Consequently,
by virtue of preferential treatment for Trotsky, when the S.S.
Kristianiafjord left New York on March 26, 1917, Trotsky
was aboard and holding a U.S. passport - and in company with other Trotskyire
revolutionaries, Wall Street financiers, American Communists, and other
interesting persons, few of whom had embarked for legitimate business.
This mixed bag of passengers has been described by Lincoln Steffens,
the American Communist:
The
passenger list was long and mysterious. Trotsky was in the steerage
with a group of revolutionaries; there was a Japanese revolutionist
in my cabin. There were a lot of Dutch hurrying home from Java, the
only innocent people aboard. The rest were war messengers, two from
Wall Street to Germany....
Notably,
Lincoln Steffens was on board en
route to Russia at the specific invitation of Charles
Richard Crane, a backer and a former chairman of the Democratic
Party's finance committee. Charles Crane, vice president of the Crane
Company, had organized the Westinghouse
Company in Russia, was a member of the Root mission to Russia,
and had made no fewer than twenty-three visits to Russia between 1890
and 1930. Richard Crane, his son,
was confidential assistant to then Secretary
of State Robert Lansing. According to the former ambassador
to Germany William Dodd, Crane "did
much to bring on the Kerensky revolution which gave way to Communism."
And so
Steffens' comments in his diary about conversations aboard the S.S.
Kristianiafjord are highly pertinent:
" .
. . all agree that the revolution is in its first phase only, that
it must grow. Crane and Russian radicals on the ship think we shall
be in Petrograd for the re-revolution."
Crane
returned to the United States when the Bolshevik Revolution (that is,
"the re-revolution") had been completed and, although a private citizen,
was given firsthand reports of the progress of the Bolshevik Revolution
as cables were received at the State Department. For example, one memorandum,
dated December 11, 1917, is entitled "Copy
of report on Maximalist uprising for Mr Crane." It originated
with Maddin Summers, U.S. consul general in Moscow.
The unlikely
and puzzling picture that emerges is that Charles
Crane, a friend and backer of Woodrow
Wilson and a prominent financier and politician, had a known
role in the "first" revolution and traveled to Russia in mid-1917 in
company with the American Communist Lincoln
Steffens, who was in touch with both Woodrow Wilson and Trotsky.
The latter in turn was carrying a passport issued at the orders of Wilson
and $10,000 from supposed German sources. On
his return to the U.S. after the "re-revolution," Crane was granted
access to official documents concerning consolidation of the Bolshevik
regime: This is a pattern of interlocking - if puzzling - events that
warrants further investigation and suggests,
though without at this point providing evidence, some link between the
financier Crane and the revolutionary Trotsky.
Documents
on Trotsky's brief stay in Canadian custody are now de-classified
and available from the Canadian government archives. According to these
archives, Trotsky was removed by Canadian and British naval personnel
from the S.S. Kristianiafjord at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on April 3, 1917,
listed as a German prisoner of war, and interned at the Amherst, Nova
Scotia, internment station for German prisoners. Mrs. Trotsky, the two
Trotsky boys, and five other men described as "Russian Socialists" were
also taken off and interned. Their names are recorded by the Canadian
files as: Nickita Muchin, Leiba Fisheleff, Konstantin Romanchanco, Gregor
Teheodnovski, Gerchon Melintchansky and Leon Bronstein Trotsky (all
spellings from original Canadian documents). [...]
The Trotsky
party was removed from the S.S. Kristianiafjord under official instructions
received by cablegram of March 29, 1917, London, presumably originating
in the Admiralty with the naval control officer, Halifax. The cablegram
reported that the Trotsky party was on the "Christianiafjord" (sic)
and should be "taken off and retained pending instructions." The reason
given to the naval control officer at Halifax was that "these are Russian
Socialists leaving for purposes of starting revolution against present
Russian government for which Trotsky is reported to have 10,000 dollars
subscribed by Socialists and Germans."
On April
1, 1917, the naval control officer, Captain O. M. Makins, sent a confidential
memorandum to the general officer commanding at Halifax, to the effect
that he had "examined all Russian passengers" aboard the S.S. Kristianiafjord
and found six men in the second-class section:
"They
are all avowed Socialists, and though professing a desire to help
the new Russian Govt., might well be in league with German Socialists
in America, and quite likely to be a great hindrance to the Govt.
in Russia just at present."
