On July 25, 1917, a French military court found Mata Hari guilty of spying for Germany during World War I. Three months later she was shot by a firing squad. However, there are doubts about her guilt. The German government publicly exculpated her in 1930, and a French dossier documenting her activities reportedly indicated her innocence. In 2017 France released various documents relating to Mata Hari, and they led many to believe that she had been a scapegoat of French officials looking for someone to blame for the country’s setbacks in the war. In addition, it was speculated that her disregard for societal norms also played a role in her arrest, conviction, and execution.
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