"You will have a revolution, a terrible revolution. What course it takes will depend much on what Mr Rockefeller tells Mr Hague to do. Mr Rockefeller is a symbol of the American ruling class and Mr Hague is a symbol of political tools." Leon Trotsky NYT December 13th 1938 Page L13 from an interview with. William R Mathews while in exile
"Please urge upon the President the necessity of our continued intercourse with the Bolshevik Government." Russian-American relations, documents and papers Doc 44 Page 60 Raymond Robins cable to Henry P Davidson
"Soviet government stronger today than ever before. It's authority and power greatly consolidated by dissolution of constituent assembly… cannot urge too strongly importance of prompt recognition of Bolshevik authority…. Sisson approves this text and requests you to show cable to creel. Thacher and Wardwell concur" Russian-American relations, Documents and Papers Doc 64 Page 77 Raymond Robins cable to William Boyce Thompson
"American economic cooperation with Russia; Russia will welcome American assistance in economic reconstruction" Russian-American relations, Documents and Papers doc 92 page 212 Raymond Robins report to secretary of state
"I had been with the American Red Cross people at Odessa. I was there when the Red
Army took possession of Odessa. At that time I was favorably inclined toward the
Soviet Government, because I was a socialist and had been a member of that party for
20 years. I must admit that to a certain extent I helped to form the Soviet Government
of Odessa" Conditions In Russia House Committee On Foreign Affairs 66th Congress Third Session Jan to March 1921 Page 6
"the radical leaders are confident of effecting a revolution within two years, that the
start is to be made in New York City with a general strike, that Red leaders have
predicted much bloodshed and that the Russian Soviet Government has contributed
$20,000,000 to the American radical movement." March 28th 1920 NYT survey by United Americans
"Meanwhile the Reds count on a financial panic within the next few weeks to help
their cause along. A panic would cause distress among the workingmen and thus
render them more susceptible to revolution doctrine." March 28th 1920 NYT survey by United Americans
"It is my contention that the representatives of this Government [United States] made
possible the revolution on the isthmus of Panama. That had it not been for the
interference of this Government a successful revolution could not possibly have occurred, and I contend that this Government violated the treaty of 1846. I will be able to produce evidence to show that the declaration of independence which was promulgated in Panama on the 3rd day of November, 1903, was prepared right here in New York City and carried down there — prepared in the office of Wilson (sic) Nelson Cromwell" The Story of Panama: Hearings on the Rainey Resolution Before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 1913 Page 52-53 or 60
"The doctor’s wife took my wife and the boys out driving, and was very kind to them. But she was a mere mortal, whereas the chauffeur was a magician, a titan, a superman I With a wave of his hand, he made the machine obey his slightest command. To sit beside him was the supreme delight. When they went into a tea-room, the boys would anxiously demand of their mother, “Why doesn’t the chauffeur come in ?” Leon Trotsky My Life Page 214
"I saw that his own mind was made up. He had been greatly impressed, as Lord Milner told me afterwards, by an interview with Colonel Thompson of the American Red Cross, who had just returned from Russia and who had denounced in blunt language the folly of the Allies in not opening up negotiations with the Bolsheviks.... Three days later all my doubts were put at rest. I was to go to Russia as head of a special mission to establish unofficial relations with the Bolsheviks.... Lord Milner I saw almost daily. Five days before my departure I dined alone with him at Brook's. He was in his most inspiring mood. He talked to me with a charming frankness about the war, about the future of England, about his own career, and about the opportunities of youth— He was, too, very far from being the Jingo and the Conservative reactionary whom popular opinion at one time represented him to be. On the contrary, many of his views on society were startlingly modern. He believed in the highly organized state, in which service, efficiency, and hard work were more important than titles or money-bags" Bruce Lockhart British Agent Page 200, 201, 206
"I had been selected for this Russian mission not by the Foreign Secretary but by the War Cabinet—actually by Lord Milner and Mr. Lloyd George" Bruce Lockhart British Agent Page 208
"Another new acquaintance of these first days in the Bolshevized St Petersburg was Raymond Robins, the head of the American Red Cross Mission.... He had been a leading figure in Roosevelt's "Bull Moose" campaign for the American Presidency in 1912. Although a rich man himself, he was an anti-capitalist.... Hitherto, his two heroes had been Roosevelt and Cecil Rhodes. Now Lenin had captured his imagination.... Robins was the only man whom Lenin was always willing to see and who ever succeeded in imposing his own personality on the unemotional Bolshevik leader. In a less official sense Robins had a similar mission to my own. He was the intermediary between the Bolsheviks and the American Government and had set himself the task of persuading President Wilson to recognize the Soviet regime." Bruce Lockhart British Agent Page 222-223
"I returned from our interview to our flat to find an urgent message from Robins requesting me to come to see him at once. I found him in a state of great agitation. He had been in conflict with Saalkind, a nephew of Trotsky and then Assistant Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Saalkind had been rude, and the American, who had a promise from Lenin that, whatever happened, a train would always be ready for him at an hour's notice, was determined to exact an apology or to leave the country. When I arrived, he had just finished telephoning to Lenin. He had delivered his ultimatum, and Lenin had promised to give a reply within ten minutes. I waited, while Robins fumed. Then the telephone rang and Robins picked up the receiver. Lenin had capitulated. Saalkind was dismissed from his post. But he was an old member of the Party. Would Robins have any objection if Lenin sent him as a Bolshevik emissary to Beme? Robins smiled grimly. "Thank you, Mr. Lenin," he said. "As I can't send the son of a bitch to hell, 'bum' is the next best thing you can do with him." Bruce Lockhart British Agent Page 228
"You will hear it said that I am an agent of Wall Street; that I am the servant of William B. Thompson to get Altai Copper for him; that I have already got 500,000 acres of the best timber land in Russia for myself; that I have already copped off the Trans-Siberian Railway; that they have given me a monopoly of the platinum in Russia; that this explains my working for the soviet.... You will hear that talk Now, I do not think it is true, Commissioner, but let us assume it is true. Let us assume that I am here to capture Russia for Wall Street and American business men. Let us assume that you are a British wolf and I arn an American wolf, and that when this war is over we are going to eat each other up for the Russian market; let us do so in perfectly frank, man fashion, but let us assume at the same time that we are fairly intelligent wolves, and that we know that if we do not hunt together in this hour the German wolf will eat us both up." U.S. Cong., Senate, Bolshevik Propaganda, Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, 65th Cong., 1919, p. 802.
