![Sample our Area Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5922/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Area-Studies.jpg"})
Abstract
Trotsky’s short stay in the USA in early 1917, and his subsequent detention in Canada, has spawned many stories and left lingering questions. This article is basically a sequel to the author’s ‘Interrupted Journey: British Intelligence and the Arrest of Leon Trotskii, April 1917’, which appeared in this journal in 2000.Footnote 1 What follows substantially expands the scope of the earlier article and presents much new information drawn from recent releases by MI5, as well as new American, French and Russian sources. It shows that Trotsky was surrounded by a web of intrigue and agents of various stripes throughout, and even before, his American stay. He became a pawn, knowingly or not, in assorted plots. Above all, the article strengthens the conclusion that Trotsky was the target of a scheme by elements of the British intelligence services to secure his cooperation in revolutionary Russia.
Notes
1. Spence, ‘Interrupted Journey’.
2. Ostrovskii, ‘O rodstevennikakh L.D. Trotskogo’, 105–106, quoting Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial’no‐politicheskoi istorii (RGASPI), f. 4, op. 3, d. 39, l. 14. I offer special thanks to Elena Nikolaevna Chavchavadze, Director of Presidential Programs for the Russian Cultural Foundation (RFK), for bringing this and other materials to my attention.
3. United Kingdom, National Archives (NA), Records of the Security Service, KV2/502: ‘Bronstein, Trotsky, Leon’ (19 July 1915).
4. NA, KV2/502: ‘Trotzky (Leo Broushein [sic] & Ianoffsky)’, n.d., 1.
5. Ibid., ‘Trotsky to Uritsky’ (24 November 1916), 1–2. Interestingly, in the summer of 1917, Malvy would find himself accused of treason and later stood trial on the charge. Although acquitted of that charge, the court did find him guilty of criminal negligence and exiled him from France. He went to Spain.
6. Trotsky, My Life, 200.
7. NA, KV2/502: ‘Trotsky to Uritsky’ (24 November 1916), 6.
8. Ibid., 5.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Zeman and Scharlau, The Merchant of Revolution, 161–62.
12. Ibid., 64–67.
13. Ibid., 155.
14. On this point see also Schurer, ‘Alexander Helphand‐Parvus’.
15. This money came via another future Soviet luminary, Cristian Rakovski, as the French and British intelligence services were aware. See NA, KV2/502: ‘Trotzky’, 1. See also: Zeman and Scharlau, The Merchant of Revolution, 155; and Senn, ‘The Myth of German Gold’, 89.
16. Trotsky, My Life, 207.
17. Ibid.
18. All ship and immigration data comes from the online databases available at Ellis Island Records (hereafter EIR), www.ellisislandrecords.org.
19. On Bark see Soriano‐Molla, Ernesto Bark.
20. France, Archives de Guerre, Deuxieme Bureau (dossiers repatriées), File Z 26610: Report G15 from Barcelona (26 December 1917).
21. On Kesküla see Futtrell, Northern Underground, 40–42 and 119–51.
22. Ibid., 224 and passim. On Aschberg’s connections, see also US Department of Justice, Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation, 1908–1921 (hereafter BI), 244189: ‘In re: Olaf Aschberg’ (18 November 1919); and University of California, Los Angeles, Young Library, Special Collections. Roger Mennevee Collections, Box, 915, File 50: ‘Aschberg, Olaf’.
23. Zeman and Scharlau, The Merchant of Revolution, 148; and Moorehead, The Russian Revolution, 111–12.
24. US National Archives, RG 165, Military Intelligence Division (hereafter MID), 2059‐109 (4 May 1918).
25. Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, Records of the Paris Okhrana (hereafter Okhrana), XVIIc, folder 2, No. 99 from Paris (27 January/9 February 1917). On Patrick see ibid., ‘Deep Cover Agents – Russian (L–Z)’.
26. ML, 207.
27. EIR.
28. ML, 208.
29. See Richardson, Cravan, 31. This is a graphic novel which mixes fact (such as it is), legend and speculation about Cravan. A more detailed biography, which concentrates on his artistic endeavors, is Borras, Arthur Cravan.
30. Richardson, 37.
31. EIR. Names in passenger lists are subject to wide variations in spelling and frequent errors in transcription. Trotsky’s is mistakenly transcribed as ‘Zratsky, Leon’, while his sons’ surnames are transcribed ‘Zrotsky’.
32. University of Indiana, Lilly Library, Special Collections, Browne MSS: Ludwig Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 3.
33. Lore, ‘Leon Trotsky’, 8.
34. Okhrana, XVIIc, Folder 2, No. 99 (27 January/9 February 1917).
35. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 1–2.
