International adventurer Alexander Estrup and the fight against German espionage in the Far East during the First World War

The topic of the history of the First World War in general, and the struggle of special intelligence services on the “shadow front” in particular, is quite well-known both in Russian and European historiography. At the same time, the picture of the confrontation between Russian and German intelligence services on the territory of neutral countries - in Sweden, Switzerland, and especially the United States and China (before these countries joined the Entente in early 1917) is still waiting for its researcher and writer. It should be noted that during the 2.5 years of the war, both diplomats and intelligence services of the Russian Empire actively opposed the activities of their German, Austrian and Turkish opponents in these major powers. And if, in general, the Russian statehood and its military apparatus began their movement towards collapse in February 1917, then in the activities of intelligence and diplomatic bodies we can record serious victories, expressed in the elimination of agents of influence on the territory of the Republic of China and the United States of America and the involvement of these powers in the circle of Russia's allies. As this article shows, this was not easy, since many representatives of the political elites of neutral countries spoke from pro-German positions. Their activities were paralyzed due to the “active agent measures” of the Russian law enforcement agencies. One of the forgotten members of Russian human intelligence will be discussed in this work. In 1915-1916, the Gendarmerie and Police Department (hereinafter referred to as the ZhPU) of the Chinese Eastern Railway, in cooperation with the Irkutsk Provincial Gendarmerie Department (under whose operational jurisdiction they were), managed to carry out a number of active counterintelligence measures aimed at eliminating organizations created by the military and diplomatic circles of the German Empire on the territory of China, an active role in them was carried out by an agent of the ZhPU of the Chinese Eastern Railway, a former French citizen Alexander Estrup.

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