels, for example.

S. Buntman: And Captain Ladu thought this was a good idea?

A. Kuznetsov: Yes, but he didn’t give me any money (he just promised). In November 1916, Mata Hari left Paris. She traveled to Madrid and Vigo, where she wanted to board the Dutch steamship Holland. However, she failed to implement her plan. British intelligence officers, accusing her of actually being Clara Benedix, a German woman from Hamburg suspected of murder, removed her from the ship and placed her under arrest.

Then, of course, she will be released (not to Holland, but back to Spain), but before that she will have time to talk with one of the heads of English counterintelligence, Sir Basil Thompson. To the question: “What were you doing on the ship and why are you going to Holland?”, Mata Hari blurts out (why not, isn’t Great Britain an ally of France?) that she is in a hurry to the Netherlands with a special task that the French have entrusted to her.

Sir Basil Thomson was simply dumbfounded by the answer he received. And when Captain Ladoux, in turn, found out that Sir Basil knew everything, he also realized that he was in a rather stupid situation. He was apparently pretty angry. Therefore, it can be assumed that his deep anger towards Mata Hari arose precisely on that day. Having learned that in the eyes of Sir Basil Thomson he had turned out to be a complete fool, Captain Ladoux could not show any relaxation in incriminating our heroine. It was from that moment that he thirsted for revenge. And his revenge will be terrible.

S. Buntman: Yeah. But let's return to Mata Hari. So she returns to Spain.

A. Kuznetsov: Yes. Arriving in Madrid, she rents a room at the Palace Hotel. By the way, an interesting fact: here her neighbor in the profession was the real spy Martha Richet. A young Frenchwoman, having lost her husband at the very beginning of the war, she agreed to work for Captain Lada. On his instructions, she went to Spain, where she successfully infiltrated German circles, in a short time becoming the mistress of the German naval attache, the head of one of the spy networks.

Mata Hari on the day of her arrest. (wikipedia.org)

S. Buntman: So it literally flies like a moth to a flame?

A. Kuznetsov: Yes. For several weeks she wanders around Paris, trying to meet with Captain Ladoux, but he does not accept her.

A. Kuznetsov: ...she is arrested.

The secret dossier that the military council collected on Mata Hari was handed over to the members of the military court on July 24, 1917. It was a large folder 15 centimeters thick. Under the signature “The Zelle-Mata Hari Case” there were many documents, telegrams, words - but no evidence. The dossier was the product of one man: Captain Pierre Bouchardon, a military forensic investigator. Based on interrogations of Mata Hari and various witnesses that lasted more than four months, he built this case. A thin layer of real facts was constructed from rumors, gossip and endless monologues of our heroine. It is fair to say that Mata Hari brought herself to death with her chatter.

In itself, the trial against Mata Hari had little significance, except that it ended in a conviction and execution. On October 15, 1917, the famous dancer was shot.

Was she the spy of the century? No.

Antje van der Meulen) (21 April 1842 – 9 May 1891). Adam was the owner of a hat shop. In addition, he made successful investments in the oil industry and became rich enough to afford his children. Thus, until the age of thirteen, Margareta attended only upper-class schools. However, in 1889 Adam went bankrupt and soon divorced his wife. Margaretha's mother died in 1891. The family was destroyed. Her father sent Margaretha to her godfather in the city of Sneek. She then continued her studies in Leiden, becoming a kindergarten teacher, but when the school director began to openly flirt with her, her offended godfather took Margareta from this educational institution. After several months, she fled to her uncle in The Hague.

Indonesia

Before her execution, while Mata Hari was in custody, her lawyer tried to get her out and drop all charges. An appeal was filed - to no avail. Then the lawyer submitted a petition for clemency to the president, but R. Poincaré also remained implacable. The death sentence remained in effect. In the cell where she spent last days her life, the lawyer suggested that she tell the authorities that she was pregnant, thereby delaying her death hour, but Mata Hari refused to lie. That morning the guards came for her and asked her to get dressed - the woman was outraged that they would execute her in the morning without feeding her breakfast. While she was preparing for execution, the coffin for her body had already been delivered to the building. The shooting took place at a military training ground in Vincennes on October 15. After the execution, a certain officer approached the body of the executed woman and, just to be sure, shot her in the back of the head with a revolver.

