Karla (fictional Character) - Fictional Biography

Fictional Biography

Much of Karla's history is unconfirmed rumour, as passed by Smiley to his protégé Peter Guillam Among the rumours are: that his father was a professional intelligence officer, first for the Czarist Okhrana and later for the Bolshevist Cheka, that as a boy Karla worked as a kitchen boy on a train in occupied Siberia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 (putting his birth somewhere in the late 19th century), and that he was trained in espionage by "Berg" (a possible reference to an alias used by Alexander Mikhailovich Orlov), which Smiley compares to "being taught music by a great composer.".

The first recorded Karla activities came during the Spanish Civil War, when he entered Franco's fascist Spain posing as a White Russian journalist (i.e., an anti-Communist Russian), and recruited a large number of German agents. The network was code-named "Karla", and the agent was later known only by that name. It was an outstanding achievement for such a young man and would become characteristic of Karla in the series.

He next appeared during the German invasion of Russia, running networks of partisans behind German lines. He discovered that his radio operator was a double agent for the Germans and so fed him false information that confused the Germans. According to one legend, at "Yelnya", Karla caused the Germans to shell their own forward line (presumably a reference to either the Yelnya Offensive during the first Battle of Smolensk, or the second Battle of Smolensk).

During his years as a field agent, Karla traveled in several countries, recruiting agents who would later become highly placed in their respective national regimes. He traveled to England in 1936 and 1941 and recruited Bill Haydon, code-named "Gerald", who eventually became the number-two man in the "Circus" (the British Secret Intelligence Service). At another time he recruited Nelson Ko, a high-ranking technocrat in the People's Republic of China (according to Connie Sachs, Karla was one of the few Soviets to predict the souring of Sino-Soviet relations).

In 1948, Karla was snagged in one of Stalin's random purges of the Soviet military and intelligence organizations and sent to prison in Siberia. His wife, a student from Leningrad, killed herself. However, Karla served his time and returned to intelligence work; the experience did nothing to dull his devotion to the Communist cause.

While setting up a network in California, Karla was unexpectedly caught when his radio codes were broken. He was arrested in Delhi on his way back to Moscow. Smiley interviewed him there, trying to persuade him to defect. At the time, Karla was known only by his current workname, "Gerstmann", and no one had any idea he was Karla. Smiley felt that his case was ironclad: his superiors at Moscow Centre were clearly looking to make him the scapegoat for the failure in California, and he was certainly facing execution. During his interview with Smiley, Karla never said a word, and when Smiley offered Karla his cigarette lighter, Karla took it away with him. Karla returned to Moscow and somehow contrived to have his superiors dismissed and executed, with himself appointed in their place.

After being promoted away from active fieldwork, Karla sought to create his own independent apparatus inside Moscow Centre, believing that his personal agents were too important to leave to others. After several years, he finally became senior enough to create this apparatus (named in Smiley's People as the Thirteenth Directorate). He founded a special camp outside Moscow and trained a selection of handpicked men (usually ex-military officers) to act as handlers of his various moles.