Interrupted journey: British intelligence and the arrest of Leon Trotskii, April 1917

Leon Trotskii's brief stay in New York in early 1917, and his subsequent arrest in Canada returning to Russia have been the source of many rumours and accusations. Among these are that his arrest was the handiwork of British intelligence and/or persons in the Russian government, and that Trotskii himself was carrying millions of dollars supplied to him by American financier Jacob Schiff. Using British and Canadian documents and many other sources, this article examines the origins and validity of these and other charges. Among its findings is that Trotskii's arrest was the work of one branch of British intelligence, but his return to Russia was facilitated by another. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the same agency sought to recruit or manipulate Trotskii as an agent of influence in revolutionary Russia.