Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen

After serving as an Imperial German military attaché in Paris, Schwartzkoppen was later given the rank of General of the Infantry,[1] and held various senior commands in World War I.

In addition to performing formal representational and liaison duties, his subsidiary task was to obtain secret information on the French Army without the knowledge of the German ambassador resident in Paris.

In the 1890s, Schwartzkoppen had an affair with Hermance de Weede, the wife of the Counsellor at the Dutch Embassy in Paris, and a large number of their letters were intercepted by the authorities.

[5] Also intercepted was the correspondence between Schwartzkoppen and a popular figure in Parisian diplomatic circles - [6] the Italian military attaché, Lieutenant Colonel Count Alessandro Panizzardi.

Italy and Imperial Germany were then formally linked under the Triple Alliance of 1882[7] and letters between the two attachés record that they freely exchanged intelligence and cooperated on espionage matters.

[14] The letters, real and fake, provided a convenient excuse for placing the entire Dreyfus dossier under seal because the exposure of the liaison would have "dishonoured" the German and Italian militaries and compromised diplomatic relations.

In 1897, while the Dreyfus affair was still at its height, Schwartzkoppen was recalled from his diplomatic posting in Paris to take up command of the 2nd Kaiser Franz Grenadier Guards Regiment.

[16] Schwartzkoppen was described as being a cultivated officer with considerable social charm;[17] characteristics which suited him for the diplomatic and Imperial Court functions that made up much of his military career.