for Sport and Technology) for the next 12 years. He died in Berlin
on 23 October 1992.FREDERICK THE GREAT (1712–1786). The first German ruler to
demonstrate a full appreciation of espionage in warfare, Frederick the
Great (Frederick II) was born on 24 January 1712, ascending to the
Prussian throne in 1740. Despite the strong literary and philosophi-
cal pursuits of his youth, most of his energies as king of Prussia were
directed to the battlefield, first in the two Silesian wars (1740–1742
and 1744–1745) and then in the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763).
In his desire that Prussia’s military engagements be “short and
lively,” he found spies an invaluable asset. “Marshal de Soubise is al-
ways followed by a hundred cooks,” he once stated, but “I am always
preceded by a hundred spies.” In a set of instructions to his generals
written prior to the Seven Years’ War, Frederick devoted a section
to espionage, dividing spies into four categories—common spies,
double spies, high-ranking spies, and coerced spies—and not hesitat-
ing to recommend harsh methods of persuasion if necessary. Two
highly placed informers in Prussia’s service included the Austrian
ambassador’s secretary in Berlin, who submitted regular reports,
and a chancellery clerk in Dresden, Frederick Wilhelm Menzel, who
reported on the Saxon cabinet’s confidential correspondence with
Vienna and St. Petersburg. “These wretches are useful,” Frederick
observed; “they are like compasses that guide navigation while the
somber clouds of politics leave them in the dark.”
Although a strict and frugal monarch, he insisted that spies should
be compensated generously for the great risks they take. By the end
of his reign, Frederick had acquired Silesia and stood for the military
staus quo in Europe. He died in Potsdam on 17 August 1786.
FREDERIK, HANS. A West German journalist and publisher with
ties to the KGB and the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS),
Hans Frederik was born in Austria. As a member of the Sozialde-
mokratische Partei Österreichs, he was interned by the Gestapo in
- With the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country in 1956,
he agreed to work as a journalist for the KGB and moved to Munich.
The firm Humboldt-Verlag was founded, producing a defama-
tory book on Willy Brandt in 1961. Although the publishing house
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