The next
document in the Canadian files is dated April 7, from the chief of the
General Staff, Ottawa, to the director of internment operations, and
acknowledges a previous letter (not in the files) about the internment
of Russian socialists at Amherst, Nova Scotia:
". .
. in this connection, have to inform you of the receipt of a long
telegram yesterday from the Russian Consul General, MONTREAL, protesting
against the arrest of these men as they were in possession of passports
issued by the Russian Consul General, NEW YORK, U.S.A."
The reply
to this Montreal telegram was to the effect that the men were interned
"on suspicion of being German," and would be released only upon definite
proof of their nationality and loyalty to the Allies.
No telegrams
from the Russian consul general in New York are in the Canadian files,
and it is known that this office was reluctant to issue Russian passports
to Russian political exiles. However, there is a telegram in the files
from a New York attorney, N. Aleinikoff,
to R. M. Coulter, then deputy postmaster
general of Canada. The postmaster general's office in Canada had no
connection with either internment of prisoners of war or military activities.
Accordingly, this telegram was in the nature of a personal, nonofficial
intervention. It reads:
DR.
R. M. COULTER, Postmaster Genl. OTTAWA
Russian political exiles returning to Russia detained Halifax interned
Amherst camp. Kindly investigate and advise cause of the detention
and names of all detained. Trust as champion of freedom you will intercede
on their behalf. Please wire collect.
NICHOLAS ALEINIKOFF
On April
11, Coulter wired Aleinikoff,
"Telegram
received. Writing you this afternoon. You should receive it tomorrow
evening. R. M. Coulter."
This telegram
was sent by the Canadian Pacific Railway Telegraph but charged to the
Canadian Post Office Department. Normally a private business telegram
would be charged to the recipient and this was not official business.
The follow-up
Coulter letter to Aleinikoff is interesting because, after confirming
that the Trotsky party was held at Amherst, it states that they were
suspected of propaganda against the present Russian government and "are
supposed to be agents of Germany." Coulter then adds," . . . they are
not what they represent themselves to be"; the Trotsky group is "...not
detained by Canada, but by the Imperial authorities." After assuring
Aleinikoff that the detainees would be made comfortable, Coulter adds
that any information "in their favour" would be transmitted to the military
authorities.
On April
11 Arthur Wolf of 134 East Broadway,
New York, sent a telegram to Coulter. Though sent from New York, this
telegram, after being acknowledged, was also charged to the Canadian
Post Office Department.
Pay close
attention to this: In the Trotsky affair, here we have two American
residents corresponding with a Canadian deputy postmaster general in
order to intervene in behalf of an interned Russian revolutionary, a
Canadian or Imperial military matter of international importance. Coulter's
subsequent action suggests something more than casual intervention.
After
Coulter acknowledged the Aleinikoff and Wolf telegrams, he wrote to
Major General Willoughby Gwatkin
of the Department of Militia and Defense in Ottawa - a man of significant
influence in the Canadian military - and attached copies of the Aleinikoff
and Wolf telegrams. He wrote:
These
men have been hostile to Russia because of the way the Jews have been
treated, and are now strongly in favor of the present Administration,
so far as I know. Both are responsible men. Both are reputable men,
and I am sending their telegrams to you for what they may be worth,
and so that you may represent them to the English authorities if you
deem it wise.
Coulter
intimates that he knows a great deal about Aleinikoff and Wolf. His
letter was in effect a character reference, and aimed at the obvious
source of the internment problem - London.
Gwatkin
was well known in London, and in fact was on loan to Canada from the
War Office in London.
Aleinikoff
then sent a letter to Coulter to thank him
"most
heartily for the interest you have taken in the fate of the Russian
Political Exiles .... You know me, esteemed Dr. Coulter, and you also
know my devotion to the cause of Russian freedom .... Happily I know
Mr. Trotsky, Mr. Melnichahnsky, and Mr. Chudnowsky . . . intimately."
It might
be noted as an aside that if Aleinikoff knew Trotsky "intimately," then
he would also probably be aware that Trotsky had declared his intention
to return to Russia to overthrow the Provisional Government and institute
the "re-revolution."
On receipt
of Aleinikoff's letter, Coulter immediately (April 16) forwarded it
to Major General Gwatkin, adding that he became acquainted with Aleinikoff
"in
connection with Departmental action on United States papers in the
Russian language" and that Aleinikoff was working "on the same lines
as Mr. Wolf . . . who was an escaped prisoner from Siberia."
