Mata Hari was Executed Via Firing Squad for Being a Double Agent
Photo by George Rinhart /Corbis via Getty Images
Mata Hari, born Margaretta Geertruida “Margaret” MacLeod, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who moved to Paris in her 20s where she became famous for her entertaining acts. Since she was a citizen of a neutral country, she was able to travel freely across borders. During World War I, French agents accused her of being a double agent for Germany. In 1917, she was arrested after French intelligence officers uncovered a coded message that suggested she was a German spy. She was accused of causing the deaths of an estimated 50,000 soldiers. French and British intelligence did not have concrete evidence against her, yet Hari was found guilty and executed by a French firing squad.