36. Ibid.
37. New York Times (15 January 1917), 2.
38. BI, 8000–116148: ‘In re: Leon Bronstein Trotzky (Trotsky)’ [hereafter, Becker Report]; and American Jewish Yearbook, 1914–15, 285.
39. American Jewish Yearbook, 1914–15, 285.
40. A synopsis of such claims and theories can be found at ‘Trotsky and the Billionaire Boy’s Club’, Neuschwabenland Times, Digest No. 1,343 (29 January 2007), www.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheNewschwabenlandTimes. A rather different perspective on such things can be found in Roberts, ‘Jewish Bankers’, 9–37.
41. For example, in MID, 10110‐929: [Boris Brasol], ‘Bolshevism and Judaism’ (13 November 1918).
42. US Department of State (DS), Decimal File, 861/51‐143: ‘Schiff to Frank Polk [head of State Department intelligence]’ (25 November 1917).
43. New York Times (24 March 1917), 1–2 (’Statement of Friends of Russian Freedom representative George Kennan at Madison Square Garden’).
44. Yale University, Sterling Library, Special Collections, MS 666: Sir William Wiseman Papers (hereafter WWP), Box 10, File 257: ‘Summary of Reports Received from Agent in Petrograd under Date of September 11, 1917’, 3. The author of this and like reports was Wiseman’s special agent, William Somerset Maugham. See also: MID, 10080–342/II: ‘Capt. Bruff’ (5 June 1918).
45. MID, 10072–68: ‘British War Office Report’ (29 September 1917). This identifies Fritz Warburg as the ‘chief German agent for negotiations with Russia’. The latter report links Warburg to Carl (Charles) Perren, a Swiss also connected to Parvus.
46. MID, 10087–22: IO, Philadelphia (20 February 1918).
47. Yale University, Sterling Library, Special Collections, Ralph Hayward Isham Collections (hereafter RIC), Box 2, Files 16–17, British Intelligence Papers: ‘Information Gathered in America and Sources of Such Information’.
48. Ibid.
49. WWP, 10/255: ‘Interview with Prof. Gottheil’ (29 May 1917).
50. Thwaites, Velvet and Vinegar, 255.
51. Eli Barnavi, ‘WWI and the Jews’, at www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Modern/Overview_The_Story_19141918/WWI.htm.
52. RIC, Ibid.
53. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 6.
54. Trotsky, My Life, 209.
55. Lore, ‘Leon Trotsky’, 8.
56. BI, Becker Report. Summaries of Becker’s report appear in the New York Times (18 January 1918) and the New York Call (21 January 1918).
57. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 6.
58. Trotsky, My Life, 234.
59. BI, Becker Report.
60. New York Call (21 January 1918).
61. Trotsky, My Life, 215.
62. BI, Becker Report.
63. Okhrana, XVIIc, Folder 1, No. 137, (6/22 February 1917).
64. Trotsky, My Life, 213.
65. NA, FO 371/3009: NID to FO, ‘Russians Detained at Halifax (12 April 1917).
66. Zeman and Scharlau, The Merchant of Revolution, 160.
67. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 3.
68. Trotsky, My Life, 212.
69. DS, 861.20211: ‘J.G. Phelps‐Stokes to Polk’ (2 November 1917), 2.
70. Ibid.: [Nikolai Volgar], ‘Memorandum’, 2.
71. Futrell, Northern Underground, 228.
72. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 5.
73. Ibid.
74. New York Times (5 March 1917), 11.
75. Gillette, ‘Armand Hammer’, 357.
76. Trotsky, My Life, 214.
77. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 4.
78. Ultan, ‘The Mystery of Trotsky’s Bronx Friend’, 76.
79. On Armand Hammer’s escapades, see Epstein, The Secret Life of Armand Hammer.
80. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Case Files, No. 61‐280‐7, Hammer, Armand: ‘Memorandum for Mr Hoover’, in ‘re: Armand Hammer’ (19 November 1921), 2.
81. Reilly’s convoluted and dubious career is dissected in Spence, Trust No One.
82. USNA, Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), 21010‐3241: ‘Weinstein and Reilly’ (17 December 1918).
83. BI, 8000‐39368: ‘Copy[of] Cards’ [Names in the Weinstein Reilly Case], 4–6, 9–10. These show the intimate relationship between Aschberg and Reilly and Weinstein’s business affiliate in New York, John MacGregor Grant.
84. Ostrovskii, ‘O rodstevennikakh L.D. Trotskogo’, 117–25.
85. The other brothers were David, Illarion and Timofei (or Tevel).
86. After the establishment of the Bolshevik regime Zhivotovskii maintained an office in Stockholm closely connected with the ‘Venya [sic, Nya] Bank’. See BI, 339512: In ‘re: Shivotovsky (Zhivotovsky), Bolshevik Activities’ (8 January 1919). This association certainly predated November 1917.