Previously,
on April 14, Gwatkin sent a memorandum to his naval counterpart on the
Canadian Military Interdepartmental Committee repeating that the internees
were Russian socialists with "10,000 dollars subscribed by socialists
and Germans." The concluding paragraph stated: "On the other hand there
are those who declare that an act of high-handed injustice has been
done."
Then on
April 16, Vice Admiral C. E. Kingsmill,
director of the Naval Service, took Gwatkin's intervention at face value.
In a letter to Captain Makins, the naval control officer at Halifax,
he stated, "The Militia authorities request that a decision as to their
(that is, the six Russians) disposal may be hastened." A copy of this
instruction was relayed to Gwatkin who in turn informed Deputy Postmaster
General Coulter.
Three
days later Gwatkin applied pressure. In a memorandum of April 20 to
the naval secretary, he wrote, "Can you say, please, whether or not
the Naval Control Office has given a decision?"
On the
same day (April 20) Captain Makins wrote Admiral Kingsmill explaining
his reasons for removing Trotsky; he refused to be pressured into making
a decision, stating, "I will cable to the Admiralty informing them that
the Militia authorities are requesting an early decision as to their
disposal."
However,
the next day, April 21, Gwatkin wrote Coulter:
"Our
friends the Russian socialists are to be released; and arrangements
are being made for their passage to Europe."
The
order to Makins for Trotsky's release originated in the Admiralty, London.
Coulter acknowledged the information, "which will please our New York
correspondents immensely."
We can
conclude that Coulter and Gwatkin were intensely interested in the release
of Trotsky, but we do not know why. There was little in the career of
either Deputy Postmaster General Coulter or Major General Gwatkin that
would explain an urge to release Leon Trotsky.
Dr. Robert
Miller Coulter was a medical doctor of Scottish and Irish parents, a
liberal, a Freemason, and an Odd Fellow. He was appointed deputy postmaster
general of Canada in 1897. His sole claim to fame derived from being
a delegate to the Universal Postal Union Convention in 1906 and a delegate
to New Zealand and Australia in 1908 for the "All Red" project. All
Red had nothing to do with Red revolutionaries; it was only a plan for
all-red or all-British fast steamships between Great Britain, Canada,
and Australia.
Major
General Willoughby Gwatkin stemmed from a long British military tradition
(Cambridge and then Staff College). A specialist in mobilization, he
served in Canada from 1905 to 1918.
Given
only the documents in the Canadian files, we can but conclude that their
intervention in behalf of Trotsky is a mystery.
Lieutenant
Colonel John Bayne MacLean, a prominent Canadian publisher
and businessman, founder and president of MacLean Publishing Company,
Toronto, with a long-time association with Canadian Army Intelligence,
wrote for his own MacLean's magazine, in 1918, an article entitled "Why
Did We Let Trotsky Go? How Canada Lost an Opportunity to Shorten the
War." The article contained detailed and unusual information
about Leon Trotsky which provides two clues. Government records since
released by Canada, Great Britain, and the United States confirm MacLean's
clues to a significant degree. MacLean's opening argument is that
"some
Canadian politicians or officials were chiefly responsible for the
prolongation of the war [World War I], for the great loss of life,
the wounds and sufferings of the winter of 1917 and the great drives
of 1918." Further, "the man chiefly responsible for the defection
of Russia was Trotsky... acting under German instructions."
Who was
Trotsky? According to MacLean, Trotsky was not Russian, but German
Odd as
this may seem it does coincide with other scraps of intelligence information:
to wit, that Trotsky spoke better German than Russian, and that he was
the Russian executive of the German "Black
Bond."
According
to MacLean, Trotsky in August 1914 had been "ostentatiously" expelled
from Berlin; he finally arrived in the United States where he organized
Russian revolutionaries, as well as revolutionaries in Western Canada,
who "were largely Germans and Austrians traveling as Russians." MacLean
continues: Originally the British found through Russian associates that
Kerensky, Lenin and some lesser leaders were practically in German pay
as early as 1915 and they uncovered in 1916 the connections with Trotsky
then living in New York.
In the
early part of 1916 a German official sailed for New York. British Intelligence
officials accompanied him. He was held up at Halifax; but on their instruction
he was passed on with profuse apologies for the necessary delay. After
much manoeuvering he arrived in a dirty little newspaper office in the
slums and there found Trotsky, to whom he bore important instructions.