Former courtesan and famous double agent, Mata Hari calmly, without a trace of emotion, stood at the execution stake. Turning to the nun, she kissed her and, taking her coat off her shoulders, handed it to her: “Hug me quickly, I will look at you. Goodbye!" She refused to have her wrists tied, preferring to stand at the post without being tied to it. She also refused the black blindfold. Blowing a kiss to twelve soldiers (her executioners), the undaunted Mata Hari shouted: “I’m ready, gentlemen.” By order, eleven soldiers shot at Mata Hari, eleven bullets hit her body. The twelfth soldier, still just a youth, just called up for duty, fainted in unison with the lifeless body of the double agent, the beautiful Mata Hari. Immediately after the execution, her body was taken away, and it was subsequently transferred to the anatomical theater.

Reaction to execution

Mata Hari's body was not claimed by any of her relatives, so it was transferred to the anatomical theater. Her head was embalmed and preserved in the Museum of Anatomy in Paris. However, in 2000, archivists discovered that the head had disappeared; According to experts, the loss could have occurred back in 1954, when the museum moved. Reports dating back to 1918 indicate that the museum also received the remaining remains of Mata Hari, but there are no reports of their exact location.

Performance evaluation

Most historians believe that the harm from the actions of Mata Hari (that is, her effectiveness as an intelligence officer) was greatly exaggerated - it is unlikely that the information actually obtained by her (if any) was of serious value to one side or another.

Lieutenant Colonel of the British and Dutch counterintelligence Orest Pinto believes that “ Mata Hari, of course, has gained great fame. In the eyes of the public, she became the personification of the charming female spy. But Mata Hari was a stupid, expansive creature. If she had not been executed, she would not have been known as a martyr and no one would have even heard of her» .

Historian E.B. Chernyak focused on Mata Hari’s connections with representatives of the French military and political elite, the danger of publicity of which could influence her death sentence.

In culture and art

The role of a high-society spy, played by her with complete fearlessness and leading to a tragic death, fit into the “cinematic” biography of an exotic dancer and “femme fatale” that she created; this provided Mata Hari with much greater fame than other, more effective intelligence agents of the 20th century.

• Already in 1920, the film “Mata Hari” was made about her with Asta Nielsen in leading role, and later several remakes were released
• Mark Aldanov published the essay “Mata Hari” in 1932
• Leila Wertenbaker. novel “The Life and Death of Mata Hari” (Moscow, Press Publishing House, 1992, circulation 100,000 copies, translation from English by V. V. Kuznetsov)
• Elena Gremina. play "Eyes of the Day"
• In 1982 German group Dschinghis Khan album Helden, schurken und der dudelmoser
• In 1982, Leina Lowicz, Chris Judge Smith and Les Chappell's musical Mata Hari premiered at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London.
• In 2009, director Evgeny Ginzburg staged the musical “Mata Hari” to the music of A. Kiselev (libretto by A. Kiselev, A. Vulykh), in which the main roles were played by T. Dolnikova, V. Lanskaya, N. Gromushkina, O. Akulich, E. Vitorgan and singer Alexander Fadeev
• In 2010, the musical “Love and Espionage” with music by M. Dunaevsky, based on the play “Eyes of the Day” by E. Gremina, starring Larisa Dolina and Dmitry Kharatyan, started in Moscow
• 09/16/2010 in Moscow, on the big stage of the Theater of the Moon (artistic director Sergei Borisovich Prokhanov), the premiere of the play “Mata Hari: “Eyes of the Day”” (dir. D. Popova) took place.
• The computer game “Secret Missions” has been released. Mata Hari and the Kaiser's submarines"
• Also, the image of Mata Hari is present in the series of books “We, the Gods” (2004), “Breath of the Gods” (2005), “The Secret of the Gods” (2007) by the French writer and philosopher Bernard Verber
• Mata Hari is one of the heroes of the books “Hunters” and “Hunters-2” of the literary project “Ethnogenesis” by the publishing houses “Popular Literature” and “AST”, which began in the spring of 2009
• The song "" was performed in Polish by the famous pop singer of the 60-80s of the XX century Anna German
• In episode 8 of season 2 of the series Warehouse 13, Mata Hari's stockings were an artifact that tends to seduce men who touch them
• Mentioned in D. H. Chase's novel "It's Only a Matter of Time"
• Was in the trilogy “We Are Gods” by Bernard Werber

