“It’s the Economy, Dummy” ~ Conflict within Cabinet ~ The Intercepts

A 1909 War Office note commented on the ‘wholesale dishonesty’ of Russian officers, whose ‘greed for money’ made it simple for Britain to buy secrets. Russia had long absorbed into its society Orientals from newly conquered territories, so the ‘wiles and cunning treachery of the Russian diplomatists and their secret service agents’ were unrivalled. In the context of the 1917 Revolution, three points emerged from this document.

First, even if one discounts the chaos of the revolution and the ensuing civil war, the initial fanaticism and “incorruptibility” of the new regime threatened British intelligence gathering because the Reds either drove away or killed most Imperial staff. A sizeable minority chose to work for the Bolsheviks but revolutionary suspicions proved almost insurmountable. Only when the new regime recognised it could not survive without these experts were they allowed (or forced) back into service. Second, the note implied British espionage was somehow inferior since Britain, despite its empire, was more homogenous than Russia. The Bolsheviks were threatening because they could deploy “Orientals” across the British Empire. Third, the note linked diplomacy and espionage, suggesting where the Russian diplomat went so too did his spy. Many British politicians and officials served in the colonies so to their imperial mindset, hardened further by Communism, establishing ties with Moscow seemed dangerous indeed.

This chapter revisits a controversy that split British politics and society soon after the war. Should Britain have ties with Bolshevik Russia, granting it the international recognition so needed for political legitimacy and even survival?