Unverified Sources
"It was not until the Bolsheviks had received from us a steady flow of funds through various channels and under different labels that they were in a position to be able to build up their main organ, Pravda, to conduct energetic propaganda and appreciably to extend the originally narrow basis of their party." Von Kulmann, minister of foreign affairs to the Kaiser December 3rd 1917 I have PDF and screenshot International affairs vol 32 no 2
Memorandum from great Britain foreign office file FO 371/2999 October 23 1917 no 3743
"Poor Mr. Billings believed he was in charge of a scientific mission for the relief of Russia .... He was in reality nothing but a mask — the Red Cross complexion of the mission was nothing but a mask." Cornelius Kelleher, assistant to William Boyce Thompson (in George F. Kennan, Russia Leaves the War)
GIVES BOLSHEVIKI A MILLION
W. B. Thompson, Red Cross Donor, Believes Party Misrepresented. New York, Feb.
2 (1918). William B. Thompson, who was in Petrograd from July until November last,
has made a personal contribution of $1,000,000 to the Bolsheviks for the purpose of
spreading their doctrine in Germany and Austria.
Mr. Thompson had an opportunity to study Russian conditions as head of the
American Red Cross Mission, expenses of which also were largely defrayed by his
personal contributions. He believes that the Bolsheviks constitute the greatest power
against Pro-Germanism in Russia and that their propaganda has been undermining the
militarist regimes of the General Empires. Mr. Thompson deprecates American criticism of the Bolsheviks. He believes they have been misrepresented and has made the financial contribution to the cause in the belief that it will be money well spent for the future of Russia as well as for the Allied cause.
Thompson certainly acquired a reputation for opulent living in Petrograd, but apparently he undertook only two major projects in Kerensky's Russia: support for an American propaganda program and support for the Russian Liberty Loan. Soon after arriving in Russia Thompson met with Madame Breshko-Breshkovskaya and David Soskice, Kerensky's secretary, and agreed to contribute $2 million to a committee of popular education so that it could "have its own press and... engage a staff of lecturers, with cinematograph illustrations" (861.00/ 1032); this was for the propaganda purpose of urging Russia to continue in the war against Germany. According to Soskice, "a packet of 50,000 rubles" was given to Breshko-Breshkovskaya with the statement, "This is for you to expend according to your best judgment." A further 2,100,000 rubles was deposited into a current bank account. A letter from J. P. Morgan to the State Department (861.51/190) confirms that Morgan cabled 425,000 rubles to Thompson at his request for the Russian Liberty Loan; J. P. also conveyed the interest of the Morgan firm regarding "the wisdom of making an individual subscription through Mr. Thompson" to the Russian Liberty Loan. These sums were transmitted through the National City Bank branch in Petrograd.
Russian newspaper Russkoe Slovo, Robins "on the one hand represents American labor and on the other hand American capital, which is endeavoring through the Soviets to gain their Russian markets" 361-11-1265 March 19 1918
"I believe that we would now be in control of the surplus resources of Russia and have control officers at all points on the frontier." Bullard ^
"President desires the withholding of direct communications by representatives of the United States with the Bolshevik Government." Petrograd embassy Red Cross file
"Trotski (sic) . . . was a consummate scoundrel who may not be pro-German, but is
thoroughly pro-Trotski and pro-revolutionary and cannot in any way be trusted. His influence is shown by the way he has come to dominate Lockhart, Robins and the French representative. He [Nieffel] counsels great prudence in dealing with Trotski, who he admits is the only really able man in Russia" War cabinet papers 24/49/7197 April 24th 1918
"What can be done to improve the situation of the Allies in Russia"? The diplomatic personnel, both British and American, should be changed to one democratic in spirit and capable of sustaining democratic sympathy. There should be erected a powerful, unofficial committee, with headquarters in Petrograd, to operate in the background, so to speak, the influence of which in matters of policy should be recognized and accepted by the DIPLOMATIC, CONSULAR and MILITARY officials of the Allies. Such committee should be so composed in personnel as to make it possible to entrust to it wide discretionary powers. It would presumably undertake work in various channels. The nature of which will become obvious as the task progress, es; it. would aim to meet all new conditions as they
might arise." William B Thompson to prime minister Lloyd George
To the Honourable January 16, 1918
Secretary of State
Washington D.C.
Sir
I have the honor to enclose herewith the memorandum which you requested me to
make for you on my view of the political situation in Russia.
I have separated it into three parts; an explanation of the historical causes of the Revolution, told as briefly as possible; a suggestion as to policy and a recital of the
various branches of American activity at work now in Russia.
He added, "Whatever ground may have been lost, should be regained now, even at the cost of a slight personal triumph for Trotzky.
sands memorandum to Lansing Jan 16 1918
"Your desire to pay expenses of commission to Russia is very much appreciated and from our point of view very important. " William Thompson