Film incarnations

• Asta Nielsen - "Mata Hari" (Germany, 1920), "The Spy" (1921)
• Magda Sonia - “Mata Hari, die rote Tänzerin” (Germany, 1927)
• Greta Garbo - "Mata Hari" (1931)
• Delia Col - “Marthe Richard au service de la France” (France, 1937)
• Merlie Oberon - “General Electric Theater” (TV series, USA, 1957)
• Betty Marsden - "Carry on Regardless" (England, 1961)
• Greta Shea - "The Queen of Chantecler" / "La reina del Chantecler" (Spain, 1962)
• Françoise Fabian - “La caméra explore le temps” (TV series, France, 1964)
• Jeanne Moreau - “Mata Hari” / “Mata Hari, agent H21” (France, 1964)
• Louise Martini - “Der Fall Mata Hari” (Germany, 1966)
• Carmen de Lirio - “Operation Mata Hari” / “Operación Mata Hari” (Spain, 1968)
• Joan Gerber - “Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp” (TV series, USA, 1970)
• Zsa Zsa Gabor - "Up the Front" (England, 1972)
• Helen Kallianiotes - "Shanks" (USA, 1974)
• Josine van Dalsum - "Mata Hari" (TV series, Netherlands, 1981)
• Jeanne-Marie Lemaire - “Légitime violence” (France, 1982)
• Sylvia Kristel - "Mata Hari" (USA, 1985)
• Domitian Giordano - “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” / “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” (TV series, USA, 1993)
• Mabel Lozano - “Blasco Ibáñez” (Spain, 1997)
• Joana Kelly - “Mentors” / “Mentors” (TV series, Canada, 2002)
• Marushka Detmers - “Mata Hari, la vraie histoire” (France, 2003)
• Suvarhala Narayanan - “The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb” (USA, 2006)
• Phoebe Halliwell (Alice Milano) - “Charmed” season 6 episode 13 “Used Karma” (TV series, USA, 1998-2006)
• Vaina Jokante - “Mata Hari” (TV series, Russia, 2016)

see also

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Literature

• Waagenaar S. (German)Russian/ Per. with him. V. Kryukov. "Military literature", // Waagenaar, Sam. Sie nannte sich Mata Hari. West-Berlin: Ullstein Verlag, .
  • First edition: Sam Waagenaar, Mata Hari; ; Mata Hari. Vollständig überarbeite und erweiterte Fassung, Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach, . - ISBN 3-404-61071-7.
• The World History espionage / Author-stat. M. I. Umnov. - M.: AST, . - ISBN 5-237-05178-2
• Leila Wertenbaker "The Life and Death of Mata Hari." Novel./Trans. from English V. Kuznetsova. - M.: Press, 1993. - ISBN 5-253-00696-6

