Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-11220539-20160214210504/@comment-61022-20160215193308

On the origins of Hydra... It was formed during World War II. When the organization officially started has a number of contradictory statements on that matter. The census though is that Strucker sought to form Hydra because he saw Hitler's Nazi part as an abject failure under his command. states that Strucker began seeking to form Hydra just as the war was winding down. shows Strucker meeting with the Hand circa 1941 which led to an early incarnation of Hydra being formed that same year as seen in -. While - showed an incarnation of Hydra active in 1944 trying to beat the Americans in building an atomic Bomb. Incidentally Strucker had gotten a hold of history books from the future (Following Dr. Doom who travelled back in time to the war in -). - also shows a version of Hydra active in the summer of '44 trying to gain access to the realm of Nowhere.

One could presume that Strucker began trying to form Hydra in 1941 and kept its existence secret. The conflicting accounts were probably a means of deceiving his fellow Nazis in terms to when he formed the organization. Obviously, if he was in the modern era and stole history books, he was probably very much aware that Hydra was still an existing terrorist organization, likely convincing him to continue on his attempts to maintain the organization (although he later lost those books after being defeated by the Invaders).

There is also another story in which places Hydra as existing in the modern age when Strucker went up against Xavier and Magneto. That story is subject to the Sliding Timescale mostly because of Xavier. So that story takes place 20 years before the Modern Age. (As an aside, it's because placing it in the 1950s like it was originally written would prematurely age Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. Particularly how it would be now physically impossible for Gabby to have been in a Nazi concentration camp and still be young enough to later have a child with Xavier. excises any reference to Gabby being alive in World War II. Magneto on the other hand has his history firmly rooted in World War II, reinforced as early as X-Men: Magneto Testament Vol 1. Since  makes a connection between Magneto and Mister Sinister, one could assume that Sinister experimented on Magneto, slowing his aging process.. But I digress)

Since Hydra already pre-existed, Strucker likely redirected its purpose to suit his ends when he joined da Vinci's Wheel.

By the modern age, Hydra existed, but Strucker was shrewd enough to form shell or splinter organizations. THEM being the big one which also spearheaded the creation of Advanced Idea Mechanics and the Secret Empire (per -)

I would suspect that Hydra -- much like SHIELD -- only became public knowledge as an organization by the modern age. Any references that they were formed in the modern era was likely acts of subterfuge or plausible deniability for past activities so their foes could have no idea how deep their organizations ran, or how long they have been in operation.