Page 28 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

THE SECRET WAR ON THE ITALIAN FRONT IN WWI (1915 – 1918)

The Austrian General most likely probably uses again the Cryptographic Memories by Figl, without
making explicit reference to it, but adds many original documents, especially in the annexes. He
also does not abstain from mentioning some of the failures of the Austrian cryptography and
Intelligence Services that Figl ignored completely. In describing the organisational evolution of
the interception/cryptanalysis services and the debate over their effectiveness raised by some
Austrian high commands, Ronge provides some hints for making a more balanced evaluation
of the pros and cons of the Communication Intelligence strategies adopted on both sides of the
Austro - Italian front.
Ronge’s memoirs have been consulted more often than Figl’s ones - known for a long time only to a
small number of scholars - and were used as a source by publications which support the supremacy
of the Austrians over the Italians in the field of cryptography throughout the entire conflict.
The Maximilian Ronge’s papers and the republications of Andreas Figl’s Memoirs, are generally
quoted in this volume by the terms ‘Austrian sources’.

sacco’s 1947 Manual
The ‘Historical Note’, which Sacco added to the 1947 edition of his ‘Manual of Cryptography’,
deals with WWI in very few pages that include references to paragraphs in the text describing
the methods adopted to solve a few Austrian ciphers such as a field cipher, and a diplomatic
code . Some interesting information about the same topic can be found in other parts of the same
39
Historical Note .
40
Sacco, who only knew Ronge’s book but not his recent memoirs, participated in the debate in a
cautious and measured way, but with incisiveness. In a brief and concise way, he traced the history
of the Cryptographic Unit, whose command was entrusted to him. His historical reconstruction
is fully confirmed by the documents found in the archives which allow to enrich it with several
details.
Sacco also made a brief list of some Austrian and German ciphers solved during WWI without
indulging in self-aggrandizement. On the contrary, he radically limited the length of the list that
could have been longer, as we will show later.
Eventually, he contested what he called a “deduction” made by Gylden, who thought that the Allies
had reorganised the Italian Army cryptographic service in early 1918. The “complete silence of
the Italians”, which still persists today, led Sacco to rectify Gylden’s assessments by explaining
that the remarkable cryptographic improvement reached after the 1917 retreat was due to the
adoption of “new cryptographic methods that were considered too complex and therefore avoided
until then” .
41

The cauTIous aMerIcan revIsIonIsM
A first sign of appreciation for Italian cryptography can be found in a book written by Herbert
Yardley, a well-known North American cryptologist, who had served as an army captain during

39 L. Sacco, Manuale, op. cit., p. 308 – 309. The paragraphs that illustrate the solutions were included in the previous edition
without revealing the code.
40 ibid., p. 285.
41 L. Sacco, Manuale, op. cit., p. 309.

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