Links

• website peoples.ru
• on IMDB
• on IMDB
• on IMDB

Notes

Excerpt characterizing Mata Hari

One cannonball exploded into the ground two steps away from Pierre. He, cleaning the soil sprinkled with the cannonball from his dress, looked around him with a smile.
- And why aren’t you afraid, master, really! - the red-faced, broad soldier turned to Pierre, baring his strong white teeth.
-Are you afraid? asked Pierre.
- How then? - answered the soldier. - After all, she will not have mercy. She will smack and her guts will be out. “You can’t help but be afraid,” he said, laughing.
Several soldiers with cheerful and affectionate faces stopped next to Pierre. It was as if they did not expect him to speak like everyone else, and this discovery delighted them.
- Our business is soldierly. But master, it’s so amazing. That's it master!
- In places! - the young officer shouted at the soldiers gathered around Pierre. This young officer, apparently, was fulfilling his position for the first or second time and therefore treated both the soldiers and the commander with particular clarity and formality.
The rolling fire of cannons and rifles intensified throughout the entire field, especially to the left, where Bagration’s flashes were, but because of the smoke of the shots, it was impossible to see almost anything from the place where Pierre was. Moreover, observing the seemingly family (separated from all others) circle of people who were on the battery absorbed all of Pierre’s attention. His first unconscious joyful excitement, produced by the sight and sounds of the battlefield, was now replaced, especially after the sight of this lonely soldier lying in the meadow, by another feeling. Now sitting on the slope of the ditch, he observed the faces surrounding him.
By ten o'clock twenty people had already been carried away from the battery; two guns were broken, shells hit the battery more and more often, and long-range bullets flew in, buzzing and whistling. But the people who were at the battery did not seem to notice this; Cheerful talk and jokes were heard from all sides.
- Chinenka! - the soldier shouted at the approaching grenade flying with a whistle. - Not here! To the infantry! – another added with laughter, noticing that the grenade flew over and hit the covering ranks.
- What, friend? - another soldier laughed at the man who crouched under the flying cannonball.
Several soldiers gathered at the rampart, looking at what was happening ahead.
“And they took off the chain, you see, they went back,” they said, pointing across the shaft.
“Mind your job,” the old non-commissioned officer shouted at them. “We’ve gone back, so it’s time to go back.” - And the non-commissioned officer, taking one of the soldiers by the shoulder, pushed him with his knee. There was laughter.
- Roll towards the fifth gun! - they shouted from one side.
“At once, more amicably, in the burlatsky style,” the cheerful cries of those changing the gun were heard.
“Oh, I almost knocked off our master’s hat,” the red-faced joker laughed at Pierre, showing his teeth. “Eh, clumsy,” he added reproachfully to the cannonball that hit the wheel and the man’s leg.
- Come on, you foxes! - another laughed at the bending militiamen entering the battery behind the wounded man.
- Isn’t the porridge tasty? Oh, the crows, they slaughtered! - they shouted at the militia, who hesitated in front of the soldier with a severed leg.
“Something else, kid,” they mimicked the men. – They don’t like passion.
Pierre noticed how after each cannonball that hit, after each loss, the general revival flared up more and more.
As if from an approaching thundercloud, more and more often, lighter and brighter, lightning of a hidden, flaring fire flashed on the faces of all these people (as if in rebuff to what was happening).
Pierre did not look forward to the battlefield and was not interested in knowing what was happening there: he was completely absorbed in the contemplation of this increasingly flaring fire, which in the same way (he felt) was flaring up in his soul.
