The history of spying goes back a long way. From the days when tribes would examine the strengths and weaknesses of their adversaries in order to gain an advantage in battle.

Lookouts who would be placed at vantage points in order to watch what there enemies were doing were static, where as spies were always on the move, from one situation to another, collecting information and sometimes disseminating false information in turn.

Intelligence in the modern form started with the formation of MI5 in 1909 as Division 5 of the British Directorate on Military Intelligence it looked for internal security and activities on British soil and MI6 for foreign intelligence was formed three years later. 

Spying by all Governments would be used in the First World War.

Mata Hari, a famous woman spy was said to have used her charms to elicit information from her countries enemies, if this was true or useful remains speculation.  Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle  born on the 7^th August 1876.  

As a Dutch subject, Margaretha Zelle was able to cross national borders freely. To avoid the battlefields, she would travel between France and the Netherlands via Spain and England, and her movements inevitably attracted attention

She was courtesan to many high-ranking allied military officers during this time. On one occasion, when interviewed by British intelligence officers, she admitted to working as an agent for French military intelligence.

It is unclear if she lied on this occasion believing the story made her sound more intriguing, and if French authorities were using her they did not acknowledge her due to the embarrassment and international backlash it could cause.

In January 1917, the Germans in Madrid Spain transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy, code-named H-21. French intelligence agents intercepted the messages, from the information they contained were able to recognise H-21 as Mata Hari.

On 13 February, Mata Hari was arrested in her Paris hotel room. Mata Hari was put on trial, accused of spying for Germany although it has been confirmed since there was no concrete evidence. She was nevertheless found guilty and was executed by firing squad on 15 October 1917 , at the age of 41