Executed 100 years ago by French firing squad. Some pics:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/gallery/rare-pictures-exotic-dancer-spy-11356154
The woman was desperate for money having no other income and for the company of her much younger soldier boyfriend. She was incredibly foolish and a failure as a spy which she didn't put much effort in either. She was being used by both sides and basically murdered over nothing.
shareI wouldn't say she was "incredibly foolish". In 1917 France was losing the war.
Although both of her parents were Dutch Mata Hari had dark brown hair and beautiful dark brown almond shaped eyes that gave her an exotic appearance. She posed at some point as a Javanese princess. A false claim that was used to discredit her at her trial where she was revealed as being of complete Dutch ancestry.
She was paid to try to seduce the Crown Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II. France was unaware that his involvement with the German government was minimal and she was unable to provide any useful intelligence.
She was was an exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was a scapegoat.
Going from memory- she refused a blindfold for her execution and wore a special dress for the occasion. She faced the firing squad smiling. "This lady knows how to die." said one impressed French officer who was there.
She actually was very foolish, in her spy work at least. She only agreed to become a spy for France to visit her wounded boyfriend near the front. Earlier she had agreed to spy for the Germans so she could pay off her debts, but her training was a complete failure. The woman was also anything but subtle. Pretty much every country suspected her of being a spy. The French primarily recruited her in order to find evidence against her and when the Germans found out she worked for the French they purposely sent out telegrams to expose her to the enemy. She earned sums of money in return for worthless information and probably thought she was using all these different agencies for her own gain. In reality everybody was using her and she had no clue. Yes, she was a scapegoat, but it's also because she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
shareYour post is historically inaccurate Stratego. It is also a very nasty post.
I just looked at your posting history. I invite anyone on this thread to do the same. You are an insult troll. Yawn. Insult trolls are a dime a dozen. You are not unique nor are you "the sharpest tool in the shed".
Here is a good and concise biography-
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mata-Hari-Dutch-dancer-and-spy
Lol, thanks for exposing yourself as MC's very own boring and repetitive resident troll.👍
My post was not nasty whatsoever nor inaccurate. Your post, however, was an incoherent mess of pointless bits of information that had absolutely nothing to do with my post that you responded to. Have a nice day trolling others, D-feet.🍆
The good ole days when they would execute females.
shareMata Hari commit hara-kiri
shareGreat book. Very well written.