At ten o'clock the infantry soldiers who were in front of the battery in the bushes and along the Kamenka River retreated. From the battery it was visible how they ran back past it, carrying the wounded on their guns. Some general with his retinue entered the mound and, after talking with the colonel, looked angrily at Pierre, went down again, ordering the infantry cover stationed behind the battery to lie down so as to be less exposed to shots. Following this, a drum and command shouts were heard in the ranks of the infantry, to the right of the battery, and from the battery it was visible how the ranks of the infantry moved forward.
Pierre looked through the shaft. One face in particular caught his eye. It was an officer who, with a pale young face, walked backwards, carrying a lowered sword, and looked around uneasily.
The rows of infantry soldiers disappeared into the smoke, and their prolonged screams and frequent gunfire could be heard. A few minutes later, crowds of wounded and stretchers passed from there. Shells began to hit the battery even more often. Several people lay uncleaned. The soldiers moved more busily and more animatedly around the guns. Nobody paid attention to Pierre anymore. Once or twice they shouted at him angrily for being on the road. The senior officer, with a frowning face, moved with large, fast steps from one gun to another. The young officer, flushed even more, commanded the soldiers even more diligently. The soldiers fired, turned, loaded, and did their job with tense panache. They bounced as they walked, as if on springs.
A thundercloud had moved in, and the fire that Pierre had been watching burned brightly in all their faces. He stood next to the senior officer. The young officer ran up to the elder officer, with his hand on his shako.
- I have the honor to report, Mr. Colonel, there are only eight charges, would you order to continue firing? - he asked.
- Buckshot! - Without answering, the senior officer shouted, looking through the rampart.
Suddenly something happened; The officer gasped and, curling up, sat down on the ground, like a shot bird in flight. Everything became strange, unclear and cloudy in Pierre’s eyes.
One after another, the cannonballs whistled and hit the parapet, the soldiers, and the cannons. Pierre, who had not heard these sounds before, now only heard these sounds alone. To the side of the battery, on the right, the soldiers were running, shouting “Hurray,” not forward, but backward, as it seemed to Pierre.
The cannonball hit the very edge of the shaft in front of which Pierre stood, sprinkled earth, and a black ball flashed in his eyes, and at the same instant it smacked into something. The militia who had entered the battery ran back.
- All with buckshot! - the officer shouted.
The non-commissioned officer ran up to the senior officer and in a frightened whisper (as a butler reports to his owner at dinner that there is no more wine required) said that there were no more charges.
- Robbers, what are they doing! - the officer shouted, turning to Pierre. The senior officer's face was red and sweaty, his frowning eyes sparkling. – Run to the reserves, bring the boxes! - he shouted, angrily looking around Pierre and turning to his soldier.
“I’ll go,” said Pierre. The officer, without answering him, big steps went the other way.
– Don’t shoot... Wait! - he shouted.
The soldier, who was ordered to go for the charges, collided with Pierre.
“Eh, master, there’s no place for you here,” he said and ran downstairs. Pierre ran after the soldier, going around the place where the young officer was sitting.
One, another, a third cannonball flew over him, hitting in front, from the sides, from behind. Pierre ran downstairs. "Where am I going?" - he suddenly remembered, already running up to the green boxes. He stopped, undecided whether to go back or forward. Suddenly a terrible shock threw him back to the ground. At the same moment shine big fire illuminated it, and at the same instant a deafening thunder, crackling and whistling sound rang in the ears.
Pierre, having woken up, was sitting on his backside, leaning his hands on the ground; the box he was near was not there; only green burnt boards and rags were lying on the scorched grass, and the horse, shaking its shaft with fragments, galloped away from him, and the other, like Pierre himself, lay on the ground and squealed shrilly, protractedly.

