An expose of Kisch's lies about his coverage of the Redl Scandal and a data-driven analysis of the politics behind the scandal, with new insights into Archduke Franz Ferdinand's and the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry's role during the subsequent cover-up.




Prior to this work, Egon Erwin Kisch's claims about his coverage of the Redl Scandal- coverage which earned him the moniker "raging reporter"- had never been checked against publicly-available newspaper archives. Analysis proves Kisch's claims to be false, and sheds new light on the role of the Foreign Ministry, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Field Marshal Conrad von Hoetzendorf's clique at the War Ministry, and the clique around Emperor Franz Joseph in covering-up the scandal. These four political factions manipulated the press in different ways to 'spin' the scandal. This book uses a data-driven analysis to both document and evaluate these factions' respective press agendas. Results show that the Foreign Office and the emperor were more motivated to bury the scandal than Franz Ferdinand or the War Ministry. Allegations of Redl's homosexuality from the War Ministry were likely driven by Franz Ferdinand's use of newspaper Die Zeit to attack the War Ministry in the days following Redl's forced suicide.