From June 1916, until they passed him on [to] the British, the N.Y.
Bomb Squad never lost touch with Trotsky. They discovered that his real
name was Braunstein and that he was a German, not a Russian.
Such German
activity in neutral countries is confirmed in a State Department report
(316-9-764-9) describing organization of Russian refugees for revolutionary
purposes.
Continuing,
MacLean states that Trotsky and four associates sailed on the "S.S.
Christiania" (sic), and on April 3 reported to "Captain Making" (sic)
and were taken off the ship at Halifax under the direction of Lieutenant
Jones. (Actually a party of nine, including six men, were taken off
the S.S. Kristianiafjord. The name of the naval control officer at Halifax
was Captain O. M. Makins, R.N. The name of the officer who removed the
Trotsky party from the ship is not in the Canadian government documents;
Trotsky said it was "Machen.") Again, according to MacLean, Trotsky's
money came "from German sources in New York."
MacLean
states further that Trotsky was released "at
the request of the British Embassy at Washington . . . [which] acted
on the request of the U.S. State Department, who were acting for someone
else."
The theme
of MacLean's report is that Trotsky had intimate relations with, and
probably worked for, the German General Staff. While such relations
have been established regarding Lenin - to the extent that Lenin was
subsidized and his return to Russia facilitated by the Germans - it
appears certain that Trotsky was similarly aided. The $10,000 Trotsky
fund in New York was from German sources, and a recently declassified
document in the U.S. State Department files reads as follows:
March
9, 1918 to: American Consul, Vladivostok from Polk, Acting Secretary
of State, Washington D.C. For your confidential information and prompt
attention: Following is substance of message of January twelfth from
Von Schanz of German Imperial Bank to Trotsky, quote Consent imperial
bank to appropriation from credit general staff of five million roubles
for sending assistant chief naval commissioner Kudrisheff to Far East.
This message
suggests some liaison between Trotsky and the Germans in January 1918,
a time when Trotsky was proposing an alliance with the West. The State
Department does not give the provenance of the telegram, only that it
originated with the War College Staff. The State Department did treat
the message as authentic and acted on the basis of assumed authenticity.
It is consistent with the general theme of Colonel MacLean's article.
Official
documentation clearly demonstrates two faces to Trotsky: one for the
public, and one in private. For example, the Division of Far Eastern
Affairs in the U.S. State Department received on March 23, 1918, two
reports stemming from Trotsky; one is inconsistent with the other. One
report, dated March 20 and from Moscow, originated in the Russian newspaper
Russkoe Slovo. The report cited
an interview with Trotsky in which he stated:
"...any
alliance with the United States was impossible: The Russia of the
Soviet cannot align itself... with capitalistic America for this would
be a betrayal It is possible that Americans seek such an rapprochement
with us, driven by its antagonism towards Japan, but in any case there
can be no question of an alliance by us of any nature with a bourgeoisie
nation."
The other
report, also originating in Moscow, is a message dated March 17, 1918,
three days earlier, and from Ambassador Francis:
"Trotsky
requests five American officers as inspectors of army being organized
for defense also requests railroad operating men and equipment."
This
private request to the U.S. is of course inconsistent with the public
rejection of an "alliance."
So long
as we see all international revolutionaries and all international capitalists
as implacable enemies of one another, then we miss a crucial point -
that there has indeed been some operational cooperation between international
capitalists, including fascists. And there is no a priori reason
why we should reject Trotsky as a part of this alliance.
First
there's Trotsky, a Russian internationalist revolutionary with German
connections who sparks assistance from two supposed supporters of Prince
Lvov's government in Russia (Aleinikoff and Wolf, Russians resident
in New York). These two ignite the action of a liberal Canadian deputy
postmaster general, who in turn intercedes with a prominent British
Army major general on the Canadian military staff. These are all verifiable
links.
In short,
allegiances may not always be what they are called, or appear. We can,
however, surmise that Trotsky, Aleinikoff, Wolf, Coulter, and Gwatkin
in acting for a common limited objective also had some common higher
goal than national allegiance or political label. This is the only a
logical supposition from the facts. (WALL
STREET AND THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION By Antony C. Sutton.
2001, HTML version created in the United States of America by Studies
in Reformed Theology)