Pierre, unconscious from fear, jumped up and ran back to the battery, as the only refuge from all the horrors that surrounded him.
While Pierre was entering the trench, he noticed that no shots were heard at the battery, but some people were doing something there. Pierre did not have time to understand what kind of people they were. He saw the senior colonel lying with his back to him on the rampart, as if examining something below, and he saw one soldier he noticed, who, breaking forward from the people holding his hand, shouted: “Brothers!” – and saw something else strange.
But he had not yet had time to realize that the colonel had been killed, that the one shouting “brothers!” There was a prisoner who, in front of his eyes, was bayoneted in the back by another soldier. As soon as he ran into the trench, a thin, yellow, sweaty-faced man in a blue uniform, with a sword in his hand, ran at him, shouting something. Pierre, instinctively defending himself from the push, since they, without seeing, ran away from each other, put out his hands and grabbed this man (it was a French officer) with one hand by the shoulder, with the other by the proud. The officer, releasing his sword, grabbed Pierre by the collar.
For several seconds, they both looked with frightened eyes at faces alien to each other, and both were at a loss about what they had done and what they should do. “Am I taken prisoner or is he taken prisoner by me? - thought each of them. But, obviously, the French officer was more inclined to think that he had been taken prisoner, because Pierre’s strong hand, driven by involuntary fear, squeezed his throat tighter and tighter. The Frenchman wanted to say something, when suddenly a cannonball whistled low and terribly above their heads, and it seemed to Pierre that the French officer’s head had been torn off: he bent it so quickly.
Pierre also bowed his head and let go of his hands. Without thinking any more about who took whom prisoner, the Frenchman ran back to the battery, and Pierre went downhill, stumbling over the dead and wounded, who seemed to him to be catching his legs. But before he had time to go down, dense crowds of fleeing Russian soldiers appeared towards him, who, falling, stumbling and screaming, ran joyfully and violently towards the battery. (This was the attack that Ermolov attributed to himself, saying that only his courage and happiness could have accomplished this feat, and the attack in which he allegedly threw St. George's Crosses, which were in his pocket.)
The French who occupied the battery ran. Our troops, shouting “Hurray,” drove the French so far behind the battery that it was difficult to stop them.
Prisoners were taken from the battery, including a wounded French general, who was surrounded by officers. Crowds of wounded, familiar and unfamiliar to Pierre, Russians and French, with faces disfigured by suffering, walked, crawled and rushed from the battery on stretchers. Pierre entered the mound, where he spent more than an hour, and from the family circle that accepted him, he did not find anyone. There were many dead here, unknown to him. But he recognized some. The young officer sat, still curled up, at the edge of the shaft, in a pool of blood. The red-faced soldier was still twitching, but they did not remove him.
Pierre ran downstairs.
“No, now they will leave it, now they will be horrified by what they did!” - thought Pierre, aimlessly following the crowds of stretchers moving from the battlefield.
But the sun, obscured by smoke, still stood high, and in front, and especially to the left of Semyonovsky, something was boiling in the smoke, and the roar of shots, shooting and cannonade not only did not weaken, but intensified to the point of despair, like a man who, straining himself, screams with all his might.