87. Ostrovskii, ‘O rodstevennikakh L.D. Trotskogo’, 121–22.
88. ONI, 21010‐3241: ‘The Names in the Weinstein Case’ (1 November 1918), 4–5.
89. DS, 861.00/4878, 21 July 1919; and Semenov, Russkie banki za granitsei, 61–63.
90. DS, 000‐909: ‘Who’s Who: A Ready Reference List of Persons in the Public Eye [prepared by Psychologic Section, MID]’ (28 December 1918).
91. MID, 10058‐NN‐16, n.d. [c. 1918].
92. Ostrovskii, ‘O rodstevennikakh L.D. Trotskogo’, 109, 121.
93. Ibid., 121.
94. MID, 9140‐6073: Memorandum No. 2 (23 August 1918), 2.
95. Ibid.
96. MID, 10110‐920/131 (20 January 1919).
97. BI, 8000‐39368: ‘Copy [of] Cards’, 1.
98. MID, 10110‐920: ‘Memorandum’ (14 August 1918), 3.
99. WWP, 10/255: ‘Interview with Prof. Gottheil’ (29 May 1917).
100. DS, Counselor’s Office, CSA 215: Sharp to Bannerman (13 December 1924), 11.
101. WWP 10/255: ‘Russia’, 3.
102. Thwaites, Velvet and Vinegar, 181.
103. WWP, 10/257 (22 April 1917).
104. ONI, 21010‐3241: ‘Memorandum for Lt. Irving’ (21 August 1918), 1–2.
105. Ibid., 1; and ‘Names in the Weinstein Case’, 3.
106. Avrich, Anarchist Voices, 367.
107. National Archives of Canada (NAC), C 2051: British Military Mission (New York), in ‘re: Ivan Okuntzov’ (30 July 1918).
108. NA, KV2/502: Director of Special Intelligence Report No. 654, Narodny to Lurich (26 August 1917).
109. Ibid., Extract, 19‐8‐18, Statement of V.S. Ivanko.
110. Ibid., No. 174400, n.d.
111. WWP, 3/84: Thwaites to Wiseman (18 December 1918), 1.
112. BI, 8000‐39583: in ‘re: George Raffalovitch’ (2 August 1917).
113. Zeman and Scharlau, The Merchant of Revolution 132–36.
114. MID 10012‐112/1 (22 September 1918), 4. Crowley’s espionage career will be explored in the forthcoming Spence, Secret Agent 666.
115. Okhrana, IIIf, Box 24, File 28; and ‘Deep Cover Agents – Russian (L–Z)’.
116. BI, 105638: In ‘re: Casimir Pilenas’ (18 December 1917).
117. NA, KV2/502: CX 015649 (19 January 1918).
118. NA, KV2/502: CX 625 (22 March 1917).
119. New York Times (16 March 1917), 4.
120. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 6.
121. Trotsky, ‘In British Captivity’, (1917), reprinted in The Class Struggle, Vol. 2, No. 4 (December 1918), available from www.marxists.org/archives/trotsky/works/1917/1917-captivity.htm.
122. EIR.
123. Lore, ‘When Trotsky Lived in New York’, 7.
124. Ibid.
125. Trotsky, ‘In British Captivity’.
126. ONI, 21010‐3241: ‘Names in the Weinstein Case’, 3; BI 8000‐39368: ‘Cards’, 4, 9–12; DS, CSA 215: Sharp to Bannerman, 9–10; and New York Times (5 June 1919), 13.
127. NAC, Vol. 2543, File H.Q.C., 2051/1.
128. NA, FO 371/3009, 86305 (3 April 1917).
129. On this, see Spence, ‘Englishmen in New York’; and Troy, ‘The Gaunt–Wiseman Affair’.
130. BI, 105638.
131. NA, KV2/502: CX 015649 (19 January 1918).
132. This section was MI5(e).
133. NA, KV2/502, 252573: Dansey to MI5 (G2) (19 January 1918).
134. Ibid.
135. BI, 105638: in ‘re: Casimir Pilenas’ (6 December 1917).
136. American Jewish Archives, Nathan Isaacs Papers: Isaacs to Pilenas/Palmer (15 May 1933).
137. WWP, 10/261: ‘Intelligence & Propaganda Work in Russia, July to December 1917’ (19 January 1918), 1.
138. WWP, 10/255: ‘Russia’ (18 May 1917), 1.
139. Ibid., 3; and 10/261, 1–2.
140. WWP, 10/256: ‘Copies of Cables’, Schiff to Kamenka (15 April 1917).