The main action of the Battle of Borodino took place in the space of a thousand fathoms between Borodin and Bagration’s flushes. (Outside this space, on the one hand, the Russians made a demonstration by Uvarov's cavalry in mid-day; on the other hand, behind Utitsa, there was a clash between Poniatowski and Tuchkov; but these were two separate and weak actions in comparison with what happened in the middle of the battlefield. ) On the field between Borodin and the flushes, near the forest, in an area open and visible from both sides, the main action of the battle took place, in the most simple, ingenuous way.
The battle began with a cannonade from both sides from several hundred guns.
Then, when the smoke covered the entire field, in this smoke two divisions moved (from the French side) on the right, Dessay and Compana, on fléches, and on the left the regiments of the Viceroy to Borodino.
From the Shevardinsky redoubt, on which Napoleon stood, the flashes were at a distance of a mile, and Borodino was more than two miles away in a straight line, and therefore Napoleon could not see what was happening there, especially since the smoke, merging with the fog, hid all terrain. The soldiers of Dessay's division, aimed at the flushes, were visible only until they descended under the ravine that separated them from the flushes. As soon as they descended into the ravine, the smoke of cannon and rifle shots on the flashes became so thick that it covered the entire rise of that side of the ravine. Something black flashed through the smoke - probably people, and sometimes the shine of bayonets. But whether they were moving or standing, whether they were French or Russian, could not be seen from the Shevardinsky redoubt.
The sun rose brightly and slanted its rays straight into the face of Napoleon, who was looking from under his hand at the flushes. Smoke lay in front of the flushes, and sometimes it seemed that the smoke was moving, sometimes it seemed that the troops were moving. People's screams could sometimes be heard behind the shots, but it was impossible to know what they were doing there.
Napoleon, standing on the mound, looked into the chimney, and through the small circle of the chimney he saw smoke and people, sometimes his own, sometimes Russians; but where what he saw was, he did not know when he looked again with his simple eye.
He stepped off the mound and began to walk back and forth in front of him.
From time to time he stopped, listened to the shots and peered into the battlefield.
Not only from the place below where he stood, not only from the mound on which some of his generals now stood, but also from the very flashes on which were now together and alternately the Russians, the French, the dead, the wounded and the living, frightened or distraught soldiers, it was impossible to understand what was happening in this place. For several hours at this place, amid incessant shooting, rifle and cannon fire, first Russians, sometimes French, sometimes infantry, sometimes cavalry soldiers appeared; appeared, fell, shot, collided, not knowing what to do with each other, screamed and ran back.
From the battlefield, his sent adjutants and orderlies of his marshals constantly jumped to Napoleon with reports on the progress of the case; but all these reports were false: both because in the heat of battle it is impossible to say what is happening at a given moment, and because many adjutants did not reach the real place of the battle, but conveyed what they heard from others; and also because while the adjutant was driving through the two or three miles that separated him from Napoleon, circumstances changed and the news he was carrying was already becoming incorrect. So an adjutant galloped up from the Viceroy with the news that Borodino had been occupied and the bridge to Kolocha was in the hands of the French. The adjutant asked Napoleon if he would order the troops to move? Napoleon ordered to line up on the other side and wait; but not only while Napoleon was giving this order, but even when the adjutant had just left Borodino, the bridge had already been recaptured and burned by the Russians, in the very battle in which Pierre took part at the very beginning of the battle.
An adjutant who rode up from a flush with a pale, frightened face reported to Napoleon that the attack had been repulsed and that Compan was wounded and Davout was killed, and meanwhile the flushes were occupied by another part of the troops, while the adjutant was told that the French had been repulsed and Davout was alive and only slightly shell-shocked. Taking into account such necessarily false reports, Napoleon made his orders, which either had already been carried out before he made them, or could not and were not carried out.
Marshals and generals, who were at a closer distance from the battlefield, but just like Napoleon, did not participate in the battle itself and only occasionally drove into the fire of bullets, without asking Napoleon, made their orders and gave their orders about where and where to shoot, and where to gallop on horseback, and where to run to foot soldiers. But even their orders, just like Napoleon’s orders, were also carried out to the smallest extent and were rarely carried out. For the most part, what came out was the opposite of what they ordered. The soldiers, who were ordered to go forward, were hit by grapeshot and ran back; the soldiers, who were ordered to stand still, suddenly, seeing the Russians suddenly appearing opposite them, sometimes ran back, sometimes rushed forward, and the cavalry galloped without orders to catch up with the fleeing Russians. So, two regiments of cavalry galloped through the Semenovsky ravine and just drove up the mountain, turned around and galloped back at full speed. The infantry soldiers moved in the same way, sometimes running completely different from where they were told. All the orders about where and when to move the guns, when to send foot soldiers to shoot, when to send horse soldiers to trample Russian foot soldiers - all these orders were made by the closest unit commanders who were in the ranks, without even asking Ney, Davout and Murat, not only Napoleon. They were not afraid of punishment for failure to fulfill an order or for an unauthorized order, because in battle it concerns what is most dear to a person - his own life, and sometimes it seems that salvation lies in running back, sometimes in running forward, and these people acted in accordance with the mood of the moment who were in the heat of battle. In essence, all these movements back and forth did not facilitate or change the position of the troops. All their attacks and attacks on each other caused them almost no harm, but harm, death and injury were caused by cannonballs and bullets flying everywhere throughout the space through which these people rushed. As soon as these people left the space through which cannonballs and bullets were flying, their superiors standing behind them immediately formed them, subjected them to discipline and, under the influence of this discipline, brought them back into the area of ​​fire, in which they again (under the influence of the fear of death) lost discipline and rushed about according to the random mood of the crowd.